The New Role of your Marketing Department to Create Value with Gen AI but with 30% lower costs.

As global markets fluctuate, tariff wars starting and competition intensifies, the marketing function has undergone a seismic shift. Generative AI (GenAI) is at the heart of this transformation, promising to reshape traditional marketing playbooks with real-time insights, hyper-personalised strategies, and automated outreach at 20-30% lower costs and with higher business impact.

Executives in Switzerland’s private equity sector, particularly those steering portfolio companies with annual revenues between CHF 20 million and CHF 50 million, are under increasing pressure to deliver growth in fast evolving business landscape.

Your forward-looking Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) needs to able to answer 3 Key Questions from your executive team related to AI and the marketing organisation:

Short term: How does the marketing function leverage gen AI beyond content creation?
Short term: Which use cases may impact operational efficiency or generate growth?
Mid term: What’s your playbook for 2025-26 and what’s the impact on people, tech and campaigns costs?

Strategic Shifts

A recent global Gartner survey indicates that 69% of marketing leaders have either implemented or plan to implement GenAI within six months, compared to 54% in other functions.[3] This trend is particularly pronounced in private equity-financed mid-market firms, which are leveraging AI to capture more precise customer insights. McKinsey research shows that companies integrating AI into their marketing strategy can see revenue uplifts of 5%–15% more quickly than peers relying on conventional methods.[1] Bain & Company, meanwhile, reports an average 20% reduction in operating costs among organisations that deploy AI-driven automation in their outreach activities.[2] For CEOs managing mid-sized PE portfolios, these figures point to a new strategic imperative: marketing is no longer a background function, but a key driver of commercial success.

Practical Use Cases

Market Analysis & Competitive Tracking
Advanced GenAI tools ingest and analyse market signals—from competitor product releases to shifting consumer sentiment—in near real time. According to a Duke CMO Survey, 57% of senior marketing leaders confirm that AI-driven market analytics significantly improve strategic decision-making.[5]
Example: Perplexity.ai or ChatGTP
Hyper-Personalised Engagement
AI segments customers based on browsing behaviour, purchase history, and demographic data—delivering content matched to individual preferences. This approach, popularised by global tech giants, often raises conversion rates by double digits according to Accenture report.[4]
Example: Clay a GTM Tool for sales and marketing https://www.clay.com
Automated Outreach & Lead Generation
Sophisticated algorithms identify high-potential leads earlier in the funnel, reducing acquisition costs by up to 25%. PE-financed companies, in particular, benefit from streamlined prospecting that frees human capital for deeper relationship-building. Some companies even claim to replace SDRs. However it’s still a way to go for a great UX experience as my recent test with 11x showed me. I booked a demo and day before the confirmed date I’ve received an unpersonalised email: “Due to high demand, we have to prioritise demo. Your not fitting into our ICP”. 🙂
Example: 11x
Performance-Optimised Budget Allocation
GenAI-driven attribution models deliver a granular view of which channels yield the best returns. Bain & Company estimates that firms using AI for budget allocation can reallocate up to 15% of total spend to higher-yielding campaigns.[2]
Example: Nexoya a Swiss MarkTech company https://www.nexoya.com

Measurable Return on Investment

The net result is clear: improved revenue, boosted operational efficiency, and sharper competitive edge. In fact, Accenture finds that high adopters of AI in marketing observe up to a 30% enhancement in overall marketing Return on Investment (ROI) over three years.[4]

How to start?

The AI transformation in general and in marketing specifically is a marathon, not a sprint. However sprint actions are required to start, iterate and learn fast. The Palegria AI Marketing Playbook provides you with an approach to balance short-term impact and strategy.

Audit & hypothesis: Evaluate team and AI capabilities. Create hypothesis how #aimarketing will have direct business impact like lower costs or more revenues.
Use case based testing: Create a series of minimal viable pilot use cases. Start small with use cases which impacting either operational efficiency, reducing costs or re-activating existing leads.
Refine Governance: Collaborate with business, legal and data-security teams to ensure responsible AI usage and regulatory compliance like data protection.
Embrace Adaptability: Encourage a culture of continuous learning to keep pace with evolving AI solutions. Share use case results and learning in your organisation.
Strategy building: Build a strategy based on the results of the use cases focusing to scale marketing efficiency and top-line growth.

For CEOs in Switzerland’s private equity domain, the takeaway is unmistakable. By reshaping marketing through GenAI, mid-market firms can accelerate growth, curb operating expenses, and maintain a decisive edge in an increasingly competitive global economy. Building a #aimarketing function at lower costs and with higher impact.