AI Trainee Talk #2: Các bạn trẻ đừng ngại việc nhỏ, và dùng AI đỡ nhiều thời gian

Key Concepts

• Commercial Marketing (B2B): Marketing activities focused on businesses, distributors, and dealers, characterized by direct customer interaction.
• General Marketing: Activities targeting channels, partners, and retailers.
• C-Level Marketing: Events and activities aimed at senior executives (C-suite) who are end-users of products.
• Retail Marketing: Marketing efforts directed towards retail channels.
• Return Marketing: Programs designed for dealer channels.
• USM Production: Production of marketing materials like catalogs, brochures, and gifts.
• KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Measurable values that demonstrate how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.
• Engagement, Impression, Click View, Like: Metrics commonly used in digital and social media marketing.
• Earned Media: Media coverage that is not paid for but gained through publicity.
• MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): A lead that has been qualified by marketing and is deemed ready for sales follow-up.
• AI (Artificial Intelligence): Technology that enables machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.
• Copilot (Microsoft 365): An AI-powered assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 applications.
• ChatGPT: A large language model developed by OpenAI.
• Generative AI: AI that can create new content, such as text, images, and videos.
• Prompt Engineering: The process of designing and refining inputs (prompts) for AI models to achieve desired outputs.
• Systematic and Automation: Tasks that are repetitive, rule-based, and can be performed by machines without human intervention.
• Information Security/Data Privacy: The protection of sensitive information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.
• Zero Trust: A security framework that requires all users and devices to be authenticated and authorized before being granted access to applications and data.
• Accuracy and Validation: The process of verifying the correctness and reliability of information.
• Career Path: The sequence of jobs or roles an individual holds throughout their working life.
• B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Marketing activities focused on individual consumers.
• Agency: A company that provides marketing or advertising services to other businesses.

Daily Tasks of a Commercial Marketing Manager at Lenovo Vietnam

Nguyễn Hồng Thanh Thảo, Commercial Marketing Manager at Lenovo Vietnam, outlines her daily responsibilities, which can be broadly categorized as planning, operation, reporting, and tracking progress. This includes occasional meetings with partners and participation in events.

Her role encompasses several key areas:

• PR & Comms: Public relations and communications activities.
• General Marketing: Activities targeting channels, partners, retailers, and distributors.
• C-Level Events: Organizing events for high-level executives who are end-users of Lenovo products.
• Retail Marketing: While not a primary focus for Lenovo due to their emphasis on dealers and end-customers, occasional retail activities occur. This can include point-of-sale displays and in-store branding.
• Return Marketing: Programs specifically for dealer channels.
• USM Production: Creating marketing collateral such as catalogs, brochures, and promotional gifts.

Output and KPIs in Commercial Marketing

The ultimate output for Thảo's role is measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

• Digital & Social Media: While standard metrics like engagement, impressions, clicks, views, and likes are relevant, Lenovo's budget allocation for social media is limited, focusing on maintaining connections rather than extensive campaigns.
• PR & Comms:
  • Maintaining relationships with media outlets.
  • Tracking the number of published reports and press releases.
  • Generating earned media (unpaid mentions).
• Events:
  • Generating Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from event attendees who subsequently show purchase intent.
• Overall Commercial Goal:
  • Driving sales of products, devices, and solutions.
  • Closing deals and opportunities.

Impact of AI on Marketing Roles

Thảo discusses the impact of AI on her marketing role, acknowledging that it's a topic of significant interest, especially for students preparing for the future workforce.

AI Tools and Applications Used

Thảo has experience with several AI tools:

• Copilot (Microsoft 365): Integrated into her work environment.
• ChatGPT Plus: Used for personal projects and exploration.
• Generative AI tools: Utilized for content creation.

