In the ever-evolving realm of marketing and marketing technologies, the convergence of tech and strategy has become more critical than ever. Ansira has stood at the forefront of this intersection, pioneering the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our adtech for over two decades. In an enlightening conversation, we spoke with Angie Cordova, Ansira’s VP of Product Management, and Catie Cryder, Ansira’s EVP of Media, to unravel the pivotal role AI plays in shaping innovative strategies and campaigns for our clients.
The Journey of AI in Adtech
Q: How long have we been using AI in our adtech?
Angie: Ansira’s journey of leveraging and integrating AI within our adtech began in the mid-2000’s, placing us at the forefront long before AI became a mainstream buzzword in marketing technology. We began integrating AI models into our adtech platform in 2007. In its early stages, we continuously enhanced and refined our model approach, evolving and re-releasing through the 2010’s allowing us to leverage the enhancements from generation 2 to 3. Currently, the platform leverages machine learning and predictive analysis functionalities, solidifying our commitment to staying ahead of the curve in the dynamic adtech landscape.
The Evolution of Ansira’s AI
Q: How has our AI evolved over the years?
Catie: From a media standpoint, the evolution of our adtech has been marked by strategic partnerships to amplify our data capabilities, including key collaborations with industry leaders such as Amazon, Equifax, and Oracle. This important development involves a direct integration of their data into our platform for our AI to leverage, providing an enriched and diversified dataset. These integrations underscore our commitment to staying on the cutting edge, ensuring that our AI is not only well informed but also empowered with the latest insights from these prominent partners.
Angie: The evolution of Ansira’s AI has been a transformative journey, progressing from 1st generation to the cutting-edge 3rd generation, each phase marked by powerful advancements. To illustrate this progression, consider the definitions of each generation and everyday examples that we may not think about but interact with daily.
- 1st Generation AI (Handmade): The first generation of AI is characterized by handmade or rule-based systems. In this era, AI systems are explicitly programmed with rules and decision trees. The intelligence is derived from human-crafted logic, and the system follows predefined instructions without the ability to adapt or learn from data.
- Example: Most cell phone providers support the ability for their customers to start a chat session with them as opposed to talking to them on the phone. When you engage in a chat session, the responses you get back are all templated choices. And in many cases, the templated choices won’t change regardless of how specific or vague the text you enter into session may be.
- 2nd Generation AI (Statistical Learning): The second generation of AI marks the shift toward statistical learning or machine learning. Instead of relying solely on explicit programming, these systems can learn patterns from data. They use statistical algorithms to generalize from examples and make predictions or decisions based on new, unseen data. If/then statements and statistical correlations play a significant role in decision-making.
- Example: After watching movies and TV shows on your Netflix account, Netflix will produce a match percentage for movies and shows you haven’t yet watched. The match score predicts how likely you are to enjoy the movie or show based on previous entertainment you’ve watched.
- 3rd Generation AI (Explainability and Generative Models): The third generation of AI places emphasis on explainability and generative models. AI systems in this generation not only make predictions but also provide insights into the reasons behind those predictions. Generative models, such as neural networks, are used to create new data or content. The focus is on creating AI systems that can generate human-like outputs and offer a deeper understanding of their decision-making processes.
- Example: Using the same chat session example as before, in this scenario, imagine you are engaging in a chat session where the answers you receive are not templated, but rather catered to you because the AI is accurately interpreting your questions and responding with specifics in the answers.
Our AI’s evolution extends beyond the metaphors, encompassing various media adtech enhancements that drive outcomes clients are seeking to solve for, such as:
- Diverse Budget Models: For clients who rely on a media team to plan and buy for them, it’s important to ensure that agreed upon campaign goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are met. With various budget levers as inputs, custom campaign optimization, using AI, is applied to each campaign based on spend “weight” that matches back to KPIs.
- Budget Control and Pacing: Media investment is often a large portion of an overall client’s marketing spend and it’s important to ensure that budget is maximized across the duration of the campaign. Dollars are not wasted with too little spend or too much frequency. AI powered budget pacing exercises meticulous control to put the right message in front of the right customer.
- Machine Learning Dynamics: Every client is looking to gain more customers or sell more of their goods and services. Through machine learning capabilities, AI can help campaigns direct media dollars toward the most engaged consumers, thereby maximizing Return on Investment (ROI) for client campaigns.
- Predictive Analyses: Building a solid media strategy starts with data and leverages past campaign performance data to determine budget allocation across media tactics or among different audience segments is something Ansira’s AI can do.
