Inaugural lecture Prof E. (Edlira) Shehu: Modeling the Future: Data, AI and the Evolution of Digital Marketing

This inaugural lecture, Modeling the Future: Data, AI, and the Evolution of Digital Marketing, explores the evolving landscape of digital marketing. Highlighting key milestones such as the rise of e-commerce, digital advertising, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), the lecture provides insights into how digital marketing has adapted to technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and new opportunities.

The lecture traces the exponential growth of data, from 1.5 exabytes annually in the early 2000s to 2.5 quintillion bytes daily today. This unprecedented data boom has transformed the digital marketing field. Research in the field has mirrored these technological developments, evolving from early studies on email marketing and website usability to topics like social media, e-tailing, and AI-driven machine learning.

Shehu focuses on the digital retailing and digital advertising, and her own work within these fields. She discusses the dual role of e-commerce as a convenient distribution channel and a source of challenges, particularly product returns. Research demonstrates that tools such as free shipping promotions, while driving sales, can increase return rates, particularly for high-risk products like fashion. These returns impact both profitability and the environment, with each return generating 0.5–1 kg of CO₂. For a major retailer, reducing return rates by just 1% could save 720 metric tons of CO₂ annually, equivalent to removing 57 cars from the road.

The lecture also addresses digital advertising, focusing on three critical areas: ad placement, budget allocation across channels, and the creative aspects of ad content. Programmatic advertising, which uses algorithms to target audiences, offers cost efficiencies but risks brand safety in low-quality environments. Research also highlights the increasing complexity of budget allocation across multiple advertising channels and the importance of tailoring content to platforms such as social media to improve engagement. AI further enhances digital advertising by enabling granular and scalable analysis of unstructured data, such as video and image content, to optimize campaign performance.

Looking ahead, the lecture concludes with Edlira Shehu’s future research agenda. She aims to explore the integration of AI into marketing models, particularly how AI can capture previously unmeasured content aspects and improve decision-making. Her research will also investigate the perception of AI-generated ad content, addressing mixed reactions to early campaigns by companies like Coca-Cola and LEGO. Finally, Shehu emphasizes the societal role of research in nonprofit marketing. Her work will focus on using AI and marketing analytics to enhance donor communication, optimize resource allocation, and develop long-term strategies for effective charitable campaigns.

This lecture underscores the transformative role of data and AI in digital marketing and emphasizes the need for responsible application to create both economic and societal value.

More information

Inaugural lecture: Prof E. (Edlira) Shehu

• Title: Modeling the Future: Data, AI and the Evolution of Digital Marketing
• Chair: Digital Marketing

• Faculty: Economics and Business
  

Registration at the latest 29 November via the registration form

Livestream on 6 December, see: www.rug.nl/digitale-oratie