Key Areas of AI Application in Marketing

Thảo identifies three primary areas where she leverages AI:

1. Information Search and Validation: AI is more efficient and effective than traditional search engines like Google for finding and verifying information.
2. Framework and Template Generation: AI significantly speeds up the process of finding or creating templates, frameworks, and content calendars for marketing plans, which previously required manual effort from agencies.
3. Creative Content Generation: While AI can generate ideas for content, images, and videos, the output often requires substantial refinement and editing by human artists to meet aesthetic standards and achieve a natural tone.

AI's Role in Time-Saving and Job Replacement

Thảo offers a nuanced perspective on whether AI saves time and replaces human roles:

• Time-Saving: AI demonstrably saves time, particularly in research and information synthesis. For example, tasks that previously required reading and summarizing multiple articles can now be significantly accelerated by AI. Thảo estimates a saving of at least 50-60% in such tasks.
• Job Replacement: Thảo firmly believes that AI will not replace humans in marketing, especially in her field.
  • Content Refinement: AI-generated content, even if grammatically correct, requires human review to ensure natural language, brand voice consistency, and overall effectiveness.
  • Systematic and Automation: AI excels at systematic and automated tasks, such as file conversions or data analysis for report generation.
  • Mid to High-Level Roles: Human expertise, critical thinking, and communication skills are essential for mid to high-level marketing roles, which AI cannot replicate.
  • Interdepartmental Communication: AI cannot facilitate communication and collaboration between different departments within a large organization.

Challenges and Considerations in AI Adoption

Thảo highlights crucial considerations for using AI in a corporate environment:

• Information Security and Data Privacy:
  • Large enterprises handle vast amounts of sensitive data.
  • There's a risk of data leakage if information is not handled with extreme care.
  • Thảo emphasizes a "zero trust" principle, meaning all information and AI outputs must be verified.
  • While tools like ChatGPT claim not to store data long-term, Thảo maintains a cautious approach.
• Accuracy and Validation:
  • Not everyone possesses the expertise to critically assess the accuracy of AI-generated information.
  • Misinformation from AI can lead to significant negative consequences, as exemplified by a recent case involving Deloitte, a major consulting firm.
  • The ease and speed of AI use can lead to unintended side effects if not managed responsibly.

AI Usage Among Young Professionals and Students

Thảo observes that younger professionals and students are generally adept at using AI tools.

• Proactive Learning: Students are actively learning and experimenting with AI, often through online courses (Coursera, Microsoft, Google) and self-study, in addition to their academic curriculum.
• Adaptability: This proactive approach is seen as a positive sign for Vietnam's technological advancement, with the younger generation expected to drive faster progress.

Advice for Aspiring Marketing Professionals

Thảo offers advice for students and young professionals entering the marketing field, especially in the context of AI's growing influence:

• Embrace Foundational Tasks: Even seemingly "manual" or "grunt" work, like managing physical equipment for events or meticulously checking product details, is invaluable. These tasks build patience, attention to detail, and a deeper understanding of products and processes, which AI cannot replace.
• Develop Essential Skills: Beyond technical AI skills, Thảo stresses the importance of patience, meticulousness, caution, and allowing oneself sufficient time to learn and grow, rather than rushing to meet external expectations.
• Explore All Angles: Young professionals should strive to experience various aspects of the job, even if they are not strategic or high-impact initially. Learning from every task contributes to overall development.
• Find Your Passion: The most critical advice is to identify a specific industry or product that genuinely excites you. Marketing exists across all sectors, but passion for a particular product or industry will lead to faster career progression and a more fulfilling career path. Thảo's personal journey illustrates this, as she found her inspiration in technology products after exploring other fields.

Conclusion and Future of AI Trend Talk Series

The AI Trend Talk series aims to provide valuable insights, with a focus on conversational content delivered efficiently. The host acknowledges potential limitations in video and audio quality due to the rapid production format but prioritizes the value of the guest speakers' expertise. The series will continue to explore AI's impact across various fields, encouraging viewers to subscribe and engage with future episodes.