Autumn is always a special time at MSR. Not only has our team enjoyed some well-deserved time off to recharge our batteries to prepare for a busy season, it’s when we celebrate the firm’s anniversary and reflect on our successes and opportunities as we plan for what’s next. This year, I’m proud to say there’s extra excitement as we celebrate 25 years as a full-service boutique public relations agency and digital marketing communications firm. I’m incredibly honored to continue servicing our clients at the forefront of evolutionary trends in emerging technologies, business services, and consumer lifestyles that are redefining how we live, work, and connect with the world.
Speaking of trends, in honor of this milestone anniversary, in this post I will share a few trends that are impacting the industry, such as AI and measurement. Keep an eye out for my next post, where I’ll offer more trends and predictions for 2025.
Parallel Trends: Is it 1999 All Over Again? The AI “Bubble”
Back in 1999, when I first opened the doors to MSR, we were in a tech boom that’s reminiscent of today’s AI frenzy. It was a time when VCs were on a spending spree investing in promising new internet-based startups that drove up company valuations higher than the industry had ever seen. Enterprises were forced to quickly adapt or pivot to adopt these evolving technologies and incorporate them into their work streams, products and services offerings, and marketing and communications. Then, just like that, the dot com bubble burst, investors became much more cautious, and eventually, the market righted itself.
Similarly with gen AI, transformative technology has appeared almost overnight and is affecting the way millions conduct business, streamline their workflows, deliver products and services, and engage with consumers. As the initial AI hype from the past year has begun to settle, some are questioning if we’re on the verge of another dot com bubble. Despite the dot com burst, internet technology evolved, making it integral to all users’ daily lives, whether for business or personal use. Having experienced both the boom and the bust here at MSR and the subsequent value internet technologies have brought the past 25 years, I’m quite bullish on AI, its advantages for horizontal and vertical applications, and its continuous evolution.
Yes, the race to innovate with large language models (LLMs) for GenAI applications and agents has taken over Silicon Valley and San Francisco’s Hayes (Cerebral) Valley, but that’s the nature of the tech community when something as game-changing as AI hits the market. As with any “new” technology that’s continually changing at the speed of light, there’s always skepticism about its potential impact and threats to data accuracy, security, and the privacy of individuals and their sensitive information. Despite these concerns, we’re seeing firsthand within MSR’s client roster how AI models that are trained with established ethical guardrails and authenticated data have the potential to streamline, automate, and help organizations achieve their goals and, most importantly, drive revenue. I’m pleased to share just a few of the many exciting examples where the team and I’ve experienced the impact of our clients’ AI technologies on their customers’ goals.
MSR’s client Conversica has been at the forefront of AI for the past decade with its industry-first conversational AI agent technologies. When the Milwaukee Bucks partnered with Conversica, they needed an efficient way to connect with fans and drive ticket sales. By adding conversational AI with data analytics to their MarTech stack, the Bucks’ AI assistant, “Emma” became their marketing and sales team’s “sixth human.” Not only has Conversica’s technology streamlined processes, its predictive analytics have boosted efficiency and driven revenue in real time by analyzing buyers’ previous patterns and recommending specific sports packages and offers, identifying new leads for upgrades, and increasing season and gameday ticket sales.
In the world of politics, where the end goal is to sway voters, Jason Palmer, a relatively unknown political figure, used AI to beat President Biden in America Samoa’s democratic caucus last spring. Palmer worked closely with Conversica to develop Palmer AI, a digital assistant capable of communicating with voters in a highly personalized and efficient manner, providing important information about the candidate, and encouraging them to vote. Palmer credited AI with his win in Samoa. It quickly and efficiently reached far more voters than his team ever could’ve reached themselves.
In both use cases, Conversica has demonstrated that when GenAI models are trained efficiently, they can effectively digitize workstreams and drive revenue-generating business results. Given the many AI iterations that have cropped up this past year, such as AI agents and AppliedAI, we’re eager to see what 2025 will bring. One thing’s for sure: the need for data authentication, transparency, and trust in the AI-generated world is greater than ever.
Deep Fakes and The Need for Trusted Data
Similar to 25 years ago, when the internet took hold of the global business world, commerce, and consumers, today AI is creating fundamental, positive changes and potential challenges to the way businesses operate and consumers engage. In this Forbes Magazine article, “The Rise of Deepfakes Means CEOs Need to Rethink Trust,” MSR’s client David Maher, CTO of Intertrust Technologies, sheds light on the critical need for data that can be trusted in this evolving AI landscape. From security attacks to fake news, dis-and misinformation, to deep fakes in entertainment such as celebrity impersonations, content that’s continually shared by multiple parties without human oversight, established security measures, and intentional business practices that verify data for accuracy pose threats on a scale we’re just now beginning to understand. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. As the Forbes piece suggests, it’s imperative for forward-thinking leaders to “embed trust into the very fabric of their businesses” because “AI lacks the understanding of ethical principles…[it doesn’t] grasp concepts in the way humans do,” –at least not yet, although it’s in the works!
We’ve just seen this during the recent election campaigns, which highlight the critical need for authentication and trusted data and content before sharing it vs. using data that spreads dis-and-misinformation. Similar to the impact of social media on both the 2016 and 2020 elections when foreign adversaries infiltrated social channels to spread propaganda and create political discourse between followers and political parties, AI, with its precision targeting, behavioral data analysis, and deep fake content creation capabilities, creates even broader risks for manipulation. AI, combined with social media, has become a powerful tool for amplifying highly convincing but fake, polarizing content and misinformation. It’s the reason why the government is continually evaluating how to put guardrails around the development and responsible use of AI. We’ve already witnessed the work of bad actors using AI to create deep fakes, and we will continue to…did someone say Taylor Swift?!
What does this mean for businesses and communicators? It means that while there are many potential challenges with AI, there are also many opportunities to use AI responsibly, leveraging information that’s authenticated and trusted to streamline and automate important parts of our jobs that typically require many hours to perform, such as research and measurement. With the fluctuating market and subsequent year-end belt tightening, measurement has become increasingly more important than in earlier years.
MSR’s New Measurement Capabilities
I’m pleased to share that MSR has added a number of new data analytics capabilities to our toolbox that demonstrate the impact of our efforts on ROI. In addition to the traditional metrics, surveying, and research we’ve offered for over a decade, we’ve enhanced our measurement capabilities with sophisticated analytics and analyses reporting services. We’re leveraging a variety of the latest monitoring, AI, and analytics tools to provide invaluable insights into trends, performance, audience engagement, and positioning, such as (1) Landscape Analysis which evaluates the external factors impacting an organization such as societal trends, industry dynamics, and public sentiments; (2) Measurement Analytics that quantify the effectiveness of PR and social media initiatives by audience engagement, sentiment, brand awareness, and stakeholder perceptions; and (3) Prediction Forecasting which leverages data and trends to anticipate future developments and stakeholder perceptions by analyzing past performance and current trends. Please let me know if you may be interested in exploring any of our new capabilities to measure your initiatives.
Conclusion
At MSR, we have a front-row seat to the latest trends, thanks to how deeply embedded technology is in our DNA. The winds are changing in light of AI advancements and shifting behavioral habits, all signaling significant changes ahead. This is far from the first time we’ve witnessed a paradigm shift in how people conduct business, connect, and share information. The coming years promise to be an exciting time for PR and MSR as we continue to leverage evolving technologies to address the next wave of shifts in business and consumer lifestyles.