Many marketers still perceive artificial intelligence (AI) with some trepidation, and it’s not surprising considering its depiction in the media as the technology that will oust humans, replacing them with an army of automated bots. Beyond the scare stories, the reality is that AI can support brands in evolving the relationships that they have with customers and generate deeper connections with them.
At Jaywing, we have developed a new tool called Archetype, a predictive analytics product that uses AI technology to help marketers generate more accurate predictions on almost any data set. Archetype uses “Deep Learning” – an advanced form of AI – to deliver vastly more accurate predictive models than can be achieved by traditional techniques. The intelligence behind the tool might be “artificial”, but the insights into consumer behaviours and preferences that it generates are very real.
The role of Archetype
Archetype affords marketers a considerably greater opportunity to model and predict customer behaviour. Conversion, re-purchase, lapsing, basket abandonment and other marketing outcomes are all ripe for prediction using the tool, given your existing customer data together with Archetype’s ability to squeeze every drop of insight from historical data. If there’s a prediction to be made, Archetype can enable it. Coupling Archetype models with your customer communications programme enables deeper customer engagement and better personalised communications.
AI technologies can significantly reduce the time and effort needed to run more accurate marketing programmes. Archetype excels in this space by enabling highly accurate predictive models to be created quickly and easily —without requiring a PhD in statistics. AI enables marketers to dive deeper into purchase history, loyalty data, online interactions and in-store purchases, and if used effectively can allow them to focus solely on the outcomes, rather than the process of getting there. Not only does AI harness the power of data, it frees up more time for marketers to perform creative and strategic tasks.
The true power of AI is that it will help marketers understand their customers in unprecedented ways. Archetype creates models which can be trained on any outcome, enabling marketers to predict future purchase propensity based on past behaviour. This insight is sourced from deep within customer data, generating models that far outstrip the capabilities of standard modelling tools.
The industry and beyond
AI has the potential to transform the way marketers work across the board. For instance, within the brand communications world, Jaywing has explored using AI across a breadth of tools to help our creative teams apply tonal shifts to images to automatically align them with a brand’s look and feel. Methods like this drastically reduce the time needed to complete complex creative tasks.
With Archetype, our aim is to revolutionise the way that organisations generate predictive models. In achieving this, marketers will be able to respond better to customer needs and make use of the data assets that the organisation holds, which will have a transformative impact on their CRM activity. Archetype will drive ever-greater levels of personalisation which in turn will increase sales and customer loyalty.
Looking to the future
When we look at AI generally, it has the potential to automate and improve any process where machines can do the learning—and what machines are capable of is constantly expanding.
At Jaywing, we believe the biggest areas where AI will have an impact in the short term are in predictive modelling (using tools like Archetype), marketing automation (using tools like Decision), personalisation (e.g. product recommendations) and efficient, automated customer servicing (e.g. use of chatbots).
We view AI as a means of boosting creativity and improving accuracy – augmenting rather than substituting our capabilities. Combining new technology with trusted expertise is bringing about an exciting industry revolution. Organisations that embrace AI will reap the rewards of greater productivity and a better understanding of customers’ behaviours and needs.
