In the latest Mad Reality Check column, Mark Leone, partner at MadClarity, argues that the industry has stopped asking “why?” And that AI might make it worse.
You wouldn’t have to read too many of these to know most of my best and worst analogies draw inspiration from the at times bizarre world of sport. And after the sublimely ridiculous enhanced games… how could I resist?
For those who missed it, the enhanced games were a festival of human endeavour. Going to great lengths to demonstrate a washed-up old athlete… even ‘on the gear’ … is, after all, a washed-up old athlete.
So, how does this have anything to do with today’s marketing and media world? Don’t worry, I hear you, that is coming.
In our daily interactions with our clients and their agencies, it is clear how much the role of strategy has been diminished in modern marketing. The industry has become obsessed with what, rather than why. I’m not sure ‘why not’ is a question that even exists anymore. AI has the potential to make this all worse.
I have said it before, more marketers can misquote Byron than have even heard of some of the great commentators in our industry today. We have become sloppy and lazy, following whichever pseudo-science is on trend. This is true of both marketers and those advising them.
It has become more acceptable to do the wrong thing, because everyone else is doing it, than to challenge it.
Ehrenberg Bass, ‘the long and the short’, reach, always-on, attention, attentive-reach, hyper-targeting, right message/person/ time, influencers, creators and of course the super trendy CEPs of today. There are plenty more that can be added.
I am not saying these are all wrong. Many have been proven to be right, in many situations. A good practitioner isn’t ‘team Ehrenberg Bass’, or ‘team Distinctive’. They know them all, how and why they work and what’s appropriate for them in any situation. It is a fundamental in strategy to make choices on what you will and won’t do, not blindly following at all costs.
That, I’m afraid, is a cult.
The role of a marketer has changed. Even the staunchest Luddite will now be seeing that AI is transforming what we do. Some will use it to turn themselves into a super marketer, enhancing everything they do in a way that should be illegal. Making them faster and more powerful than ever before. Some will have it to do their job for them.
As more of the process is delegated to machines, it can be difficult to know what choices are being made. Agentic media buying is now a reality. It is moving beyond testing into real world application. This is only one example of the many decisions that will likely be delegated to machines. Most large agencies have been investing in tools that develop the strategic direction.
Humans still have a critical role in the process, deciding which of the options in front of them is the right one, and importantly, why or why not. Machines, even AI, are not capable of independent thought. They are mass aggregators. They take large amounts of data and synthesise it into trends and patterns. I have not seen a situation where the answer is to do the opposite of everyone else, yet. Until they learn that, at times, this may be the best approach.
I am old enough to remember the humble Street Directory. In the days before Google Maps, we used them to work out how not to get lost. Unfortunately, at times, everyone else had worked out the same optimal route, and you ended up in a horrible traffic jam. Over time, online maps
have developed to consider live traffic. They don’t tell you to follow everyone else into a traffic jam… they give you alternative options and even recommendations.
It is clear that the tools can do it. Now it is time for the industry to learn that a high stakes game of follow the leader is not always the best approach, particularly when you have half the budget everyone else has.
Back in the playground, all those years ago, the youngster always asking why was arming themselves with the skills to grow up to be a great marketer. Today, unfortunately, the follow the leader champion may be the one that rises to the top.
A ‘juiced up’ lemming is, after all, still a lemming.
