How AI Will Change The Game For Advertisers... And Advertisees

You all knew my blog this month was going to be about the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that took place in Cupertino, CA on June 10th. Like many of you, I had to tunein to the event to see what Apple has planned in the Artificial Intelligence space. We all know, if there is one company that can really move the needle when it comes to consumer AI it is Apple.

I am not only interested in AI for how it will effect the consumer. How can I be? Business will be changing dramatically in the quarters and years ahead because of AI.

As a marketer — one who runs a company that revolves around advertising and the consumer experience — I need to understand how AI is going to change the game for advertisers and advertisees alike. [So first, some background on how AI changes the game for advertisers. First, it enables agile content creation. Second, AI-powered personalization is cross-channel personalization. Third, AI allows for real-time advertising optimization.]

So how is AI going to change the game for the advertisee, or the consumer (which is really the subject of this blog)? Let’s think about that for a bit.

Here are the changes that I am focusing on at the moment…

Messaging… Messaging will be enhanced by AI, enabling marketing and sales people to use text effects and customizable images and emojis, rather than just the stable of off-the-shelf standard bearers that exist today. These enhancements will allow sell-side professionals to properly illustrate specific consumer experiences which, in all likelihood, will lead to enhanced engagement at the consumer level. What’s more, support of the RCS messaging standard and send-later technology will be game changing for many front-line sellers. Send-later tech will be widely used — hopefully, it won’t be widely abused.

Siri… There are also AI enhancements coming to Siri which will enable it to better understand speech and context. These enhancements will make the smart assistant more natural and personal and will, in all likelihood, lead to enhanced engagement at the consumer level. We might see a big jump in Siri usage, as people who currently use the smart assistant will likely use it more and people who don’t currently use the smart assistant will likely give it a try. Siri will also bridge to Chat GPT which will allow consumers to source valuable content on the web within seconds.

Photos and Mirroring…Two separate and distinct upgrades also caught my eye, and they include the photos that are taken with the iPhone and the all-new iPhone mirroring technology. Think about this for a minute. If a marketer/salesperson meets with 15 clients a day and takes photos associated with each of those meetups, those photos are now ganged together by the photo app’s new organizational feature. Mirroring will enable that sell-side professional to then mirror his iPhone and his Mac which can lead to more efficient and effective presentations and followups. While these two enhancements aren’t AI changes per se, they will be very powerful when paired with Apple AI functionality.

What was great about the Apple event is that Apple stayed true to itself. All the AI technology it introduced was designed to enhance the consumer experience associated with the Apple device. Apple didn’t try to overwhelm its users with a slew of over the top AI features, it merely brought to the fore the AI features it believes will make its products more valuable to the end user.

For those who think they have time to react to all of this Apple AI news — because the iPhone 16 will not be released until this September — you should think again. Much of what I wrote about here can be powered by the iPhone 15 Pro which is already being sold. Ergo, some of these marketing differentiators can be deployed by you, or your competitors, any day now.