Much of the hype around AI in the marketing and advertising world revolves around how the technology will reshape the creative side of brand work. In reality, the real advancements have been happening behind the scenes. Across the back end of marketing organizations, AI is changing how they find, organize and manage the insights, strategy, and then execution of work.
WPP has partnered with both Anthropic and Google to integrate more AI tools into its operating systems. TBWA announced in June its new Collective AI platform that aims to bring AI tools to every part of its business. In January, Publicis claimed its CoreAI tools have transformed the massive advertising holding firm from a platform to an “intelligent system company.”
Now, AI lab Forum3 is launching a new platform called Spok to give small and medium-size businesses access to the types of tools the giant ad firms are working with.
Empowering small businesses
Adam Brotman, Forum3 co-founder and former Starbucks head of digital, says that the advancements at large marketing and ad firms are impressive, but the majority of brands can’t afford access to them. “The typical marketer out there is usually under-resourced, busy, looking to get an edge to get more work done and put more effective work out there,” says Brotman. “Usually, they have a few subscriptions to an SEO service, or a writing service, or a trends service. We’re not trying to replace all that, but offer something to the SMB (small and medium business) marketer that they can afford, and that provides some of that power they’re reading about at the big agencies.”
Spok is a subscription service that combines large language models (LLMs), first-party data, third-party data, and specialized marketing intelligence. Its aim is to streamline the work of a researcher, data scientist, strategist, and planner in AI-powered platform to help businesses understand customer behavior, enhance content strategy, and accelerate ROI across digital channels. All for $59 per month.
“The insight for us was that while AI marketing tools are great, most are trying to help with things like writing copy or producing an image,” says Brotman. “These are tactical steps that marketers need, but none were doing a good enough job trying to tackle or get into the real insight behind a marketing campaign.”
The ‘Holy Sh*t’ Moment
Brotman and co-founder Andy Sack started Forum3 in 2021 to help brands understand and leverage web3. But as soon as ChatGPT exploded in late 2022, they saw the writing on the wall and pivoted to research and work with AI. “We were immediately blown away,” says Brotman. “It was our ‘holy sh*t’ moment. We saw the potential to build a software platform on top of LLMs (large language models) that could help marketers. We were already focused on brand builders and marketers, so it was natural for us to focus on GenAI once we realized how easy it was to use.”
The Spok interface feels intuitive thanks to its Google-esque search bar, and its ease of navigation. Users start by teaching the platform about its brand by entering its URL. From there, you select what you need help with. That could be creating a content plan, finding SEO keywords, or attracting more Gen Z customers. You can also enter in competitor URLs for Spok to compare with your own goals. From there, users can ask clarifying questions to dig deeper into the platform’s suggestions.
The tool is not just marketing wallpaper pasted over ChatGPT. Spok is specifically tailored for marketers by using LLMs, and layering in both the first party data provided by users, as well as third party data and marketing intelligence from Forum3.
If you’re selling beer koozies with witty slogans, you can find customer segments who might be interested in them and keywords to target them online. You can get help with creative concepts for a summer ad campaign, or a work through a complete marketing plan for the fall season.
While it’s not going to replace strategists, planners, and creatives at any agencies, its potential is for SMBs with limited access to these capabilities. Brotman cites a 2023 workplace AI study from BCG and Harvard that found consultants working with AI tools completed 12.2% more tasks while doing them 25.1% faster, with more than 40% higher quality results.
“We’re excited about the marketing space, if you can see those kind of quality and productivity lifts,” says Brotman. “That’s incredibly meaningful to a small marketing team, or a generalist who is doing multiple functions in a company. That is the uplift that AI can provide.”
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