Marketing Türkiye C-Level Club, which brings together leading thought leaders and senior executives from the marketing world, hosted yet another special gathering shaping the future of technology and business. Held at the Mandarin Oriental Istanbul on June 24 in partnership with NGC, Google Cloud, and Marketing Türkiye, the event “Discover Beyond What You See in Marketing with Google Cloud” revealed how artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming the marketing ecosystem, through concrete success stories and visions for the future.
"Not a gradual shift, but a tsunami of capability"
Opening the event, Marketing Türkiye Editor-in-Chief Günseli Özen emphasized that artificial intelligence is no longer just a trend or a tool that accelerates processes, but has become a strategic partner rewriting the way we do business. Özen set the visionary tone for the evening by noting that we have moved from an era driven by data to a brand-new period in which AI itself shapes decisions and operations, describing it not as a gradual shift but as a tsunami of capability, and stating that the room was filled with leaders who chose to steer that tsunami rather than be swept along by it. Immediately after, NGC General Manager Vahap Hanlıoğlu took the stage and highlighted the leveraging role of business partnerships and cloud technologies in this transformation.
The new era of transformation: Google Cloud's AI vision
Taking the stage with his presentation titled “Google Cloud Keynote: The New Era of Transformation with AI,” Google Cloud Turkey Country Manager Önder Güler shared Google’s global artificial intelligence vision and how brands should position themselves within this ecosystem. Touching on the added value generative AI (GenAI) brings to marketing, Güler stated that Agentic AI, positioned as the technology of the future and capable of making its own decisions and autonomously managing processes, will become the new playing field for the business world.
The AI revolution in retail: the LC Waikiki case under the spotlight
One of the most notable and highly anticipated segments of the event was the panel “Retail in the Age of AI: Redefining the Experience with LC Waikiki.” Moderated by NGC Deputy General Manager for Sales and Marketing Affan Yılmaz, the panel featured LC Waikiki E-Commerce General Manager Meltem Yanovalı Kalkan and LC Waikiki Digital Transformation and IT General Manager Şerafettin Özer, who openly shared the major brand’s AI roadmap with attendees.
The key topics and concrete outcomes highlighted in the panel included:
Seamless coordination between IT and business teams: it was emphasized that the core secret behind successful AI projects is full synchronization between technology teams (IT) and business units around a shared vision.
Next-generation personalization in e-commerce: LC Waikiki’s “Personalization Project” in its e-commerce operations was detailed. The positive impact on conversion rates from delivering personalized experiences based on real-time AI analysis of consumer behavior was shared with supporting figures.
A paradigm-shifting transformation in digital marketing: the panel described how digital marketing processes, once managed through traditional segmentation and static data analytics, have evolved into a dynamic, predictive structure through real-time AI integration.
A revolution in cost and time with Nanobanana: the power of AI in operational efficiency was illustrated through LC Waikiki’s notable Nanobanana project, which explained how major effort and cost items in traditional e-commerce photography, such as makeup artists, stylists, and shooting crews, were significantly minimized.
AI isn't eliminating jobs, it's creating new ways of working
The panel’s most applauded and conventional-wisdom-defying point centered on AI’s impact on employment. The panelists noted that, contrary to popular belief, no one on the Nanobanana project team lost their job; instead, by using AI as an assistant, the team evolved into a new and far more value-added way of working. This point was capped off with a live demo performed on stage by LC Waikiki’s Corporate Marketing team, giving attendees the chance to watch in real time how a marketing professional manages AI on the spot.
The next step: Gemini Enterprise
The evening closed with the announcement that LC Waikiki’s AI journey is far from over, and that its next strategic goal is building Agentic AI structures that will make its processes fully autonomous and intelligent. In line with this vision, it was emphasized that Gemini Enterprise, Google Cloud’s enterprise-grade powerhouse, will sit at the center of the brand’s future growth strategy.
Following the inspiring presentations and panels, the C-Level Club gathering continued in an interactive format and closed with an enjoyable networking dinner among leaders who share a similar vision.
