Mike Maynard is Chairman of Napier in the UK and Deputy Chairman of Eurocom Worldwide, the Global PR Network
Eurocom Worldwide: Hey Mike, the big PR groups like WPP or Publicis are currently investing millions in their AI strategies and building sophisticated proprietary AI platforms.
Do you think these proprietary AI platforms could be outdated by the time they are launched?
Mike Maynard: The large global agencies are putting a huge amount of money into AI, but this doesn't mean that their solutions are entirely proprietary. The costs of training large LLMs dwarfs even the hundreds of millions of dollars that WPP and Publicis are putting into AI.
So in reality, these "proprietary" platforms still use the same LLMs – for example Claude and ChatGPT – that all agencies can access. In very simple terms, large agencies will provide the ability for clients to tune models, and offer a way to access multiple AI resources through a single proprietary interface.
It's therefore unlikely that proprietary platforms will become outdated. They can easily add new versions of LLMs when they're released. Of course tuning a new model might delay the process, but that's no different to a small, independent agency creating a tuned model directly with a platform like Google Gemini.
Being outdated is not a problem. The issues for clients are around investing in what could be seen as a proprietary wrapper around LLMs: you're trading ease of use for lock-in, which might not be seen as a good deal by some brands.
Eurocom Worldwide: Heavy investments require strong returns: Is it possible that massive AI budgets backfire on large PR networks?
Mike Maynard: The investments made are going to have to deliver returns in the short term. AI technology is moving so quickly that the value of any investment will depreciate over a period of months, not years. Recently we've seen the large holding companies make layoffs in some of their brands, and commentators have suggested that some of this might be due to replacing people with AI. Maybe this is the RoI they need.
Conglomerates often tend to think in terms of cost reductions. I'm not sure that this is the right approach for the deployment of AI. I believe that independent PR agencies will think in terms of growth: they'll look at how AI can empower their teams to do more. In the long term, this is likely to generate far greater returns than a focus on cutting costs and jobs.
Eurocom Worldwide: How can independent PR agencies like the Eurocom Worldwide members design niche AI offerings that outshine less flexible, one-size-fits-all platforms?
Mike Maynard: Independent PR agencies are already doing a fabulous job of using AI to improve their offerings. Their agility is a huge advantage: by engineering large, complex platforms, the global agency groups will find it harder to have the flexibility that's needed to take advantage of the innovations in AI that will appear over the next few years. Their platforms also make use of the same AI models that any agency can use. As AI tools get better and easier to use, I see even greater opportunity for independent PR agencies to be AI leaders.
Smart agencies will conduct small experiments using the many existing tools to identify how they can most effectively use AI. By avoiding large, complex engineering projects, independent PR agencies will ensure that they have the flexibility to adapt to advances in the technology.
I also think that independent agencies will take a much more pragmatic approach to AI. The global groups are almost forced to invest huge sums into engineering projects, putting huge pressure on their teams to force the AI platform into everything they do. Independent agencies don't face that pressure, and will concentrate their efforts where AI really makes a difference to their clients, potentially delivering far greater client RoI.
Eurocom Worldwide: Would you advise independent PR agencies to forge alliances with startups or universities to co-create unique AI solutions?
Mike Maynard: Today, I don't think that independent PR agencies need to create AI platforms. When search and social media started to dominate the internet, it made no sense for agencies to create their own platforms.
Today independent agencies are delivering fantastic results for their clients by using third party platforms from Google Ads to Facebook. The desire to own a solution feels terribly dated: just as I get far better value streaming music than owning physical copies, I think that the real value for agencies will be in how people use AI and not in who owns the platform.
Don't misunderstand what I'm saying: partnerships with startups and universities can deliver fantastic results for independent PR agencies. But we should be sculptors learning how to use tools to create something great, rather than the companies manufacturing the chisels. The money is in the art!
Eurocom Worldwide: How can independent PR teams prioritize talent development to maximize RoI from off-the-shelf AI tools and platforms?
Mike Maynard: It's all about leveraging the benefits of being small and independent. Agility, pragmatism and experimentation are the keys to success. The most successful independent PR agencies will also benefit by sharing expertise with other agencies, and this is where being part of a larger group of independents is such a huge benefit.
I've got to plug Eurocom Worldwide here, because I've recently had the most amazing conversations with another agency in the network about helping clients improve their visibility in generative AI results. Their expertise has accelerated our ability to support our clients in such an important area.
Because of the mutual benefits of cooperation, accessing this knowledge from other member agencies is pretty much free: I might have to buy them a drink to say thank you when we meet at Eurocom Worldwide's next conference in Vilnius, but that cost is vastly different to the hundreds of millions of dollars that large agency groups are spending because they feel they have to do everything themselves!
Eurocom Worldwide: Last question: Do you think we think too much about AI?
Mike Maynard: I probably spend too much time wondering if we think too much about AI. Half of the predictions around AI are massive hype, but the other half are going to be true. Of course, we don't know for sure which half is hype.
In the long term, it's likely that AI will perform a significant number of marketing tasks, replacing humans in these areas. But I'm an AI optimist: I think that in five to ten years' time, agencies will be doing more work at higher standards because they're using AI. It's pretty clear that AI is a tool and not a solution: you'll still need human intervention.
It might be controversial, but I think AI will be great at doing clearly defined tasks and that when it comes to complex, undefined tasks – for example creating a multi-channel campaign – it won't be much better than simply following the steps in one of the many blog posts that describe how to create a campaign. Those blog posts haven't killed agencies, and equally I think agencies have a bright future in the AI era.