APAC marketers most likely to embrace AI: Econsultancy

APAC-based marketers are among the most enthusiastic for AI, with only 38% of respondents from the region dismissing the need for the technology, compared to 51% from North America, according to the 2018 Digital Trends report released by Econsultancy in association with Adobe. 

The survey further revealed that 51% of respondents from APAC are either using AI already, or are planning to use it in the next 12 months. The areas of application include narrow use cases such as use of AI in content creation, creative and design work and digital asset management. 

A total of 12,795 marketers from both the client-side and supply-side took part in the online survey carried out between November 2017 and January 2018. Among the global respondents, 12% were from Australia and New Zealand, while 21% were from other markets in Asia.

Marketers in APAC are most likely to focus on creating personalised and relevant experiences for consumers, compared to their North American and European peers, who want to make the experience as valuable as possible. Safety, reliability and speed of the experience also came up as top priorities for the APAC marketers.

Likewise, APAC-based marketers are particularly focused on a range of data-related capabilities including understanding how mobile users research/buy products, understanding when and where customers use different devices, using online data to optimise offline experience and vice-versa. However, content and experience management remain the top priorities for companies across regions.

About 67% of respondents in APAC said they would increase their spending in digital marketing; respondents in APAC were more than twice as likely as thier North American counterparts to invest in digital training. The report nevertheless noted that companies in North American may have been at the forefront of technology and hence will be spending less on training.

On the other hand, APAC repondents are also more likely to have an integrated, cloud-based technology stack. Sixteen participants from the region said their companies already have this in place, compared to 10% in North America and 9% in Europe. A total of 22% of companies in APAC were identified by their marketers as "design-led".