As brands and agencies question the ethics and practical application of AI, most brands (80%) are concerned about how their creative and media agency partners are using generative AI, according to new research from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
Despite widespread concerns, brands are not shying away from AI, with nearly two-thirds (63%) already using generative AI in their marketing, up from 45% last year.
AI adoption is being held back by legal (66%), ethical (51%), and reputational (49%) concerns. Meanwhile, more than half (55%) of marketers feel they lack the capability to use AI and are not mature enough (49%).
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Despite the barriers to safer application of AI by brands, only 9% of brands say they have no plans to use gen AI in their marketing – meaning the vast majority (91%) do.
The WFA study is based on 54 responses from 48 of the world’s largest brands with a total marketing spend of $102bn (£77.3bn).
Inconsistent experiences
Despite growing usage, marketing’s adoption of AI generation is not uniform across brands.
Most brands (58%) are in the development phase, meaning they have a dedicated strategy for gen AI, but this does not apply to all sales teams. Around a quarter (26%) of brands have a lower level of awareness of AI, using it sporadically and occasionally.
Only 12% say they have mature AI adoption, meaning they have a unified strategy across the business, while 2% believe they are at the forefront of AI because it drives innovation and changes business models.
To harness the undisputed potential of next-gen AI, brands must first understand the legal and compliance implications.
Stephan Loerke, WFA
Just over a third (36%) of brands have introduced clauses prescribing how their partners can use generative AI on their behalf, despite widespread concerns about agency use of AI. Less than 29% have revised their media and creative contracts with partners to include AI clauses.
“To harness the undisputed potential of next-generation AI, brands must first understand the legal and compliance implications,” says Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA.
Nearly half (48%) plan to introduce AI-related terms into their contracts, and 55% plan to review contracts, driven by data governance and the introduction of warranties and indemnities as well as ensuring ownership of work.
Actors and voiceover artists may have some trouble ahead, as while only 9% of brands are reviewing contracts with creative talent to allow the use of generative AI in relation to their image, nearly half (46%) plan to do so.
The majority (63%) of brands have adopted “responsible” AI principles, while 21% are developing them. Privacy is the most adopted principle (78%), followed by transparency (76%), accountability (70%) and intellectual property rights (65%).
These brand guidelines include advice on where AI should appear in the work and some goals, do’s and don’ts for teams, and general use cases.
Brands appear to be protecting themselves in terms of internal representation. Most (54%) have an AI governance board in place, they say, and 68% of those that have an AI board say it specifically addresses the use of generative AI in marketing.
Where does AI appear?
Unsurprisingly, the most common use of AI is for content creation (79%), followed by content ideation (67%) and task automation (54%).
At the same time, 70% of brands are prioritizing AI generation for efficiency reasons (e.g. saving time and money) rather than marketing effectiveness.
Despite these high percentages, brands are also, unsurprisingly, cautious about how AI-generated content appears in their marketing assets. Only 40% of them use AI content in their marketing activities, mainly to enhance images and products (68%). However, an additional 37% plan to introduce AI content into their assets soon.
Of the 40% of brands using AI in their marketing, only 27% are using it for chatbot and customer support purposes (27%), suggesting that AI is yet to have a widespread impact on the customer experience.
In terms of usage, about a third (32%) use AI generation to copy the image of existing places and products.
