AI-first company

Company case

Klarna: AI cut spending on outside marketing suppliers by a quarter

Klarna reported that AI tools let it spend 25% less on outside marketing suppliers while running more campaigns. For agencies, it is a client saying in public which work it has taken in-house.

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Outcome Company-reported result

The company published the figures itself.

In the guide By industry

At a glance

Company
KlarnaPayments and shopping service
Size
Enterprise (1,000+ employees)
Industry
Agencies Klarna buys from agencies. The case shows, in a client’s own numbers, work moving away from outside suppliers.
Where and when
Sweden. First quarter of 2024.
Who produced the figures
The company itselfAll figures come from one Klarna press release.

What they did

Klarna’s marketing team started making images and writing copy with generative AI tools. It named the image tools Midjourney, DALL-E and Firefly. It also built its own copywriting tool. It then bought less from outside suppliers.

The numbers

For the first quarter of 2024, Klarna reported:

  • Sales and marketing spending down 11%, with more campaigns than before.
  • AI responsible for 37% of that saving, about $10 million a year.
  • Spending on outside marketing suppliers down 25%. Klarna named translation, production, customer-relationship and social-media agencies. It put the saving at $4 million a year.
  • Image production costs down $6 million. More than 1,000 images were made with AI in three months.
  • Image production time cut from 6 weeks to 7 days, including checks for brand, quality and legal compliance.
  • AI used for 80% of copywriting.

Annual amounts are projections from one quarter. Klarna gave no figures on whether the campaigns sold more or less.

What happened next

Klarna’s use of AI in customer service was later partly walked back.

What the case shows

  • Which agency work a client moved first. Translation, image production, routine copy and stock imagery. Klarna’s marketing chief said the company had removed the need for stock images.
  • The saving came from buying less outside, not only from working faster inside.
  • Checks stayed. The 7-day cycle still included brand, quality and legal review.

What this says about the practices

Practices the company applied

Sources

  1. Klarna (28 May 2024). AI helps Klarna cut marketing agency spend by 25% and run more campaigns. Press release. klarna.com