This comprehensive coverage of the Marketing Association's monthly meetup held on 29 October 2024 in Auckland reflects the organisation's role in bringing cutting-edge marketing insights to New Zealand professionals.

In a packed session at the Marketing Association's October meetup, New Zealand marketing professionals gathered to tackle one of AI's most promising developments: synthetic data. The event, featuring leaders from McDonald's, Yabble, Ideally, and AI Innovisory, offered practical insights into how Kiwi marketers can harness this emerging technology.

Beyond the Buzzword: What Is Synthetic Data?

"It's made up data created by a magic robot," explained Adrian Green, Head of Consumer & Business Insight at McDonald's, cutting through the technical jargon. "But don't let the simplicity fool you - we're using it for safe testing and AB testing using our app. Having synthetic data available lets us recreate customer behaviours artificially and test product propositions without risking real customer relationships or marketing budgets."

Brendan Cervin, Co-Founder of Ideally, elaborated on the technical underpinning: "There are two types of synthetic data. Traditional synthetic data was predictive - things you've been using for 10 years to give you data over a time series. Generative AI is non-deterministic. There's no data scientist behind it telling us the answer is correct. The answer is simply whatever you get from AI."

Practical Applications Making Waves

Emily Blumenthal, Research Director at Yabble, highlighted three key areas where synthetic data is already proving valuable:

  1. Virtual Focus Groups: "We can combine client's previous research with market conversations to create robust personas for testing ideas and concepts. It's particularly powerful for early idea screening."
  2. Hard-to-Reach Audiences: "B2B research has been transformed. We're getting directionally similar results from synthetic research as we do from traditional interviews, but with greater speed and scale."
  3. Segmentation Enhancement: "Companies spend significant budgets on segmentation projects that often end up as PowerPoint decks on walls. Synthetic data lets us reuse that research, bring in current public data, and continue meaningful conversations with these segments."

Real-World Success Stories

Peter Mangin, bringing 20 years of AI experience to the discussion, shared how synthetic data is revolutionising PR response: "The absolute killer applications I've seen are around PR, where you've got a very tight turnaround time to address a specific issue. By having a representative synthetic panel, you can quickly identify different audience clusters and their distinct interests, enabling multi-stream communication strategies."

Navigating the Challenges

The panel didn't shy away from discussing potential pitfalls. "You've got to be aware of bias," Cervin warned. "A lot of ethnic minorities are underrepresented, and they never will be fully represented, even though people are trying to artificially inflate that to right the playing field."

On the governance front, Blumenthal emphasised the importance of due diligence: "We're getting put through a lot of governance with global companies, which is great. Talk to cybersecurity teams, understand where data is housed and stored, and avoid sending any personally identifiable data - most AI systems don't need that kind of information."

Future Horizons

Looking ahead, the panel was particularly excited about developments in visual analysis. "When AIs can look at images and provide feedback, particularly from a marketing perspective, that's going to be absolutely game-changing," Blumenthal predicted. "Think concept testing, product packaging testing, advertising testing - being able to storyboard concepts and get immediate feedback."

Getting Started

For marketers looking to explore synthetic data, the panel offered these key recommendations:

  1. Start with clear business objectives rather than chasing technology
  2. Begin with early-stage concept testing where risks are lower
  3. Partner with established providers who prioritise data security
  4. Use synthetic insights to complement rather than replace traditional research
  5. Validate results against known data
  6. Consider using synthetic data for projects that traditionally wouldn't warrant large research budgets

"Marketing should be about curiosity and asking really good questions," reflected Adrian Green. "Synthetic data gives us the ability to understand some of the 'whys' that you didn't get round to in your primary research and probably can't afford to get round to next."

The session, skilfully moderated by Sharron Abbot from ANZ Institutional Banking, demonstrated the Marketing Association's commitment to keeping Kiwi marketers at the forefront of industry developments. The next monthly meetup will focus on customer experience strategies for the upcoming summer season.

For more information about future events and membership, visit www.marketing.org.nz.

Did You Know? The Marketing Association hosts monthly meetups featuring industry experts and practical insights. Members get priority access to these events and other professional development opportunities.

Source: Peter Mangin, 7 November 2024