
In 2021, while we were all emerging from the worst of the pandemic, I wrote a piece highlighting my view that ‘Super Brands Lead with Purpose and People‘. Although these attributes still ring true today, with all the technological advancements and a hyperbolic rush to usher in artificial intelligence everywhere, I’m again moved to re-examine the status of brands in the market.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving at an unprecedented pace globally, although it has picked up considerable steam in the United States. There are seemingly endless investments in AI innovations, reshaping how brands operate, engage with consumers, and position themselves in the marketplace. It certainly feels like a brave new world, a world that changes completely with each passing week. Last year, brands began to tinker with generative AI tools, and this year, brands are adopting AI agents at a rapid pace (see Goldman Sachs's new AI Assistant program). AI infrastructure planning (Stargate), has been announced in the U.S., giving large technology companies such as Microsoft and OpenAI an edge in paving our AI future.
The race for global AI dominance between the U.S. and China has hit the gas hard, accelerating faster than one of Elon’s rockets into space. China’s Deepseek recently overtaking ChatGPT as the fastest-growing app on the Apple store indicates how quickly this landscape is evolving.
With these advancements, brands have a unique opportunity to leverage AI technology, but they must also navigate potential risks. Brands now face having to deal with and manage AI on two fronts: adopting AI technology to improve business/technical operations in order to remain competitive, while navigating how AI will impact brands externally through advertising, media and other channels.
How can brands manage and leverage AI to maximize value for their audiences? What are the inherent risks associated with embracing AI in its early stages?
To no surprise, this article presents far more questions than poses concrete answers. Instead of trying to figure out the future, let’s consider creating a framework for brands to play in this new technology world—helping to balance the benefits and oncoming disruptions of AI in 2025.
No regulations = the Wild West
As AI continues to permeate various industries, there is a desperate need for regulatory guidelines. Although the regulatory environment is expected to evolve, how fast this regulation materializes into actionable legislation is an area of contested debate. So far, it’s clear that regulation cannot keep up with innovation.
In 2025, brands must keep informed about the shifting AI regulatory landscape. While de-regulation can spur innovation and reduce compliance costs, it may also lead to ethical dilemmas, particularly concerning data privacy and algorithmic bias. Brands must adopt proactive measures to ensure responsible AI usage, fostering trust with consumers while remaining compliant with emerging guidelines. Prepare for 2025 to be a year of minimal to no regulatory protections, further forcing brands to remain hypervigilant in the market.
Humans own stories
Will AI do away with human labor? This is the billion dollar question. Although partially true, this year, AI will serve more as a support to existing leads and teams, helping turbo-charge their work, such as with the use of AI agents. AI agents offer the opportunity to take on administrative tasks in a variety of fields. We will see an onslaught of AI agents being introduced at every level: sales, marketing, IT, HR, product, and strategy. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring in…well, let’s call them ‘digital helpers’ to fill in the gaps when it comes to research, innovation, and planning. Each team member will have ‘digital helpers’ who can support initiatives and projects.
Just because your ‘digital helper’ lays out a comprehensive workflow, however, does not negate human editorial responsibility. As newly found managers of ‘digital helpers’, our responsibility is to review all content and dictate responsibility, even as algorithms begin to learn from us and make decisions on our behalf. Stories must remain with human origins, even if their dissemination is automated and digital.
Managing brand voice
Given that AI models can now generate content and interact with customers, maintaining a consistent and authentic brand voice is more critical than ever. Brands can leverage AI tools to enhance their storytelling capabilities, at least from a first and second-draft approach. By utilizing natural language processing and sentiment analysis, businesses can ensure their messaging resonates with their target audiences. This personalization strengthens brand loyalty and creates meaningful connections.
Out of the gate, many AI tools are still lacking in presenting a believable brand voice at every touch point. Nothing worse than being greeted with an email and or voicemail that sounds robotic and out of touch. There are models, however, that can be trained to adopt brand guidelines and help implement various brand elements within a brand’s tone of voice and graphical elements. However, even these models must be managed with rigorous human review and intervention. Consumers are willing to work with various AI chat features in areas of customer service, but it must be clear to the customer that they are interfacing with AI, not a human.
Automation with hesitation
Now…automation is clearly at the forefront of AI technology, enabling brands to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs. By implementing AI-driven tools, companies can automate customer service through chatbots, personalize marketing campaigns based on user data, and optimize supply chains with predictive analytics. This not only leads to improved customer experiences but also allows brands to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine tasks.
What is important for brands is to understand when, where, and how to leverage AI automation. There are certain tasks that are best left to AI. For example, a salesperson takes a call, and an AI tool captures the transcript, which gets populated in a CRM and simultaneously creates sales and marketing collateral as follow-ups. This workflow requires human intervention in a few stages. More tricky will be navigating a media landscape where AI will create ads, copy, and run campaigns autonomously. How will brands manage their messaging and brand voice across media where AI agents are now creating content?
Monitoring brand equity
AI's impact on brand equity is profound. As brands harness AI for better customer insights and personalized experiences, they can significantly enhance their value proposition. However, brands must be cautious; over-reliance on AI could lead to a dilution of human touch in customer interactions. Striking the right balance between automation and personal engagement is key to preserving brand equity while reaping the benefits of AI technology.
Build your framework
The year 2025 presents both remarkable opportunities and challenges for brands in the realm of AI. By embracing automation, staying ahead of regulatory changes, maintaining a strong brand voice, and protecting brand equity, companies can position themselves for success in an increasingly AI-driven market.
The journey ahead requires a drastic mindset change of brand leaders, followed by an insistence on building a strategic framework approach for creatively managing AI through various stages of disruption:
Ask: How can I improve my daily work? How can we improve our brand’s messaging?
For small brands – stay curious and vigilant on what is coming out of the AI world.
SMB and enterprise brands – designate AI enthusiasts within each department to continue learning and demoing appropriate innovations.
Aware: What tools are out there that can save time and money? How are AI agents and models advancing? How do these changes impact my brand awareness and equity?
Every brand should consider having an AI evangelist within the organization to help guide AI adoption and management of the brand.
Adopt: Following proper channels, slowly roll out and test tools with pilots with various team members.
Accelerate: When you find something that works, start to bridge AI capabilities across various departments for maximum results.
Implement a well-executed change management system to implement tools together (for example: sales, marketing, and customer success under revenue ops and GTM).
No matter a brand’s framework, there must always be vigilance to ensure that messaging and positioning remain authentic and differentiated. Over-reliance on AI, especially for content, may dilute a brand’s voice and inevitably revert it to generic language. For those seeking to maximize your brand’s potential, harness the most intrinsic and human characteristics of your workforce to help train the oncoming ‘digital helper’ teams. There has never been a better time to harness the imagination and creativity of your people to remain authentic to your audiences.
The potential rewards are immense for those willing to innovate responsibly. Whether you are a sales rep, marketing lead, CEO, or small business owner, proceed with both a curious sense of enthusiasm and a healthy degree of caution.
Comments