AI can assist a company in enhancing its personalization scale to higher levels in its workflow and customer experience. As consumers are getting more familiar with AI in creating their own world with their own accords, brands can focus on providing personalized services and engagement using AI. Hyper-personalization is expected to rule the B2C arena in 2024. Therefore, it is the brand's and companies’ responsibility to experiment with AI to facilitate this marketing trend.

Many big tech companies are getting up to speed on this topic. For instance, Amazon Ads has launched an AI image generator in beta for improved imagery in the advertisements. Consumers worldwide are expecting more from the content that they are consuming with 62% expecting more personalized connection from brands.

AI with In-house Hired Hands

It is important to create a workplace environment where the employees get inspired and helped by AI to work on different tasks more efficiently and quickly with an effective result. Companies have to educate their workers to work with AI tools in their daily processes. With this, they can avoid using manpower on a tedious task that can be accomplished by AI robots. According to McKinsey & Company, the overall economic potential of generative AI in workers productivity can lead to a value between $6,1 trillion to $7,9 trillion.

Amazon has incorporated 750K robots in its factories to be of assistance to the employees and introduced Amazon Q, a generative AI assistant that helps staff with daily tasks including solving creative problems, providing documents, clarifying doubts, and many more. An ad agency named Codeword has appointed two software-built AI interns to work closely with the teams and create outputs in editorial content and graphic designs.

Marks & Spencer uses AI-powered computer vision and CAD data to work on automating the design and development of products like apparel, lifestyle products, and furniture. It also includes works such as editing product images and writing product descriptions which can save time and build efficiency.

Other brands like H&M, Macy’s, Dior, Nike, and Zara have already employed AI in their production process, especially in the automated supply chain. Zara has the Just-In-telligent supply chain system to avoid logistical issues by using real data and forecasted analytics. Through machine learning and AI, Nike fast-forwards the products liked by the customers in the supply chain for quicker delivery. It employs over 1,5K robots. Dior, with its omnichannel demands, uses AI and smart robots in supply chain management. With AI-powered automated streamlining in the supply chain, Macy’s is expecting savings amounting to $100 million. H&M collaborated with Google Cloud to plan its supply chain structure through AI that will be climate-positive by 2040.

Hyper-personalization through AI

Incorporating an advanced level of AI data analysis to develop a personalized customer experience can help brands drive loyalty. The companies can use the wide range of data collection and analytical abilities of AI to design customized profiles on each customer that includes their behavioral patterns too. One of the examples is virtual try-ons with an AI facial recognition tool that can detect the consumer’s emotions.

Nike has the Nike Fit app where the users are allowed to scan their feet through their smartphones to get an accurate size. It uses AI and AR technology which is made of a 13-level measuring system to check the feet’s size. With the customers using the app more time, more data will be collected, and the more accurate the app will become for them.

H&M uses generative AI for its Conscious Exclusive collection to understand the star product that is more appealing to the consumers. Then, it will have a generative adversarial network (GAN) to design new items according to currency consumer trends and needs.

Prada collaborated with Adobe to improve the in-store and online consumer experience with real-time personalization through AI data analytics. There are labels, such as Valentino, Moncler, Coperni, and Prada, that use an attentive AI to generate a digital collection campaign with customized background and foreground, image setting, color, lighting, and other elements instead of filming a time-consuming real film.

AI Customercare

The brands have to develop an easy, self-serving customer experience through AI with minimal complications and wait time. The customer service department is one of the crucial jobs in the company with a turnover rate of 45% on an annual basis. It is ideal for companies and brands to automate some services with more grace and friendly output. According to McKinsey, AI has an opportunity to generate $400 billion in customer service.

Zalando GmbH has a ChatGPT-driven assistant that provides recommendations on products if requested and can answer complicated questions. It was launched in the UK, Ireland and Germany. A UK retailer, Next, utilized generative AI to respond to thousands of customer queries to save time and ensure efficient service.

PrettyLittleThing from the UK allows its shoppers to use both visual and text search tools to find a product. Brands such as Sheep Inc., Adidas and Casablanca use AI-generated images to showcase their products. H&M invited its customers to design their own clothes with AI.

Ermenegildo Zegna X tool allowed the users to customize any product from the label’s online collection. Its predictive AI tool suggests a combination of clothing looks to the employees based on the preferences and likes of the customers. Levi’s used AI-generated models to display its apparel and accessories and to support diversity and inclusivity. Kitsch introduced the Sienna AI tool, with an understanding and empathetic programming, to take care of 68% of the customer service.

Co-creating with AI

Partnering with AI to create collections and provide a futuristic experience is another way of using AI. It can help the brand in both external and internal matters. Having AI tools at the employees’ disposal in the design and development stage is ideal. However, it is important to introduce and educate the staff on how it works. The AI tools can also help in upskilling the staff in many ways.

G-Star Raw used generative AI to explore the possibilities and forecasts of denim couture. In October 2023, Moncler and Adidas collaborated on an AI-generated NFT collection named “The Art of Explorers.” Revolve invited the winners of AI Fashion Week to create a collection through machine learning. The collection was made physically in Los Angeles and sold on the brand’s website. Revolve teamed up with an AI studio Maison Meta to drop the first-ever AI-powered billboard campaign.
LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton used generative AI expertise in the archives of Guerlain to create around 1,8K art to digitally exhibit as a way of celebrating the label’s 200-year heritage. Ganni (during Copenhagen fashion week) and Collina Strada (in its SS24 show) looped AI in as a design assistant.

Cover Image: Adidas x Moncler's The Art of Explorers Campaign, courtesy Moncler official website.