AI vs EQ: The Grudge Battle Between Algorithms and Media Planners

AI or EQ – which works best for media planning? OMD’s Laura Nice (Co-CEO), Alison Costello (Chief Transformation Officer), Penny Shell (Chief Product Officer), and Thad King (National Head of Communications Planning) attempted to settle the debate once and for all in this MFA EX session.

The case for AI

AI allows media planners to work faster, said Costello. “It dramatically decreases the number of choices we make in a day and helps us make decisions fast – the average AI response time is five seconds.”

Then there’s proven performance. “For years, we have been leveraging AI to model historical data set to predict future outcomes, because we know it's going to generate that 10 to 20 percent increase in return on investment,” she said. “It gives us a level of comfort that we can deliver for our clients and our businesses.

The case for EQ

Emotional intelligence – or EQ – is the best option for media planning, counter-argued Shell. First, she dispelled a myth; “Past performance is not the best indicator of future performance, despite what market mix modelling may have you believe.” Showing the audience a chart of the 10 most valuable brands in 2000, she revealed some don’t even exist today.

“Creation, innovation and invention are the greatest catalysts for brand demand and value – not simply doing what’s been done before as AI algorithms are trained to do,” she said. “And predictions can be wrong – 25 years ago, we said QR codes would never work!” 

A combination of AI + EQ = the winning formula

Using three responses to a Dulux brief as an example, the team found that AI and EQ both play an important role in media planning, and combining the two appears to be the most effective approach.

They shared a pre-recorded message from Brent Smart, CMO of Telstra. “AI is a tool, and when put in the hands of a creative human who can prompt it well, curate it, filter it, and bring their taste and intuition to the process, that’s when we’re going to get better creativity,” he said.

You can watch this fascinating MFA EX session here.