Connor Griffiths, Account Director, The Flywheelers
The pace of AI development over the past two years has been nothing short of remarkable. Today, generative AI finds itself on the product roadmaps of countless technology companies.
Increasingly, tech companies of all sizes are pinning their future on AI. Evangelist leaders wholeheartedly believe the technology’s transformative potential is akin to a moment as seismic as the emergence of the internet.
Given this, it’s understandable for executives to have big expectations for their company’s new AI product launches.
But these launches can’t be expected to speak for themselves. This blog covers four areas of consideration for tech companies striving to align successful marketing and communications efforts with a broader prioritisation of AI.
Hit the right note
News outlets are ramping up their coverage of AI. But this doesn’t amount to lots of reporting matching techno-optimist sentiment. Media mentions of generative AI threatening jobs, fuelling the spread of disinformation, assisting cyber criminals, and harming the environment are common. And generative AI missteps from popular market players are being pounced on more. Just look at the recent backlash against the output of Google’s Gemini AI image generator or the ridicule of OpenAI’s ChatGPT giving malfunctioning responses to user prompts.
This backdrop can’t be ignored. Against it, more hyped proclamations comparing generative AI to fire or water are likely going to fall on cynical ears. Instead, communicators will find success if they can convincingly articulate generative AI’s powerful use cases. The technology has the power to upend a wide range of industry verticals and practices. It’s up to tech companies to tell that story – which comes to the next, closely tied, point.
Timing is everything
Keeping in mind the difficult but clear goal of articulating AI’s transformative potential – picking the right moment for this is crucial. Tech executives who are understandably excited to announce the integration of more AI into their solution or platform might be tempted to hit the press release button on launch.
But what about supporting customers? Demonstrable evidence or easily understood visions of disrupting the status quo to make a positive impact? Metrics? These demands aren’t simple to address, but they’re the elements that amount to cutting through the noise. Tech companies that are serious about marketing success for their AI products and updates should keep it in mind.
Tempering market penetration ambitions
Achieving broad market penetration with a new AI-driven product, service, platform, or update is difficult. As discussed, the market is especially competitive. This is why it makes sense to have specific as possible buyer personas inform the marketing and communications strategy behind a launch.
This will help keep this strategy linked to broader commercial objectives. It’s also more likely to result in successful cut-through, with relevant messaging reaching the buyers that matter.
Not losing sight of brand fundamentals
Tech companies are quickly moving to position their AI credentials as key attributes. This exercise should be treated cautiously by heads of marketing and communications.
Any significant re-brand or change in corporate messaging, for example, needs to be weighed against the risk of brand equity trade-off. The broader issues in a company’s thought leadership wheelhouse can’t be neglected. In short, go-to-market strategists need to ensure that any product messaging pivot doesn’t unintentionally confuse their proposition or lose their differentiation – the absolute last thing any business wants.
If you’d like to speak to us about how you can successfully navigate the comms challenges surrounding the generative AI boom, get in touch at [email protected].
