• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 25, 2023

The vast majority of global marketers already have set strategies for incorporating AI into their mix, but most of it is focused on creating content, ideas and improving customer experience, not media. That's the finding of a just-completed study released this morning by the World Federation of Advertisers, which will present the findings to its executive committee Tuesday.

In fact, the word "media" is used only once in the 899-word release announcing the findings, and that was cited as part of the study asking marketers which teams were most involved in setting their AI strategies.

Of the six departments cited in the research, media ranked fourth behind marketing teams, legal teams and insights teams, and just ahead of policy/corporate affairs and sourcing (see above).

"We need to review the opportunities and challenges through the prism of all business functions," WFA CEO Stephan Loerke said in a statement included with the announcement. So far, media doesn't seem to be among the most pressing business functions, according to the study.

The most immediate internal gains cited by respondents were:

• Improved productivity and efficiency (89%)

• Reduced costs (76%)

• Improved creativity (46%)

The biggest risks cited by respondents were:

• Data protection/privacy (77%)

• IP/copyright (77%)

• Brand safety/adjacency (71%)

• Diversity, equity and inclusion (54%)