What you will find in the article:
- Clients regard AI as accessible and effective for marketing tasks.
- AI boosts productivity, but it affects how agency work is valued.
- Clients want to use AI where its benefits are clear.
- Agencies are seeking to expand the use of AI into analytics and strategy.
- Agencies’ expertise across various sectors and markets is crucial.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a common feature of marketing practice, but its role in the relationship between clients and agencies is still evolving. This is the finding of this year’s research by AKA and ResSolution Group, the results of which were presented by Radana Čechová (AKA) and Lucie Vlčková (RSS Group) on the first day of this year’s Brand Management conference organised by Blue Events.
The research combined a quantitative survey of clients with in-depth interviews with representatives of both clients and agencies. It focused on which AI services clients consider important and how they rate their availability on the market.
The results showed that the market does not currently suffer from a shortage of AI tools and services. In most of the areas surveyed, clients rated their availability even higher than their importance. They see the greatest benefit in specific applications that help speed up work, increase efficiency or take over certain sub-tasks. Conversely, they attach less importance to solutions that require a broader transformation of marketing processes or the way the organisation operates.
The question of valuation is back on the table
The interviews revealed that both clients and agencies agree that AI boosts productivity. At the same time, however, it raises the question of how this efficiency will be reflected in the value and pricing of marketing services. Clients expect both time and cost efficiency, whilst agencies are grappling with how higher productivity will be reflected in the price and value of their work.
Some tasks that clients used to routinely entrust to agencies can now be handled by the clients themselves with the help of AI. They therefore do not necessarily need an agency for every single output, but primarily where they require expertise. As an example given during the presentation, a CEO or CMO can develop an idea to about 80 per cent on their own, but the final 20 per cent can be significantly more challenging. This is precisely where the agencies’ experience and their knowledge of various campaigns, categories and markets come into play.
According to the research, integrating AI into broader business processes is more complex. Both clients and agencies encounter limitations related to security, regulation, internal systems or a lack of experience. It also appears that an interest in new technologies does not necessarily mean a willingness to change established working practices. According to the research, agencies are gradually expanding their use of AI from production into data, analytics, strategy and their own tools. They would also like to use it in processes on the client side. Clients are more cautious in this regard. They want to make greater use of AI, but primarily where its benefits are clear.
The deeper the use of AI, the less it is, according to the findings, merely about technology and the more it is about changing the way work is done. It is precisely this change that is currently progressing more slowly than the technological development itself.
Important expertise
At the same time, the research did not provide a clear answer as to what the role of agencies will look like in five years’ time. A scenario of their gradual decline was mentioned, but there were also expectations of greater collaboration between clients’ internal teams and external specialists. Agencies may remain important thanks to their expertise and experience across markets and categories, and they may also shift towards strategy and the ability to help clients implement change. Clients continue to regard it as important to have an external partner who brings creative expertise, experience from various markets and sectors, and a broader perspective on business briefs.
Source: mediaguru.cz