How Deutsche Bank benefits from new technologies

With VR, AR, apps and, most recently, artificial intelligence (AI), companies have a cornucopia of new opportunities at their disposal – not only to extend their business, but also their marketing. How do you see this?

In the development of products and services, marketing is more necessary today than it has been before. Marketing can incorporate the customer and market view like no other corporate function. Because only that which can be communicated has a chance of economic success. Digitalization is therefore accelerating the evolution of marketing into a strategic corporate function that tries out new technologies and makes them available to the company.

Which technologies play a role in marketing at Deutsche Bank, and to what extent?

New technologies like robots are already relieving the burden on consultants in risk management and routine activities today. This creates more time for demanding activities and for working with the customer. In addition, AI helps to make the processes in the handling and service units, such as complaints management, more effective and efficient. AI in particular will help us in marketing to live up to the central promise of digitalization – specifically highly personalized, individual and thus value-creating customer communication across all points of contact.

How does this work in concrete terms?

The basis for this is a better understanding of the customer. AI will help us to see new connections in the needs and behavior of our customers and will lead us to fundamentally new segmentations, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We can only reach these target groups in real time with a reasonable effort if the creation of the necessary content is also AI-based. In this respect, AI gives marketing a strong push on the path to transformation from one-to-many to maximum one-to-one communication.

To assess technologies correctly: What further training do marketers need today?

In principle, further development is very simple: marketers must always stay curious, think outside the box and stay on top of the trends. And above all they need to constantly communicate with colleagues and employees, with other companies, with pioneers and forward thinkers, to stay in contact and discuss ideas. They need to constantly question themselves. Events like DMEXCO are perfect for this.

How can we prevent technology from being used merely for technology’s sake? And how do we create real added value for marketing and business in return?

We all know: technology can make our lives easier if we let it. But its use must be sensible and must not be forced. We must not lose sight of the goal: we put the customer at the center of our actions and design advertising as a personalized experience across all points of contact. If technology in general and artificial intelligence in particular can support us in this, we should use it. This frees up employee resources, which can be much better used for working on and with the customer.