Business rivalry turning to AI fast

Marketing professionals must strengthen collaboration in maximizing the use of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and other automation technologies to attract loyal customers, speakers at the 4th World Marketing Forum said.

“You cannot rely solely on the information and technology team because the marketing and other teams are all experiencing technological advancements,” Overall Conference chairperson Donald Patrick Lim said.

The forum, which was organized by the Philippine Marketing Association, invited around 1,700 local and foreign guests, including marketing professionals, business leaders and marketing students.

For this year, the Philippines was chosen by the Asia Marketing Federation to host the forum held Wednesday at the Newport World Resorts, Pasay City. Emphasizing the global shift to digital technologies, the event organizers crafted the forum’s theme “Marketing Wars: Episode 6.0 and Beyond.”

Lim, who is also chief operating officer of DITO CME, said businesses are now faced with three major challenges that can be more easily overcome not only by using technologies but also human resources.

First, Lim said customers now continuously seek better products and services with the best overall value, especially in times of financial challenges and consumers’ access to more tools for comparing items available in the market.

“The first challenge is customer preferences. Effective marketing is critical as everyone is still recovering from the pandemic,” he said.

“I think sales have yet to spike unlike before when sales surged during mega sales on online marketplaces like Lazada and Shopee. But we’re still doing better than other countries,” Lim continued.

Asian Institute of Digital Transformation founder and chief executive officer Roger Collantes said businesses can use AI to predict consumer behaviors and help them design personalized products.

“You go out of your way to delight them and exceed their expectations. Customers don’t have to decide for a long time but just add the item to the cart,” he said.

AI gathers and analyzes huge volumes of data and generates insights from the customers’ browsing histories on web search engines and purchasing histories on apps and other online stores.

Second, Lim said young professionals or the digital natives are trying to integrate their own culture and mindset in the company operations which older employees might find unreasonable.

While the young can absorb knowledge and skills on emerging technologies faster, Lim said it is possible that not all of them are business-savvy.

“Now they’re working with five generations from baby boomers to Gen XYZ, so there’s a battle on internal perspectives,” he said.

“Filipinos are quick adopters of AI, but not everyone knows how to use it for business,” Lim continued.

Third, Lim said many businesses lack full understanding of various technologies and the ways they can be combined to gain the most benefits.

For example, he said some firms hesitate to use AI because of its tag price despite the technology’s capability to quickly target the right customers.

Performance gauged

“Through AI, you can monitor customer engagement and so measure your performance. It’s more efficient than doing things manually,” Lim said.

Meanwhile, Collantes said firms can use generative AI and robotics like chatbots to fulfill routine tasks, such as sending out emails to clients and answering customer queries.

“With robotics and automation, you’ll be doing more creative and strategic things to boost sales,” Collantes said.

Thanks to technology experts, he said chatbots can now handle complex questions and answer them in human-like ways.

“All of these accelerate your conversion rate, turning simply interested individuals into loyal customers. It’s thinking about how you want the customer journey to look like,” Collantes said.

“By unifying data, brands ensure all customer touchpoints feel consistent and personalized. This applies across all platforms like online, social media, physical store, and mobile,” he added.

Citing his company performance, Lim said DITO, the country’s third major internet provider, has seen its customer base expand through its collective efforts from all departments and streamlining of traditional and modern tools.

He shared that DITO has drawn over 13 million subscribers and has extended its service area to 86 percent of the country.