AI and Creativity in Marketing

This chapter aims to understand how marketing practitioners and academics perceive the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) on creativity. Extending the Wingström et al. (2022) framework, the research explores creativity dimensions, including actors, processes, outcomes, domains, and spaces, and extends the examination to the field of marketing. The methodology involved 30 semi-structured thematic interviews conducted with marketing experts: 20 practitioners from diverse industries and 10 academics. These interviews focused on participants' knowledge and experiences with GAI and creativity, opinions on co-cre-AI-tion, and anticipated future implications. Findings revealed that both practitioners and academics acknowledge GAI's significant influence on the creative process in marketing. While GAI is widely adopted, its role varies between practitioners and academics. Practitioners leverage GAI for tangible marketing outputs and efficiency in tasks like brainstorming, language refinement, and automation. Academics employed GAI mostly for conceptual and strategic purposes. Despite the positive impact of GAI, challenges found included learning curves, biases, and concerns about uniformity in creative outputs. Finally, the study suggests that, while GAI enhances creativity, careful consideration of ethical implications and the preservation of human creative essence are essential.