- Cross-Channel Optimization: Speaking of media tactics, consumers today are engaging with brands and brand messages across a vast array of media channels and devices. The right media mix is important to reach the right customer segment. Campaign optimization tools that enable optimization within specific channels (e.g., paid search) and across channels (search, display, etc.) are critical to standing out from the competition. Our AI can power this level of optimization.
The Future: Navigating Non-Auto Verticals and ‘Cookieless’ Environments
Q: Where do we see our AI going next?
Catie: Looking ahead, Ansira’s vision for the future involves a proactive stance in navigating industry changes. As the global landscape braces for a ‘cookieless’ world, our adtech stands at the ready. The foresight to prepare for this impending shift positions Ansira at the forefront of technological adaptation. Importantly, our commitment to privacy is unwavering—we neither pass along nor utilize Personally Identifiable Information (PII). In automotive for example, this, coupled with our direct inventory connection, ensures that our clients’ campaigns remain unaffected by the rise of ad blockers and the demise of the tracking cookie. Ansira remains dedicated to providing a seamless and secure advertising environment amidst the evolving dynamics of the digital marketing realm.
Angie: The trajectory of Ansira’s AI is set to redefine its capabilities. While our AI has demonstrated exceptional proficiency in the automotive vertical, the next frontier involves tailoring its prowess to address the distinctive (KPIs) prevalent in non-auto verticals such as Quick Service Restaurants and Retail Goods.
The focus is on creating and implementing tailored solutions that empower Ansira’s media teams to craft and manage budget models aligned precisely with the nuanced requirements of businesses with a franchisee or distributed sales model. As Ansira continues to evolve, our dedication to enhancing AI functionality across the industry verticals that Ansira serves remains resolute.
Client Benefits: How AI Enhances Program and Campaign Implementations
Q: How does our AI benefit client program/campaign implementations?
Catie: The benefits to our client program and campaign implementations are significant, driven by the real-time adaptability of Ansira’s AI. Operating on various parameters, the AI makes continuous adjustments based on Outcomes/KPIs, website traffic/conversion paths, audience data, and media demand by channel. This dynamic optimization occurs at a remarkable frequency, enabling the AI to refine strategies hundreds of times per day.
This accelerated optimization surpasses the capabilities of a manual, hands-on buying team, allowing our media experts to shift their focus. The media team can instead dedicate their efforts to overarching strategic outcomes, reports, and campaign inputs, aligning seamlessly with clients’ budgets. This streamlined approach eliminates the need for manual bid and inventory adjustments, ensuring our clients receive more media exposure and enhanced outcomes for every dollar invested in their campaigns. Ansira’s AI not only ensures efficiency but also maximizes the value of our clients’ marketing budgets.
Angie: The benefits of integrating Ansira’s AI into client program and campaign implementations are multifaceted, emphasizing a commitment to unbiased optimization, adaptability, precision, and demonstrable success.
- Channel Neutrality: Our AI operates without favoritism towards specific channels or advertisers. It diligently evaluates recent media performance, employing predictive analysis to discern patterns, and strategically reallocates budgets and bids. This ensures a dynamic approach to capitalize on the highest ROI for our clients’ ad dollars.
- Continuous Adjustment: Ansira’s AI is tirelessly dynamic, perpetually adjusting strategies in real-time. This proactive approach alleviates the burden on clients, allowing them to focus on overarching strategy and goals, while the AI manages the intricate, day-to-day adjustments to optimize campaigns.
- Pacing Expertise: One of the key advantages lies in our AI’s awareness of the calendar. It intelligently paces spending throughout the month, avoiding the pitfalls of running out of budget prematurely and mitigating the risk of overspending. This meticulous pacing ensures optimal utilization of the allocated ad dollars.
- Fractionalization Capabilities: The recently implemented fractionalization capabilities on our adtech platform is enhanced through our AI. This platform feature, coupled with our AI model, extends the reach of client ad dollars, making them stretch further and deliver greater impact.
- Proven Success: Case studies stand as a testament to the effectiveness of Ansira’s AI. The optimization provided by our AI has resulted in impressive outcomes for our clients, with documented cases showing a remarkable 7% increase in visits and an outstanding 52% boost in leads. These results underscore the tangible benefits our AI brings to the table, solidifying its role as a powerful ally in maximizing media impact for our clients.
Looking ahead, our AI is poised to address unique KPIs across key industry verticals Ansira serves, safeguard campaigns without utilizing Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and provide clients with real-time adaptability and continuous optimization to maximize the value of marketing budgets.
As we navigate the future of marketing and adtech integrations with AI, Ansira’s AI model evolution will provide a solid foundation for continued media efficiencies for our client portfolio.
If you have questions or would like to explore how Ansira can elevate your marketing and media strategies, feel free to reach out.
