Mark Ritson has declared that AI has brought the hammer down on media planning and econometrics as pursuits in marketing.
Speaking on the Uncensored CMO podcast with Jon Evans, Ritson said that thanks to AI the media planning and econometric techniques that used to take humans hours and days can be done at a keystroke.
“I saw something in New York last week that should scare the fuck out of everyone. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I’m not allowed to. They put my company name into a box, it gave me excess share of voice, distinctive brand assets, correct media mix, key segments, category entry points, price optimisation in a keystroke.
“There were a couple of sales guys in the room and a couple of smart boys further in the back that did it. So, I asked the spooky-looking guys at the back ‘Have you got any triangulation for this shit?’ and they said there are a couple of points that we can show you… Yeah, 91 or 92 per cent.
“I think media planning as a pursuit is over, I think econometrics as a separate entity is over. But it won’t happen overnight”.
Ritson then went on to say that ChatGPT — everyone’s favourite AI time-saver — was “like a little fucking toy in the corner” and that the smart money and smart people were building stuff that we currently find hard to comprehend.
“Look at excess share of voice, everybody wants it, very few people have it, and this system is able to produce it in two seconds. Then think about this, once you have all that panoply of data, the AI can then maximise within those things to do your Monte Carlo analysis and spit out the three things that you should do. I think whoever nails that, and I think it will take someone with real marketing knowledge… it will change everything”.
Ritson also picked Cadbury’s “Garage” spot as his campaign of the year. His pick — which he called way back in the year — also lined up with System1’s marketing effectiveness data.
“You called it,” said Evans.
“It’s the best ad ever made, I reckon,” replied Ritson.
