A reckoning is underway for marketing experts across every industry. As AI upends what was known to work and convert, all points of reference are out the window. Marketers are in a unique place, with so much unknown they have the opportunity to either try to revive old tactics or decide to rebuild from the ground up.

Elizaveta Savenkova is the Chief Business Development Officer at mobile game developer ZiMAD. As a former business development leader at Farfetch, she now specializes in strategic partnerships in gaming and digital entertainment. Echoing a growing sentiment across industries, she's calling out the structures that need to be reimagined.

Tear up the playbook: The first step, Savenkova says, is acknowledging that the old methods are broken beyond repair. "The old playbooks are not in place anymore, and we need to rebuild the whole structure," she states. "Hopefully, with all of the additional services, data, and AI that we have now, something really interesting is possible." This isn't just a minor course correction; it's a fundamental rebuild driven by new technology.

The great reprioritization: The most immediate response is a strategic pivot away from classic marketing spend, a move born from necessity. With the cost of acquisition becoming a universal challenge, Savenkova explains there's a sense that "something has to break" within the traditional marketing mix. This forces companies to explore alternatives on a whole new level. "Companies are putting more effort into UGC content and influencer marketing, and are actually trying to push more into that rather than the classic user acquisition," she explains. "Even though it was always there, I think now it's at a different scale."