Bill Zengel interviews Marten van Pelt Chief Marketing Officer at Plante Moran

Bill Zengel Marten you are leading perhaps one of the boldest sessions at the 2025 ANA Masters of B2B Marketing Conference and it is on perhaps the hottest buzz word in Marketing and Advertising amp8220AIamp8221 which is a bit of a double misnomer because amp8220AIamp8221 is not actually a word And amp8220buzzamp8221 is wrong because it indicates something passing potentially And I think we both think AI is here to stay So why AI Why this session Why nowMarten van Pelt Everything we do in marketing is affected by AI from strategic planning to content development to data analytics So we have to completely lean in and take advantage of every opportunity we have to try new use cases learn from them and build on them This session felt like a amp8220no braineramp8221 when it comes to a use case that we know will be here to stay We may not get it exactly right the first time but weamp8217ll definitely learn and know what to do next time No point in waiting to get that experience and knowledgeBZ Harry McCann said amp8220Advertising is truth well toldamp8221 And the truth is AI is here to stay and it is only going to grow How do you see it affecting both positively and negatively the advertising and marketing industry you and I grew up in and love so wellMVP To me advertising and marketing have always been about creativity and innovation You should be constantly learning how to tell stories and talk to customers in ways that will get them engaged That doesnamp8217t ever change in my view Now we just have incredible new and fastmoving technology to do that Ideally even better We have created tested and refined messaging for as long as Iamp8217ve been doing this Now we can do it faster and more efficiently and with better accuracy in our data The one challenge we need to watch out for is making sure we donamp8217t start amp8220mailing it inamp8221 because itamp8217s easy to do Human insight creativity and empathy will be even more critical to developing great work The machine will never do that for usBZ What are some of the watchouts you could foresee about AI as a marketing leader For example weamp8217ve heard people mention data privacy copyright and energy consumption among other concerns So what if any concerns do you foresee potentially arising that could affect its current trajectory MVP I touched on it a bit in the last question but to me the bigger watchout will be that we donamp8217t let AI become a substitute for great ideation rather than a tool to help us get there I understand concerns about data privacy but ultimately weamp8217ve had those issues even before widespread use of AI and theyamp8217ll always need to continue being addressed I do think the concepts of copyright and plagiarism will evolve with AI But as Iamp8217ve been saying that will put even more emphasis on the need to truly have brand authority and brand voice So making sure we have that clearly established and use it consistently will be criticalBZ ANA Members like you maintain that marketing training and development are important to future growth What advice would you have for a newly minted graduate this June about marketing advertising and the implications of AI for his or her future careerMVP I say it to my team all the time Never stop learning something new every day In fact now that they are graduated let the real education begin Obviously today you need to learn everything you can about AI and how it can help you be better in your role but donamp8217t lose sight of the other elements of marketing and advertising like customer insights strategic planning creativity and analytics Just use the AI training to make you better at all those thingsBZ Time is often considered the most precious commodity for executives like yourself yet you are making time for you and your team to participate in this AI exercise and conference in person It calls to mind and I paraphrase Lincolnamp8217s statement that if he had to cut down a tree in an hour he would spend 50 minutes sharpening his axe Why is amp8220inpersonamp8221 learning and networking important to marketers todayMVP That answer is always easy to meamp8230 we are selling things to people To humansamp8230 whom we need to always understand how they interact how they buy how they create relationships with brands and products While we may do a lot of buying behind computer screens we canamp8217t learn how to sell without interacting in personBZ Thank you Marten I have the opportunity to meet thousands of marketers every year and only a very few stand out and stay with me in my mind people who love the industry as much as I do who love the process of discovery as much as the discovery itself and of course the journey Thinking back on your journey so far and knowing you must expect the unexpected if you could go back in time to counsel a young Marten at 30 years of age what would you tell him was the biggest surprise you encountered and how would you counsel him to prepare for itMVP This might be an unusual answer but I would tell him the biggest surprise is how much fun what we do really is When I was 30 and starting my career in digital marketing as the internet had just started showing that it would be a huge part of our lives in the future I was much more focused on amp8220getting things rightamp8221 convincing people everyday how important it was going to be for them to have a digital strategy and invest in it And while I understood the fundamental impact on society that the internet would have I didn39t yet fully embrace the fact that learning about that impact coming up with incredible creative ideas and watching human behavior change fundamentally could be really fun at the same time Thatamp8217s why I can now embrace AI fully for the incredible fun it will bring to our professionPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Bill Zengel interviews Marten van Pelt Chief Marketing Officer at Plante Moran

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