Milieu Insight: Yay or Nay to AI-led marketing?

Despite seeing a fair bit of backlash with the use of AI in ads and content, in a bespoke survey done by Milieu Insight and MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, most consumers in Singapore and Malaysia say they are accepting towards AI generated ads.

According to Milieu Insight, 83% of the general population in Singapore have some level of trust in AI while 7% have a high level of trust. Around 8% also said that they would think that digital ads created by AI are more authentic while 30% in Singapore said that it makes no difference to them.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, 74% of the general population have some level of trust in AI while 17% have a high level of trust. Approximately 23% also said that they would think that digital ads created by AI are more authentic while 21% in Malaysia said that it makes no difference to them.

Yet, some of the backlash persist. For example in February this year, airline carrier Malaysia Airlines found itself drawing mixed sentiments after its AI-generated Chinese New Year post raised questions of authenticity and ethics in marketing. Netizens were quick to point out that the image looked to be created using AI, and users said that "using AI-generated images made their image look cheap".

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) also generated a significant amount of chatter online after it released a series of three AI-generated images to bring awareness to its enhanced Assurance Package, a scheme meant support Singaporean families with financial aid. What got netizens talking though was that the images sprouted some errors when looked at too closely. For example, in one of the images, the woman sports six fingers on one of her hands.

Most recently Coca-Cola's Christmas ad saw a slew of negative comments with many saying they found it "distasteful", "scary", "soul-less" and "uninspiring". Some even said it looked "cheap" and that it did not bring forth the feelings that holiday ads should.

So with AI usage clearly increasing, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE sat down with some marketers to find out what their plans are for AI in 2025 and how they are anticipating its usage in marketing efforts will evolve in the new year.

Dawn Jeremiah, vice president, global brand marketing, Go City

How do you anticipate AI being used in marketing in 2025?

I anticipate AI being used in a more robust way in 2025 by way of predictive analytics, lead conversions, customer service, and brand protection, just to name a few.

While the blurring between human and AI-generated written content is already happening, we at Go City are keen to balance the efficiency of AI with the power of real human travel experiences and ensure that our creative, social and influencer strategy don't rely on the perfection of AI, but embraces the imperfections of authenticity.

For example, things like behind-the-scenes footage, unpolished vlogs and content can feel more ‘real’, enabling our content to be more likeable and trustworthy. We will continue to test as the trends evolve, so it's important for teams to remain agile with an experimental mindset.

Marcus Chew, group chief marketing officer, Lazada

How do you anticipate AI being used in marketing in 2025?

By 2025, generative AI will be a cornerstone of creative marketing, transforming how brands conceptualize and produce content. AI-driven tools will empower marketers to rapidly generate high-quality visuals, videos, and immersive experiences tailored to individual preferences, allowing brands to experiment boldly and refine creative concepts in real-time.

This shift will lead to an explosion of unique, hyper-relevant content that captures audience attention while cutting production costs and timelines. With generative AI, the creative process will evolve into a seamless collaboration between human intuition and machine innovation, unlocking limitless potential for storytelling and brand expression.

Milind, AI scientist, Mercedes-Benz AG 

How do you anticipate AI being used in marketing in 2025?

Marketing is one of the areas which will be significantly impacted by AI. Talented humans using AI tools will be far more productive and creative than what has been possible.

One possibility is that the content is not only hyper personal but also dynamic, adapting to the mood and context of the receiver.

Another interesting possible future could be that if everyone is extensively using AI assistants for daily tasks, marketers may have to target the assistant AI systems and not the human directly.

Though these scenarios are a few years away, I expect to see more AI influencers, AI generated content and AI enabled adaptive content to start coming into mainstream in 2025

Aun Koh, assistant chief executive (marketing and development), National Gallery Singapore

How do you anticipate AI being used in marketing in 2025?

I've already seen AI being implemented by marketeers, for everything from marketing plans to the creation of presentation decks (and graphics within these), and even presentation scripts.

I think many of our peers are embracing these powerful new tools that are being made available, often free or very affordably.

My biggest worry for 2025 is that too many think that AI is the end-all be-all solution for ideation and presentations. This may result in a homogeneity that comes from far too many using the same tools to pitch the same people or trying to solve the same problems.

I also worry that people will start to automatically turn to their computers instead of turning to colleagues. We need to use AI smartly and precisely, and continue to work with our smart and human colleagues for new, creative ideas and solutions. 

Jayss Rajoo, director of marketing and food innovation, Pizza Hut

How do you anticipate AI being used in marketing in 2025?

A hyper-personal response with AI-driven content customisation, and product recommendations, also the use of predictive AI will come into play to augment engagement and automation.

AI customer service will also be crucial in ensuring a fully optimised customer engagement experience across all touchpoints.

Creative and dynamic ad creation and optimisation to enhance investments on creative paid media will also be important - speed to launch is crucial to maximise ROAS.

Gen AI will still be very much in use, as well as an integrated Voice of Customer system to assess and analyse customer and brand sentiment.

Behaviorial targeting and precision audience mapping is something we are already doing for paid media as well, and I think it will also be in demand for the coming years. There is a lot more we can do, but for now we are still treading somewhat carefully but embracing what this tech can help marketers.

What do marketers feel generally in Singapore and Malaysia?

Overall, the study found that 67% of marketers in Singapore have said that AI has had a somewhat positive impact on their marketing strategies while 10% have said that AI has made a very positive impact. Of that number, 57% in Singapore and 17% found that they sometimes and very often use AI-powered tools at work.

The study also found that 71% of marketers in Singapore were somewhat satisfied, occasionally finding themselves intervening, editing or correcting the output from AI while 19% found themselves not intervening, editing or correcting the output from AI.

Across the border in Malaysia, 58% said that they have seen a somewhat positive impact on their marketing strategies while 20% said that AI has made a very positive impact. Around 42% and 23% respectively found that they sometimes and very often use AI-powered tools at work in Malaysia. Of that number, 72% were somewhat satisfied, occasionally finding themselves intervening, editing or correcting the output from AI while 26% found themselves not intervening, editing or correcting the output from AI.

When asked if marketers thought that AI will eventually be able to do what they do, 45% said that yes but they won't be able it to do it as well while 46% said that yes and that it will do it better.

Related articles:
Brands in SG are falling behind in AI adoption
Why half of Malaysian CEOs have yet to adopt gen AI in their work