The deal made between JPMorgan Chase and Persado, the artificial-intelligence company, has been heralded as the grand entrance of AI technology into marketing. Of course, AI in various forms has been around for a while. But the tone of those reporting on the deal, and the attention paid to it by the marketing community, suggests this particular deal represents something significant.
In this instance, it seems obvious that the bank did its homework, by running a pilot trial with Persado and recording the results. But we should be mindful of those times when the technology wasn’t quite ready, and wasn’t quite relevant, yet was adopted enthusiastically. The best example of this followed the launch of Pokémon Go.
At the time it hit the shelves (of the App Store) such a thought would have been seen to be ridiculous. Within a month of its release, it had broken five Guinness World Records, including most revenue grossed by a mobile game in its first month ($206.5 million) and most downloaded mobile game in its first month (130 million). By September, it had been downloaded more than 500 million times. It was the most searched game on Google that year. It was named the App Store’s ‘breakout hit’.
In the marketing space, the conversation quickly turned to the applications of AR to deliver better campaigns. John-Paul Burke, country manager UK & Ireland of Gameloft, told The Drum that ‘players were literally being led about the world’ by a mobile game. The opportunity for brands was vast and clearer than ever before.’ The use of augmented reality in a way that worked was heralded as a game-changer, as proof that the technology was ready and would reward those who could apply it.
But interest in Pokémon Go quickly cooled (though ‘crashed’ is the word that was used at the time). The daily user number fell from 28.5 million at its peak to five million by December. Five million is still high, but regardless, it’s a fraction of what it was. Meanwhile those in the marketing and advertising spaces were forced to reconsider the value of AR, at least in the short term.
Technology alone is not enough. We need to use our common sense, as well as our understanding of the industries in which we operate, to inform our adoption and use of technology. In marketing we need to know who our client companies or customers are so we can build lasting relationships and loyalty through our work. The companies, organisations and people we’re trying to reach together represent a kind of prism through which we look at everything we do. If we’re not serving those individuals or businesses and bringing them value through our adoption of something new—and that’s often a new form of technology – we should be skeptical about adopting it.
In the marketing space, functional, applicable technologies are emerging all the time. Customisation in martech means fewer nuisance messages, more relevant information and a more rewarding customer experience overall. AI and machine-learning can provide the kind of valuable insights that allow marketers to make better choices that produce better outcomes for individuals. Further afield, some of the most pioneering developments in technology are serving people in extraordinary ways. Driverless cars have the potential to save lives. Smartphones can improve the well-being of those with diabetes.
This is to say that technology must serve a practical purpose. We live in a world in which tech is developing so quickly, and in such interesting and exciting ways, that it’s easy to forget the practical side of technology when AR, VR, or some other groundbreaking technology seems to be coming of age. But the platform or medium must follow the idea, and that idea must be grounded in a solid understanding of the client, customer or company and what it wants. It’s this focus on people that lies at the heart of how my agency and tech start-up operates.
