In October, we sat down with a group of senior marketing leaders for a private breakfast at the National Gallery. An open discussion unfolded, breaking down what is actually happening inside their organisations, as brands balance AI across production and culture whilst expanding globally.
The question we put to the room was this:
AI can now create content for any market, and make localisation faster and cheaper than ever. So who decides whether an idea actually belongs there? Here’s what we heard:
Localisation becoming quick and cheap, but deciding on cultural fit is still slow, scarce and requires human judgement.
Cultural misjudgements that rarely arrive in one dramatic moment. They build up over time: a tone slightly off, an image that does not quite land.
Local relevance eroding quietly, and showing up too late in brand tracking to prevent local markets from getting the wrong impression of the brand.
Asia being treated as one market, despite spanning dozens of countries and languages, many with long, sensitive histories between them.
Around the table were leaders responsible for international marketing and content at travel, hospitality, healthcare and consumer brands, some of them overseeing production across dozens of markets. Ten themes came out of the room, each a live problem for senior marketers right now. We have written them up with a practical response to each.
If you are a senior marketer managing AI-driven content across a number of markets, it is worth a read.