Many c-level officials from companies and experts attend the MMA Impact conference titled "AI-Powered Business Innovation: Navigating Impact" in HCM City on Thursday. – VNS Photo Thu Ngân

HCM CITY — AI is the next big shift in modern marketing, the MMA Impact conference titled "AI-Powered Business Innovation: Navigating Impact" heard in HCM City on Thursday.

Organised annually by MMA Global, this year’s conference was regarded as a "monumental event" and keenly anticipated by the marketing industry.

It saw top industry executives discuss the newest ideas and initiatives as well as the amazing growth of contemporary marketing in the Vietnamese market in the context that AI is dominating modern marketing.

Participants agreed that AI is changing modern marketing as it is able to multiply creativity, productivity and performances.

Roopa DhawaN, industry head, brand solutions, Southeast Asia, at Google, told the conference that marketers can harness the capabilities of AI to help them at scale of setting bids, finding audiences, generating insights, optimising real-time performance and scaling creatives.

“You are not competing with AI. You are competing with marketers using AI.”

Speaking about AI applications, she pointed out that smart reply in gMail accounts for 12 per cent of all responses sent on mobile phones, and Google Maps uses AI to predict travel time by analysing historical traffic patterns and current conditions.

Google photos are organised by the places and things in them with no tagging required, she said.

While it is an inevitable trend, participants said, “Artificial intelligence must be our ally, not our replacement.”

Naoyuki Kawakita, group president of Hakuhodo International Vietnam, said: “We are living in an era where machines can compose music, paint portraits and even write poetry.

“AI, with its vast capabilities, is often regarded as the solution for modern business challenges.

“Let’s harness its power, guided by our heartbeats and continue to build brands that resonate, relate and most importantly, loved.”

At the day-long conference, top executives and specialists offered insights into many sectors.

They also spoke on topical subjects related to contemporary marketing and how technology in this era transforms marketing.

They reviewed the most outstanding advertising campaigns of the year listed in the Smarties nominations run by leading companies to rising startups.

Complex challenges and seamless collaboration between human creativity and technology to find solutions were shared.

Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA Global, told Việt Nam News: “World technology trends run in 13 year cycles…. If you think about those trend lines, in 2020, most believed that AI was that next trend, and I think we are experiencing that now.”

“…2020 is the marking point but CHAT GPT and generative AI became popular two-three years later. I think there's still more to come. That's what’s going on. This is the trend that will define and dictate all the opportunities in the next 10 years.”

In addition to the most in-depth insights in the area, the event offered a stimulating venue for energetic networking and business matchmaking.

Attendees got the opportunity to meet industry executives, managers and marketing specialists, establish partnerships, and explore collaborative prospects.

On the same day as the MMA Impact 2023 event, the SMARTIES Awards Vietnam 2023 was organised to honour the year's top campaigns and highlight innovation and diversity in the marketing sector. – VNS