Emerging Trends in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is evolving rapidly as new technologies reshape how brands reach and engage customers. This webinar explores major shifts, including generative AI, retail media, and the creator economy. Columbia Business School’s Miklos Sarvary and Kinshuk Jerath explain how these forces are changing marketing strategy.

Overview

Miklos Sarvary, the Carson Family Professor of Business, and Kinshuk Jerath, the Arthur F. Burns Chair of Free and Competitive Enterprise, explore how generative AI, retail media, and the creator economy are fundamentally reshaping the digital marketing landscape. They discuss how generative AI now powers 30% to 40% of digital ads, enabling "agile branding" through real-time content creation, while highlighting the explosive growth of retail media as a high-conversion channel. Their discussion emphasizes that while technology evolves quickly, an effective marketing strategy must remain grounded in time-tested frameworks of human psychology and the customer journey.

Key Takeaways

  1. The Generative AI Content Revolution: Generative AI has evolved from a tool for measurement into a powerful engine for content creation, now responsible for 30% to 40% of all digital display and search ads. This enables hyper-customized ad copy tailored to an individual’s purchase history or web behavior.
  2. A Shift to "Agile Branding": Traditional multi-month branding cycles are giving way to agile branding, where companies use social listening and AI to generate high-quality video content quickly. This allows brands to respond to cultural moments and emerging trends in real time.
  3. The Power of Retail Media: Retail media has grown from a niche channel into a multi-billion-dollar market. By leveraging first-party data, retailers are transforming their platforms into advertising ecosystems that reach consumers closer to the point of purchase.
  4. AI-Driven Productivity in Research and Support: Beyond creative applications, AI is significantly reducing costs in market research by simulating consumer responses for tools such as conjoint analysis. Advances in translation technology also enable companies to deliver high-quality, localized customer support globally.
  5. Merging New Tools with Timeless Frameworks: Despite the rise of AI influencers and prompt engineering, human psychology remains constant. Successful strategies integrate new technologies into established frameworks such as the acquisition funnel and customer journey.

Webinar Speakers

Miklos Sarvary, Carson Family Professor of Business and Co-Faculty Director, Media and Technology Program, is a faculty director of the AI-driven marketing strategy program.

Miklos Sarvary

Carson Family Professor of Business
Co-Faculty Director, Media and Technology Program
Vice Dean for Executive Education

Kinshuk Jerath, Professor of Business Marketing at Columbia Business School, is a faculty director of the AI-driven marketing strategy program that provides training to executives on leveraging new technologies to enhance customer relationships.

Kinshuk Jerath

Arthur F. Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise

Chair of the Marketing Division

Upcoming AI-Driven Marketing Strategy Program

Marketing

$10,250

AI-Driven Marketing Strategy: Leveraging New Technologies to Cultivate Enduring Customer Relationships

4 CIBE Credits

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