Artificial intelligence is opening opportunities for marketers to take risks they had not been able to take on before, but it remains a tool of creativity, not a replacement. AI is not going to replace “HI”—human ingenuity—but “I can imagine down the road, the life of a brand manager is going to be completely different,” said Javier Meza, president, marketing & Europe, CMO of The Coca-Cola Co.
Speaking at fireside chat during the Marketing Leadership Summit at Cannes Lions, Meza shared some thoughts on the way Generative AI and other AI tools can transform creative work. Moderator Michele Fisher, Global Director, Strategy, of Microsoft noted a recent Microsoft Work Trend Index found 80% of employees believe their jobs have evolved with AI. Meza agreed, but in spite of the widespread use of AI, it is still an enabler, helping humans parse data and build efforts more efficiently.
“Very few years down the road this is not going to be a discussion anymore,” said Meza. But he was quick to add that even as marketers use AI to make production more efficient, this doesn’t mean there’s no need for human intervention.
“We still need the human creativity, but the production part of the process can be really streamlined, more efficient,” he said. “I’m really proud that we started doing that already.”
Coca-Cola is thinking about AI in three main priority areas, said Meza. Firstly, it wants to enhance the consumer experience and add the “wow factor” to capture attention. Secondly, the company is using AI to capture internal efficiencies in production. And thirdly, it is using it to lighten the workload on marketing support functions.
“The ‘Why we do things’ is not being disrupted by AI,” said Meza. “The ‘How we do things,’ and how fast we can do that and how fast we can scale that, is what is really changing dramatically.”
It’s important that marketers not confuse technology and strategy, said Meza. He said he often has to make that distinction when talking to colleagues. “I say: ‘Listen, the technology is an enabler and can shape your strategy, but you need to have a strategy first,” he said. “You need to understand your audience and really deeply empathize with who it is that you’re trying to reach.”
Coca-Cola is using AI agents to have conversations with consumer personas to help marketers better understand attitudes and “to make the insight-harnessing a more intuitive conversation,” and even help test communications, said Meza. The company is also using predictive AI agents for resource allocation, to maximize marketing spending based on the target and goals of that effort. And Coke is also using AI agents to help designers create items such as point-of-sale materials that are in line with brand guidelines. Many of these agents are pilots, but they will eventually develop, said Meza.
Brands can now easily garner from data what will connect with consumers, but the execution based on those insights remains the difficult part, he said. Insights can’t add value to humans without the “what-if” spark of creativity to create magic, said Meza.
“We’ve been trying as marketers to do that for years and we will continue doing that for years,” said Meza. “I think the tools and the platforms are evolving and are expanding our possibilities.”
Turning Insights Into Excitement
Coca-Cola is focusing its efforts into an experience-based marketing model where AI is one enabler, said Meza. The company is creating an “ecosystem of experiences” connected to its products, he explained. As an example, a consumer can scan a QR code that will take them to a digital experience, such as Coke’s activations at music festivals during the summer.
“It’s all about creating relevance and excitement for people. It’s all about surprising people,” said Meza. That insight is not different than what came before, he added, but “what technology is allowing us is to do that in ways that we had not thought before which is more automated, real-time and large scale.”
As an example, Fisher singled out how Coke used the technology to create a holiday experience that let children interact with an AI-generated Santa Claus. Coke decided to take a risk on that, thanks to AI, said Meza. With the technology, it was able to create the platform and deploy it in 45 markets and 25 languages in only 60 days.
“It’s the type of risk that you want to take because you know that, one: you will create something that is different for consumers, and two: you will learn something on how you operate and how consumers are going to engage with brands,” he said. AI can facilitate creating these types of moments, said Meza: “I do believe that AI is going to create more opportunities for us to transform insights into excitement.”
As applications develop, they can be adapted for other uses, said Meza. For example, he noted the company is thinking about other possible applications for the interactive Santa Claus. For the FIFA World Cup, it could use the same platform to let fans talk virtually to a player.
Some initiatives won’t pan out, but experimentation must continue, said Meza. Set guidelines, to respect legal and privacy concerns, and “accept that failure is part of the learning process,” he advised.
“If you think transformation is a one-time process that had a start and an end, you’re going to be frustrated,” said Meza. “The reality of what we’re going through is that digital transformation is a never-ending proc”ess. Technology will continue to evolve, which means we will need to continue to adapt and adjust.”
