We are bringing you news and highlights from the 2024 Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week in London, U.K..

Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. Here are takeaways from Day 1.

On Day 2, we are highlighting how to leverage tech to improve advertising, findings from the Gartner Unified Commercial Strategy Survey and the reputational risks of GenAI. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

Key Announcements

Gartner Says The Marketing Function of The Future Must Be Designed to Direct Disruption

Gartner CMO Survey Reveals Marketing Budgets Have Dropped to 7.7% of Overall Company Revenue in 2024

Gartner Survey Reveals 84% of Marketers Report Experiencing High 'Collaboration Drag' From Cross-Functional Work.

Brands Need A New Approach to Win with Gen Z

Advertising Automation: Leverage Tech to Improve Media Buying, Creative and Optimization

Presented by Andrew Frank, VP Analyst, Gartner

While budgets remain stagnant, marketers are expected to do more with less even as media prices continue to increase. However, in his session, Andrew Frank, VP Analyst at Gartner, shared how CMOs can harness AI to drive efficiencies within media buying, and improve campaign and audience planning, measurement and optimization, and creative.

Key Takeaways

'While AI can't solve every problem CMOs face, it can certainly improve their toolkit. AI tools are driving advances across three aspects of digital marketing:

Campaign & audience planning

Measurement & optimization

Ads & creative'

'Media fragmentation is a growing challenge, but armed with more powerful analytics, marketers can turn it into an advantage. There's an opportunity to optimize your media mix with modeled audiences based on the first-party data you still collect. ''Forty-six percent of functional business leaders cited data accuracy, reliability and transparency as the biggest challenges to implementing GenAI.'

'There's a network of tools and technologies available to marketers to help with data, measurement and optimization. They can help curate look-alike audiences and inform contextual targeting strategies.'

'Creative is still king. Brands are eager to leverage AI to lower production costs, but when utilizing AI for generating commercial content, it's essential to understand the training data used for the model you or your agency is using.'

Marketing and Brand's Role in ESG and Sustainability Strategy

Presented by Dean Vitte, Director, Advisory at Gartner

ESG and sustainability requires a collaborative approach in which marketing's role is often unclear. In his session, Dean Vitte, Director, Advisory at Gartner, explored how CMOs can create a strong ESG narrative that ties to the brand's identity and demonstrates how these efforts benefit customers.

Key Takeaways

'Brands are under growing pressure to demonstrate their ESG commitments: 80% of business leaders report that customers are the biggest source of this pressure.'

'From a marketing standpoint, when the connection between ESG and business identity and direction is clearly articulated, it can be used as a differentiator, and therefore an extension of the brand.'

'CMOs must work cross-functionally to create, and message about concrete actions, drawing links to associated business risks and opportunities, to improve C-Suite buy-in and drive urgency.'

'Creating an ESG narrative helps customers to understand why your brand is involved with certain issues, and how they align to the brand's values and strategy. Authenticity is key.'

'Brands need to communicate how their ESG efforts benefit customers in order to build and reinforce the connection they have with their customers.'

Navigating the GenAI Frontier: The Dual Facets of Reputation Risks

Presented by Alexandra Earl, VP, Advisory, Gartner

Marketing teams are piloting GenAI for a variety of use cases, but half of customers and employees say thay do not trust that AI will be used responsibly. In her session, Alexandra Earl, VP, Advisory at Gartner, explored how marketing leaders can manage the reputational risks that come with GenAI adoption, from disinformation to security and accuracy risks.

Key Takeaways

'CMOs are excited by the possibilities of AI, but diving into GenAI without full awareness of its risks is like diving into water without knowing how deep it is.'

'Marketers face two categories of risk:

External: Impersonation, disinformation and unreliable platform moderation.

Internal: Mis-judged employee use, security and accuracy risks, and lack of guidance.'

'One of the biggest concerns for marketers is impersonation. Deepfakes are rapidly becoming more indistinguishable from authentic content.'

'Sixty-three percent of employees say they want guidance on GenAI issues where there is no current guidance. Technology is developing more rapidly than guidance and guardrails, and employees are facing pressure to adopt AI quickly.'

'CMOs must tackle the internal risks posed by GenAI adoption, providing clear guidance and ensuring that guardrails are in place so that employees can experiment.'

That's a wrap for Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo 2024! See you next year.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization's mission-critical priorities. To learn more, visit gartner.com.

Media Contacts

Elizabeth Bishop

Gartner

elizabeth.bishop@gartner.com

Jordan Brackenbury

Gartner

jordan.brackenbury@gartner.com

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