Why AI and bots will rule Cannes Lions in 2017

Two years ago, no matter what advertising festival or conference you attended, it was impossible to go five minutes without hearing about connected homes. The connected home is now a reality, and this has given our industry a new challenge — how to market to the machine, rather than the consumer.

The new age of Artificial Intelligence and bots powered by smart devices is about to descend on Cannes with a vengeance.

By 2021 there will be more than 4 billion digital assistants in use and we will see this number explode even more as new players come onto the market.

Today’s key players tend to fall into two categories: those that reside on our devices such as phones and computers, and those that are devices, such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, the Cortana Home Speaker coming in 2017, and the recently announced Apple HomePod.

It’s when we begin to think about the different platforms and different ecosystems for each of the major digital assistants that things get interesting. Will the different assistants be able to talk to each other? How will brand loyalty play into consumer choice when it comes to digital assistants?

There is no doubt that bots are now assisting consumers in a myriad of different ways on a daily basis. Consumers use bots to organise travel plans, place purchases, and manage their daily schedules.

What does all this mean for us as marketers? What is the role for brands in this new environment? How does marketing to a machine change our notions of brand relevance? And what can brands do now, today, to prepare for the expanding world of bots and digital assistants?

If you will be on the ground at Cannes Lions, join me Tuesday, June 10th at 10:00AM at the Dentsu Aegis Network Beach House, as I lead a conversation with four of the industry’s heavyweights on the debate that will shape how bots and AI will impact all of us.