Local businesses that have joined the AI Leadership Coalition (ALC) working groups in South Africa.
Industry marketing body, MMA Global, launched the ALC earlier this year – the largest of its kind, with more than 300 marketers from over 160 companies – and it has now arrived in South Africa.
Created because of the rapid pace of AI developments that directly affect business performance and industry competitiveness, MMA says the ALC initiative is among the most important marketing coalitions universally available.
“In fostering the strategic use of AI in marketing, the MMA ALC is a forum for marketers to come together to explore, experiment and execute game-changing AI initiatives that push the boundaries of this what marketing can achieve, says Sarah Utermark, national director of MMA. South Africa.
“It will also enable the MMA to create ethical and impactful marketing strategies and innovative industry advancements which can then be shared as a means of constantly upskilling the South African marketing industry,” she adds.
How it works
Members choose one of four working groups to join:
- Content and creation.
- Measurement and attribution.
- Audience development and media buying.
- Responsible AI.
Through these working groups, the ALC ensures that MMA members remain leaders in the most important frontier of technological innovation of this generation, equipping them to unleash the power of AI.
Within these groups, they collaborate to apply AI:
- Marketing responsibly and effectively
- To drive better business growth
- Deliver personalized experiences
- Improve operational efficiency through the strategic use of AI in marketing.
Beyond these four groups, the ALC offers its members access to learning and skills development as well as comprehensive development of new proprietary knowledge.
In the latter case, for example, members are exposed to AI personalization of advertisements, AI in market research, the incorporation of GenAi into organizations, a framework for determining whether the Whether AI is real or not, as well as decoding AI for marketers.
It will also pay great attention to responsible AI and its use. This includes risk assessment, AI governance, policy templates and audit guidelines to begin with.
“AI is rapidly gaining ground and it is in the best interest of all marketers to understand what AI is and how it will, without doubt, impact their organizations, including them- same as individuals.
“It’s a brave new world and MMA is leading the charge to make AI accessible and available, while new research continues to be undertaken by members of the global MMA community.
“It’s not a static sector; AI is constantly changing and adapting to new circumstances, so marketers need to listen to, learn and adopt AI like learning a new language,” comments Utermark.
AI becomes omnipresent
Everyone around the world has been or will soon be affected by the large number of radical innovations in AI.
Marketers specifically need to master this transformative technology, quickly, if their brands and businesses want to maintain market share while onboarding new customers.
Indeed, their competitors – in all their categories – are pursuing the same market segment(s) and are certain to significantly improve their targeting and engagement strategies using tools and AI techniques.
AI is quickly becoming ubiquitous and rapidly changing the marketing landscape.
Brands and businesses must adapt and adopt this new technology so as not to fall behind in its implementation, while using it responsibly and ethically.
AI Adoption
Even before the creation of the ALC, MMA Global’s commitment to AI in marketing was manifested through several pioneering efforts in 2023, such as AI benchmark survey reports, webinars and presentations on MMA AI and the MMA Academy which offers a range of AI training courses.
“The MMA is also actively reaching out to marketers, agencies, universities, tech companies and others looking for guides/new processes/frameworks on AI to develop, for marketers , AI use cases to evaluate, AI technologies and applications for research, training and training programs for marketers, and more,” advises Utermark.
“To integrate all things AI, we encourage marketers, from industry newcomers to industry leaders, to take a hard look at their adoption of AI and whether it can be improved , it would be in their interest to do so. .”
