McKinsey says AI could transform marketing but firms lag

McKinsey has published new research on the use of artificial intelligence in marketing, finding that many organisations have yet to scale the technology across marketing functions.

The consultancy estimates AI could unlock up to USD $90 billion in improved marketing returns in the US alone. Yet fewer than 10% of organisations have successfully applied it across their marketing workflows. The research also found a gap between widespread use of AI tools and companies' ability to turn that use into measurable value.

One study examined how AI is reshaping marketing operations and identified gains for companies that redesign marketing around real-time insight, content creation, personalisation and optimisation. McKinsey said those organisations are seeing productivity gains of two to three times, savings of 10% to 30%, and revenue and conversion growth of 4% to 7%.

A separate study, conducted with Google, examined the organisational barriers to slower adoption. It surveyed more than 500 marketers globally and described an "AI marketing cognitive dissonance" between enthusiasm for the technology and concern about its impact on jobs and decision-making.

The survey found 86% of marketers are excited about AI's potential, while 57% are anxious about its implications. Among chief marketing officers, the split was sharper: 96% said they are excited about AI, 71% expressed anxiety, and 80% said they believe AI could put their own role at risk.

That tension appears to be affecting how companies deploy the technology. While 60% of marketers said they use AI multiple times a week, only 28% said their companies are pursuing a fundamental rewiring of marketing teams and workflows.

Execution gap

McKinsey argued that many businesses remain focused on surface-level deployment rather than structural change. As a result, AI is being integrated into existing processes rather than changing how marketing is organised and measured.

"AI adoption is happening faster than value creation. Nearly sixty percent of marketers are using AI multiple times per week, yet fewer than ten percent of organizations have successfully captured value across marketing workflows. This AI adoption-value disconnect could have profound consequences on the organizations that don't catch-up," said Kelsey Robinson, Senior Partner at McKinsey.

The research also highlighted a divide between finance and marketing leaders over the purpose of AI. More than half of marketers (53%) said they see AI more as a driver of growth than of efficiency, while they believe senior executives often place more weight on productivity and cost reduction.

McKinsey suggested that difference matters because marketers said the chief financial officer often views marketing as a cost centre. That can slow investment in broader transformation if the business case is framed too narrowly around savings rather than revenue generation.

Five roles

In its report on the future shape of marketing, McKinsey set out five areas where AI is changing the work of marketing teams. They include managing how brands are represented in AI-driven search and shopping systems, delivering one-to-one customer experiences, moving from campaign cycles to always-on marketing, producing tailored creative work faster, and using continuous customer signals to guide decisions.

McKinsey said these changes will alter job design as much as the use of software. It described new functions such as people responsible for how brands appear in AI systems, staff focused on real-time personalisation, and teams working across the full customer journey rather than within separate brand and performance silos.

On personalisation, McKinsey said AI-driven approaches can increase revenue by 5% to 8%, improve customer satisfaction by 15% to 20%, and reduce cost to serve by up to 30%. In always-on marketing models, it is said return on investment can improve by up to 30%, while time spent on execution tasks can fall from 60% to 70% to as little as 10% to 15%.

Creative work is another area of change. The research said some organisations are already reducing campaign development cycles from six to 10 weeks to same-day execution, while also reporting two- to five-fold increases in creative productivity and reductions in creative costs of 10% to 30%.

It also pointed to the use of digital twins of consumer personas to test likely responses to campaigns, pricing and products before launch. McKinsey said that approach forms part of a broader shift towards real-time testing and learning in marketing.

Julien Boudet, Senior Partner at McKinsey, warned that companies delaying structural change risk falling behind.

"Marketing leaders are caught between optimism and anxiety. They see AI's enormous potential, yet worry about its impact on talent, creativity, and competitive advantage. That tension is understandable. But, standing still is the riskiest strategy of all. The organizations moving fastest to redesign how marketing works around AI are already achieving two-to-three times productivity gains, four to seven percent revenue growth, and up to thirty percent higher marketing ROI," he said.

Google said the shifts are likely to blur traditional distinctions inside marketing departments.

"The lines between performance and brand marketers will continue to blur in the next era of AI, requiring us to think more holistically across the entire customer journey. This is giving rise to 'orchestrators'-marketers who can connect teams and AI-enabled workflows to drive real business results," said Marie Gulin-Merle, Global Vice President of Ads and Commerce Marketing at Google.