Boston Consulting Group and Pencil have announced a strategic global partnership aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence in marketing at enterprise scale.
The partnership is designed to combine Boston Consulting Group's experience in organisational AI transformation with Pencil's generative AI-powered marketing platform. The two companies will work together to enable global brands to move beyond initial AI pilot projects and scale AI deployment across marketing operations.
The intended outcome of the collaboration is to deliver efficiency improvements, cost reductions, and enhanced marketing performance across a variety of functions.
Pencil, operating as part of The Brandtech Group, has produced more than 2.35 million generative AI ads for over 5,000 brands since its founding in 2018. The platform has facilitated media spending exceeding USD $2.65 billion.
In a recent initiative involving three of the world's ten largest advertisers, Pencil generated 235,000 pieces of content. According to the company, this resulted in an average uplift in performance of 40%, a 62% reduction in costs, and a 55% decrease in production time.
Nicolas de Bellefonds, Managing Director and Senior Partner, and global lead for AI at Boston Consulting Group, said, "CMOs are under pressure to prove AI's value beyond pilot programs. Through this partnership with Pencil, we're empowering clients to move from experimentation to adoption at scale—unlocking measurable value and supporting the end-to-end transformation of marketing in the service of performance and brand building."
Will Hanschell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pencil, commented, "By bringing together BCG's strategic expertise, Pencil's AI capabilities, and Brandtech's technology leadership, we're making sure that brands don't just experiment with AI, but scale it in a way that drives real business results."
Rebecca Sykes, Partner and Head of Emerging Technology at The Brandtech Group, said, "With this partnership, we are turning the potential of GenAI into tangible results. Pencil has already shown how GenAI can deliver performance improvements at a global scale. Together with BCG, we will help brands implement this capability across their entire marketing ecosystem."
Pencil's platform is described as model-agnostic, integrating directly with platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The system generates and optimises creative content for marketers, allowing for quicker campaigns, cost efficiency, and improved predictive performance. The company states its AI works in real time for content creation, testing, and optimisation.
The initiative will see Boston Consulting Group providing strategic guidance, changes to operating models, and management of organisational change to facilitate large-scale AI implementation within marketing teams. Pencil will function as the creative engine, offering generative AI for the creation and testing of marketing content. As part of the arrangement, The Brandtech Group will deliver the necessary technology infrastructure and automation to fully integrate AI tools into clients' marketing operations if needed.
The companies have indicated that clients will benefit from a tailored integration model, accommodating specific organisational and marketing requirements as they scale AI usage in their campaigns and operations.
