Omar Kandil is the dynamic CEO of OBCIDO Inc., a leading New York-based marketing and web PR agency specializing in Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies. As head of a global creative team, Omar has worked with top brands from around the world, bringing a unique perspective to each project.
With a BA in Business Administration and extensive executive management experience in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and GCC, Omar has earned a reputation as a seasoned industry leader. His impressive track record includes high-profile collaborations with the UN, Meta, the Athens Democracy Forum in association with The New York Times, and Duggal Visual Solutions (NY), among others. In addition to his role as CEO, Omar is a certified NFT expert recognized by the Blockchain Council. He has been instrumental in advising on several highly successful.
His wealth of knowledge and infectious passion for the industry makes him a true asset to the marketing community. Omar is a highly sought-after speaker, having delivered compelling presentations at numerous events across the globe, including NFT NYC, NFT Summit of Istanbul, STC Techtalk, Oasis X, and Dubai Metaverse Assembly.
In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Omar Kandil to discuss his thoughts on one of the most buzzed-about topics in the marketing industry: Artificial Intelligence (AI). With his well-established experience in traditional and emerging marketing technologies, Omar is uniquely positioned to speak on the importance of AI in marketing.
The use of AI in the marketing world has been proliferating in the last couple of years. As corporations and businesses continue to seek ways to improve their operations and strategies, AI technology is being leveraged in various ways. Marketers leverage AI technology to generate leads, create content, analyze data, place ads, engage with chatbots, and draw on risk analysis, to name just a few. A prominent added value of AI in marketing is its potential to analyze and evaluate large amounts of data in seconds. This has allowed so many businesses to gain detailed insights into consumer preferences and behavior which translates into much more narrow and targeted marketing campaigns. AI has helped businesses enhance their efficiency.
To gain insights into how AI is being used in marketing, the following questions were asked:
Q: How do you see AI tools such as chat gpt affecting the labor market in the future?
Answer: I don’t think that AI will replace human labor shortly at all. I think AI is here to complement and support our work. Even if AI can write you the perfect google ad campaign, and create your designs, or if AI can set up your campaigns fully on google, you will still need that person or a human element. We would need that person that comes up with the concepts and moves the data from one AI software to the other, ensuring that the concept is there and that the human element is still present as we are addressing other humans and not other AI machines. We have already started seeing the hype when it comes to AI with the rise of tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney. I consider myself to be lucky to be living in an era where AI can act as our assistant. However, I don’t believe we can fully replace AI with humans. I can see that a lot of employees are starting to get scared over the future of their jobs. I always get asked, “Will our job be in demand in the future?” I hate to see that some people are being demotivated and having concerns regarding the future instead of embracing the power of AI technology which would be a career changer for them.
Q: To what extent do you think AI tools are reliable in terms of delivering the right results for customers?
They are reliable to a certain extent only if moderated with the touch of the human element.
In terms of depending on AI software, they are still in beta mode so companies are still testing this software. They might crash, we might face bugs, and they didn’t establish the reputation and credibility of big tech companies such as meta, google, and apple. So in terms of reliability, AI tools are not to be relied upon blindly. For example, when using ChatGPT to answer questions, it is crucial to note that such tools and software are designed to generate answers that seem accurate, but in reality, it gives us answers from different sources. Therefore, we’d always have to double-check our sources from a more credible and reliable sources.
Q: How do you see AI evolving over the next decade, and what potential impact do you think this will have on the marketing world?
AI is still in its earliest phases and what we are witnessing now in terms of AI is similar to what people witnessed with the rise of the internet back in the 1990s. People are still questioning the ability of AI as we questioned the ability of online shopping, banking, remote work systems, and other technologies that became too mainstream. I see AI evolving more and learning more about humans which will be very helpful to the marketing world. Today, AI can answer your questions, suggest ideas for your blogs, write your website code, and create your digital art and that’s just the very start of AI’s power. When it comes to marketing and AI in the next decade, I see AI companies developing multiple transactions simultaneously. It might also create competition within the marketing industry as it’ll help agencies and companies with spending up all marketing-related processes, increasing efficiency, and aiding in the overall workflow.
Q: How do you use AI to increase your ROI in marketing campaigns?
AI is used in various ways to increase client’s return on investment in marketing campaigns. One way is through predictive analytics which enables us to identify the elements and factors that would lead to the success of the campaign. Examples include audience engagement patterns and demographics. So, simply by understanding and examining such factors, we can optimize campaigns to tailored segments, allowing us to increase brand engagement. A/B testing and the use of AI is also relied upon for real-time examination of various campaign elements. That’s very helpful because it helps with the identification of which variations are the most likely to be effective and succeed , thus one can just fine-tune campaigns accordingly in no time.
Q: How do you leverage AI tools to segment your customers?
It’s definitely through a combination of hybrid models and data-driven segmentation. In terms of using data-driven segmentation, it involves interpreting large amounts of data on demographics and customer behavior as a way of pinpointing patterns and groups based on their similarities. For example, such similarities include online activity, social media engagement, purchase history, and so much more. The use of hybrid models is also crucial for customer segmentation as it integrates data-driven segmentation with AI tools and algorithms that are flexible enough to adapt over time. They also aid in the identification of other underlying factors that are directly correlated to consumer behavior such as seasonal purchasing patterns let’s say. So, through using AI analysis, we attempt to create much more accurate segmentation models to deliver more personalized and successful marketing efforts.
Q: How can AI be used to improve the customer experience in marketing?
AI has come a long way in enhancing customers’ experience in the marketing world. With various AI tools being available, marketers can accurately recommend the next best actions for the customer by looking into their behavior patterns. Also, with the help of AI tools, chatbots can now look into customers’ browsing history and behavior to push sales and post-sale upselling. They can do that through programmed questions and validate potential customers before they move to the sales agent. That’s just the surface of things, AI helps in the efficiency of creating customized ads and emails to clients which is ideally key to enhancing the customer experience.
Q: What are some potential ethical considerations that should be taken into account when using AI in marketing, and how can businesses ensure that their use of AI aligns with their values?
Marketing entails the collection and analysis of data, which although quite beneficial to consumers, may lead to a breach of ethical values. I think a main issue for all marketers and business owners that are integrating the use of AI in their operations and strategies is finding the right balance between delivering value to customers and respecting their privacy. It is a vital step for marketers to filter out the data, analytics, solutions, and content they receive from AI software to avoid biased results, discriminatory content, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
Omar sheds light on the importance of integrating AI tools into marketing practices for better performance, better decision-making, and enhanced operational efficiency. He also highlights the significant correlation between the growth of AI and the marketing world. Businesses are now integrating AI tools into their strategies and operations to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. This helps in increasing clients’ return on investment by analyzing consumer behavior and patterns. By doing so, marketers can ensure efficient campaign placement and consumer segmentation. For proper customer segmentation, the use of data-driven and hybrid models is the most effective in combining factors that both directly and indirectly influence consumer behavior. It is also important to ensure that one’s ethical values and others’ privacy are not compromised when working with AI tools.
