To Combat Bias in Advertising, IBM Is Enlisting AI's Help

With an arsenal of data scientists, IBM is not aiming for small goals. They have their eyes on the big prize, demonstrated by one of their recent initiatives: addressing bias in advertising. Spearheading that drive is Randi Stipes, CMO of Watson Advertising and Weather; developer marketing at IBM, who shares that to best mitigate bias is to start at the foundation. Join my Q&A with Randi as we talk about how a marketer's possibilities are endless with so much data and how artificial intelligence can become the foundational technology for the ad industry. ADWEEK: How did you get to where you are today? Any noteworthy aha-moments along the way? I was fortunate to come of professional age, so to speak, around the time when the internet was getting its sea legs. Few people in media thought it would become much and so there was an opportunity to grab hold of the detour and become the expert. Looking back at that time and thinking about the milestones that have followed, it’s less about the moments themselves and more about the mindset. Curiosity is the mindset that keeps you interested in growth even in the face of fear and risk. It’s what pushes you outside your comfort zone. The more you get comfortable being uncomfortable, the more often that curiosity manifests as confidence. And the more confidence you have in yourself, the more others will have in you even when you assume a leadership role, say, in a new industry. What's the most innovative thing you recently worked on? We’ve embarked on a research effort to better understand and see if we can help the industry address bias in advertising. If it sounds like that is a big ambition, it is. What we know is that there is an inherent bias in the way our industry identifies audiences, creates messages for them and targets consumers. I’d argue the vast majority of this is completely unintentional. That said, unless we find a way to understand, detect and mitigate bias at the foundation, the industry will just continue to perpetuate a practice we know is wrong. We’re lucky that this isn’t IBM’s first rodeo in using AI to combat bias, and that we have industry partners like the Ad Council rolling up their sleeves with us. The first readout will come in October of this year, with another in Q1 2022. https://twitter.com/IBMWatson/status/1172181502148448256 What new or up-and-coming innovation(s) are you most excited about and how do you think it will change the future of marketing? I work alongside some of the most brilliant data scientists in the world. Seeing what they can do with AI is mind-blowing and we are just starting to put it to work for media. It will become the foundational tech for the ad industry. We know it will likely be the privacy-friendly replacement for the traditional identifiers we use today, but that is just scratching the surface. What’s one piece of work from your career that you’re the proudest of? Call for Code, now in its fourth year, is one of the largest tech for good initiatives of its kind. It’s a rallying call to developers and problem solvers to use open-source technology to help solve the world’s biggest problems. I continue to be blown away by the response of the developer community and their passion to make a difference. To date, more than 400,000 people across 179 nations have answered the call. In 2020, the Call for Code Global Challenge was climate change. Soon after the Challenge opened for developers, the Covid-19 global crisis emerged. No question, the right thing to do was to expand the focus to challenge developers to come up with solutions to help address the world's reaction to COVID-19 AND climate change; two pressing issues that have the power to compromise our health, our planet and our survival. The pivot was a big one and showed that agility is paramount. Companies, teams and individuals must be able to pivot almost instantly to account for the new reality. Being part of a purpose-driven initiative gave us all pride and purpose. https://twitter.com/ibmdeveloper/status/1247559981450375169?lang=en Was there ever a time where you questioned your career path? How did you handle that? If you never have, I’d ask yourself if you’re really matching your ambition with your potential. There have been many times when I wondered if I was in the right place. Over the years, I’ve learned to recognize the questioning as a sign that I needed to be more proactive. Those are the moments when you must reach deep past the indifference or questioning and ask for more—a new opportunity, responsibility or even a job. And then redouble your efforts to remind yourself of what’s inside of you and what you know you’re capable of. It sounds preachy and utopian—I get it. But it works. What is one skill that you think is currently underdeveloped in Marketing? Storytelling. Brand. Performance. Chicken. Egg. The debate is as old as time. We need to engage people—as consumers, business decision-makers, oftentimes both. We are all humans. We all experience emotion. And we all have a fundamental need to connect with others. So, I don’t understand why so many marketers default to the abstract dictionary. "The leading provider of …" "Best in class technology…" "Most powerful suite of …" Or worse, the "ize" dictionary. "Sophisticated analytics to optimize …" "Data-driven insights that maximize …" it feels like it goes on forever. Take the time to understand why what you are marketing matters to your consumers and then tell a story that is meaningful to them. How do you pick and develop the talent on your team? I believe the best way to attack problems is to gather diverse points of view from solutions-minded people. The combination is where the power comes from. Diverse perspectives alone don’t cut it. And neither does action alone. There is something magical that happens when you combine them and that’s what I look for more than anything else. Brandweek Masterclass: Empowering Your Teams for the Next Era of Digital Marketing What's a way that you predict marketing will change as more people begin traveling/going out again? The pandemic has compelled many marketers to get more personal. Sharing their values more transparently. Rising to the occasion to help the communities they serve. Picking up the slack where governments fell short. Innovating on a dime to meet consumers where they were/are—on a phone or computer vs. in a store or on a plane. There will likely be temptations to go back to the old way, but consumer habits have been shifted over such a short period of time, marketers must resist the urge to "return to normal." Marketers should look for new ways to add in-person value while maintaining their commitment to deeper, more authentic connections with their consumers. What’s the first post to come to mind when you hear “best-in-class social”? I’m not even a coffee drinker, but the Starbucks’ “What’s Your Name” campaign that encouraged the transgender community to raise their voice by simply sharing their names is super inspiring. It wasn’t about Starbucks positioning themselves, but rather sharing real stories and taking the power of their brand for a higher calling to drive awareness and action. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? "Growth and comfort are contradictory terms." The most rewarding experiences of my career have come from the moments I’ve been pushed beyond my comfort zone. If you manage people, you are responsible for helping your team find this individual balance for them to grow. Full stop. What one question would you ask the marketing community and why? What are you doing to make a lasting impact in our shared society? Could You be Curated by Kohl’s? The Retailer Wants to be Your Digital Personal Shopper

Innovators

To Combat Bias in Advertising, IBM Is Enlisting AI's Help

Randi Stipes talks about the inherent bias in targeting audiences and creating messages

Julian Gamboa

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Julian Gamboa