How the UK’s AI action plan will transform advertising
![How the UK’s AI action plan will transform advertising How the UK’s AI action plan will transform advertising](https://uk.themedialeader.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Jane-Ostler-op-Joi-750x502.jpg)
Opinion
The UK government’s AI push is a timely opportunity for businesses to rethink marketing by focusing on building the skills needed to integrate the technology effectively.
What if the UK’s ambitious £14bn AI investment could redefine how brands engage with audiences and shape consumer experiences? While the initiative is focused on public sector advancements such as enhancing AI computing power and responsibly leveraging anonymised NHS data, it is likely to inspire innovation across private sectors too.
For advertising, a field increasingly driven by data and technology, the potential ripple effects could be transformative.
As the global marketing industry approaches $1tn in revenue by 2025, generative AI is emerging as an important tool to help brands work more effectively and connect with audiences in new ways.
By analysing consumer behaviour data, brands can identify trends and preferences to inform targeted campaigns. AI can also create personalised content, from visuals to written text, tailored to specific audience needs.
But you already knew all of that. So what comes next?
Global ad industry to grow 9.5% this year as revenue flows to tech giants
Untapped potential
Despite all the hype around gen AI’s potential, its adoption in marketing remains slow.
For instance, more than 50% of marketers are not yet using gen AI in their work. This means businesses could be missing out on opportunities to create more engaging campaigns and optimise their budgets.
Critically, with marketers facing higher levels of scrutiny to deliver return on investment and marketing budgets increasingly under pressure, gen AI could improve the effectiveness of marketing spend by 5-15%, translating to over $460bn annually.
So what’s stopping brands from gaining a competitive edge?
There are several barriers that are impeding progress, including the lack of role-specific training, concerns over high implementation costs and a gap in organisational readiness.
While gen AI is hailed as a game-changer for the marketing landscape, many marketers admit they are not ready for full-scale implementation.
The technology may be powerful, but it isn’t “plug and play”. Success depends on thoughtful planning, cross-company collaboration and upskilling teams to use gen AI confidently and responsibly.
It requires a human-centric approach, where individuals are trained (and allowed to experiment) in using the technology effectively. Only then can gen AI’s full potential be realised.
AI creativity is about raising the floor as well as the ceiling
Transforming creativity and content
Gen AI offers opportunities for brands to optimise content creation at scale, shaping long-term strategies by analysing consumer behaviour and market trends.
Over time, and with the correct use, it will help brands become more meaningful, different and salient among audiences.
Here are three ways brands can better leverage gen AI to reshape their marketing and advertising.
‘Show me the money’: Will business models be ‘redefined’ by AI agents?
1. Market research and consumer insights
With gen AI, brands can approach their strategies by analysing vast datasets on consumer behaviour, market trends and competitor activity. It can also uncover hidden patterns in data, predict market shifts and inform data-driven decisions, empowering brands to stay ahead of the curve.
For example, Coca-Cola’s Y3000 flavour was co-created using gen AI, blending consumer insights with predictive analytics to craft a product that aligns with future preferences.
Similarly, tools like Kantar’s KaiA use advanced language models and data analytics to provide natural-language insights, allowing users to query complex business questions like “Why is my brand power declining?” and receive actionable insights instantly.
2. Advanced ad-testing and campaign creation
Gen AI is reshaping the ad-testing landscape, offering capabilities that traditional methods simply cannot match.
Tools like Link AI, powered by advanced AI, enable marketers to optimise their creative development at an unprecedented scale, covering formats such as video, social media and interactive content, and identifying features like music and celebrities that link to effectiveness.
By analysing variables like attention, emotion and memory, gen AI allows brands to optimise creative content before launch to ensure that it resonates with the people they’re trying to reach.
This level of precision and scale will empower marketers to test more assets faster and with greater confidence, ultimately improving campaign performance and driving higher engagement.
And the world is changing — we will soon see gen AI being used as part of an iterative end-to-end creative development and effectiveness process.
3. Hyper-personalised consumer engagement
Virtual assistants — much like Scarlett Johansson’s Samantha in Her and Joi from Blade Runner 2049 — offer a glimpse into the futuristic vision of AI-powered interactions.
For marketers, the good news is that virtual assistants don’t require holograms or emotional entanglements to deliver immense value. For example, Asian insurance company AIA released Sonny, a digital twin of footballer Son Heung-min, that delivers personalised onboarding experiences for customers.
This type of tailored AI-driven interaction can elevate user experiences, creating deeper connections with both consumers and brands.
The future is now — so get going
The UK’s AI push is a timely opportunity for businesses to rethink how they approach marketing. Gen AI has the power to help brands work smarter, create more meaningful campaigns and engage with audiences in ways that feel both relevant and authentic.
To fully realise these benefits, marketers must focus on building the skills and processes needed to integrate AI effectively. By starting small, addressing barriers thoughtfully and prioritising ethical practices, businesses can position themselves to thrive in this new era of advertising.
The future isn’t just about technology — it’s about empowering people to use it to make better decisions, create better outcomes and build stronger relationships with their audiences.
Jane Ostler is executive vice-president, global thought leadership, at Kantar