As a business tool, AI is hot. A new study from the Plus Company creative agency network and Statista found that 89% of top-level marketers agree it’s a valuable tool. But only 54% have fully implemented it—a number that drops to 24% among smaller firms.
Why? It’s not a lack of tech skills. It’s an old problem: resistance to change. The study found that 45% of all marketing leaders found this to be a major roadblock to AI implementation. Among smaller companies, that figure is 71%. The study found that three quarters of marketers still rely on old school research methods to come up with new marketing concepts—something that AI could improve through quicker and more comprehensive analysis. It also found that as you go up the corporate ladder, there’s less enthusiasm for AI. Less than half of marketing VPs think that AI is very helpful to marketing, and 45% say that its cost presents a challenge for their company. It seems like more cautious firms are seeing price tags instead of efficiency—if time-honored research methods are still working, why invest in AI now?
The biggest reason to implement AI is for firms to be able to do more. AI can speed up research, but it can also do things like provide real-time data (something the survey found 58% of marketers have challenges with) and measure creative impact (which only 36% of marketers said they could do well). Reticent marketers need to be shown how they can use technology to make marked improvements in their business. The study encourages them to explore new ways of doing their work, and use technology to make their work more efficient and effective. It’s an investment that the study says is likely to pay off.
Anthony Volpe of the New York Yankees hits a grand slam at Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday.
The World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers is knocking it out of the park when it comes to game viewership. The first two games, both of which were wins for the Dodgers, got this year’s Fall Classic off to the best start since 2017, writes Forbes senior contributor Toni Fitzgerald, averaging 14.54 million viewers. Game 3 saw 13.2 million viewers,........