Eva Bacsi, Marketing Director at Antavo: “Marketers should incorporate AI into their daily work”

Perhaps more than anyone else we’ve interviewed, Eva Bacsi — Marketing Director at Antavo — knows the importance of staying flexible. She was Marketing Manager for a tourist-based business in Turkey when the country suffered terrorist attacks in 2015. Quite a challenge. And when COVID-19 broke, Eva had to help Antavo (a platform provider for customer loyalty programs) pivot away from a store-based approach to an online focus.

If you need one great skill in such testing times, it has to be communication. Talking to your clients, to others within your company and to the world as a whole. And to see Eva’s skill at the latter, you need only watch the TedX presentation we embed below!

So it should be no surprise that Eva’s communication within this interview is so compelling. (In case you’re wondering, she speaks fluent English and German along with Turkish and Hungarian.) We particularly love her views on AI, which echo our own. Ignore it at your own peril, no matter what industry you work in!

Why Dust or Magic? That stems from a quote by legendary American advertising creative director, William Bernbach: “An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” (And if you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name, Bernbach was the inspiration behind Don Draper of Mad Men fame.)

Could you please introduce yourself to our audience? What motivated you to pursue a career in marketing, and how did you embark on your journey in this field?

I’ve been the Marketing Director at Antavo, a leading loyalty technology provider, for five years. What appealed to me most about marketing and entering the field was the opportunity to exercise creativity and quickly adapt to emerging trends. The results of our work in marketing are often the first thing customers encounter, which is incredibly motivating.

I studied marketing at university and started in hospitality and tourism, but I’ve moved into technology thanks to some inspirational people I’ve worked with. To quote one of my colleagues, I’ve found that “women who work in the technology industry are real rock stars”.

What are your thoughts on the escalating integration of AI in digital marketing and its potential influence on the future of marketing, Martech and social media?

Currently, it’s totally apparent when an entire blog article is generated by AI, but I personally already integrate ChatGPT into daily tasks. It’s great for drafting outlines, proofreading, and crafting various versions of emails or social media posts. Hence, I believe marketers should incorporate AI into their daily work because it’s a significant time-saver and useful resource for information.

Initially, it took me aback, I didn’t realise how useful it would be. I’m really inspired by Midjourney for graphic design, and we have even launched an AI bot on our website with Chat Thing. Now, it reminds me of my school days studying — AI is like my local library. It’s a whole new world, I can’t copy from it, but it’s certainly a vast and fantastic source of inspiration!

For me, while we cannot solely depend on AI, it is a new addition to our team at Antavo. It’s a revolutionary marketing tool that will usher us into a new era, accelerating our world even further!

How do you ready yourself for an AI-driven landscape as a marketing leader? What new skills do you need?

It’s essential to keep abreast of new AI solutions that can optimise current processes and foster innovation in my daily marketing work. I am also particularly interested in how I can utilise AI for marketing analytics and what further data and learning it can add. And comparing data. To this end, I plan to dedicate time to relevant training and further research.

Could you share some of your most noteworthy accomplishments that you take particular pride in?

We take pride in producing high-quality content on loyalty programs and loyalty technology. We have invested significantly in building up our free-to-use resources and guides for the industry. We have also ensured they are suitable for various brands and retailers and relevant regardless of location. 

I am also particularly proud of our Global Customer Loyalty Reports. We have produced reports for three consecutive years. This year, we surveyed 600 CMOs and loyalty leaders worldwide, conducted 1,300 minutes of qualitative interviews, and analysed over 30 million actions of loyalty members through our platform. In these reports, we monitor and report on trends, attitudes and developments in the loyalty market.

What core values have played a pivotal role in shaping your approach to marketing and communication?

At Antavo, one of the core values is education, and sharing information with our audience is paramount. Helping others is hugely important to me, and by providing customers with the information they need, we can support them in making the decisions that are right for their business.

That’s why all the content we produce and the events we organise are focused on providing genuine value to our prospects and customers. We continuously monitor emerging trends, market needs and marketers’ challenges in customer retention. Our goal is to supply them with substantive educational content that puts them at a competitive advantage — because when our customers succeed, so do we.

What major hurdles have you encountered as a marketing leader, and how did you surmount them?

Undoubtedly, Covid-19 was a real challenge. Just before the pandemic began, we had shifted our focus to in-store loyalty solutions, but then retail stores and malls abruptly closed. Our customers were unable to make payments, and some consequently churned. This necessitated a pivot in our focus and communications towards e-commerce and online solutions.

After a tough period of 5-6 months, business began to flourish as we helped the industry understand the importance of customer retention and how it could be utilised more cost-effectively than acquiring new customers. We saw that the loyalty programs increased in value.

By far, my biggest challenge was handling crisis management when I was working in tourism in Turkey back in 2015. It was during the time of the terrorist attacks, followed by a military coup the next summer in 2016. Thankfully, the business I was in at the time survived thanks to having a well-established brand, but planning was impossible. How did we manage it? We could only be reactive and we were prepared to change our strategy and operations as needed — which was usually daily.

How do you ensure you’re up to date with the latest marketing trends and technologies, and how do you integrate them into your strategies?

I stay current by reflecting on our own research at Antavo. We annually conduct surveys with fellow marketers and regularly interview our clients for input and feedback. I also believe in collaborating and brainstorming with our partners for external perspectives on best meeting client needs. I really appreciate Antavo’s structure, as it allows us to adapt easily and quickly to any new changes and trends in the market.

What piece of advice would you offer to fellow marketing leaders that has been particularly beneficial to you personally?

I’ve learned from experience that economic downturns and slowdowns in new business are part of the cycle. However, recovery inevitably follows. If we stop engaging with customers during the downturn, we won’t be positioned for success when demand picks up again.

My advice to any marketer from my experience over the years is to be ready for anything. I highly recommend training in crisis management. You can’t really plan for what will happen — but you can certainly be prepared.