At the start of the month, we attended MadFest, where some of the brightest minds in the industry discussed the role of AI in marketing in depth, passionately and convincingly. They explored its current impact and its anticipated future role, which was brilliant, obviously.
Everyone had something to say. Many said completely different things. Some clashed, which was brilliant. And not so brilliant. In many ways, it reflected society's current perspective: AI is seen as the answer to everything, yet often the solution to nothing.
(Also, yes – I’m overly polite to Gemini and ChatGPT, just in case.)
Two big themes stood out:
AI’s impact on productivity
The importance of brand in shaping effective AI outputs
Lauren Barnett, head of sales at Samsung Ads, gave one of the standout talks. She stressed the need for human intention in AI use. AI can help us understand audiences – but it takes creativity to actually connect with them. That irony wasn’t lost on anyone.
AI dilutes difference. Brand protects it
Generative AI is becoming less and less unique. The more we feed it, the greyer everything becomes. This happens because the models are trained on matching datasets, and the average output is what's most easily generated. Humans, sometimes to our detriment, will always be different. And that should be celebrated, or that’s what my mum told me anyway.
So, if everything is drifting into a sea of sameness, we should celebrate, concentrate and nurture what makes your business distinct. AI is built for consistency, not originality. It flattens. It averages. It dulls.
That’s where brand comes in
At events such as MadFest, you tune in to what you want to hear. We wanted to hear that brand matters more than ever – and we did. In the CYGNUS studio, we’re not scared of AI. We’re embracing it while ensuring that we maintain what makes us different. We understand brand. We’re obsessed with it. So, of course, I want to hear that branding is more important than ever, in an age where anyone can know anything, about everything (and even if it’s wrong, they’ll believe it anyway).
The fact is that AI is moving at a pace that terrifies people. One of the biggest examples in marketing is Coca Cola's Christmas ad from 2024. The ‘devastating’ public reaction to the ad stands as a stark example of AI gone wrong.
“Creepy”, “soulless”, “a dystopian nightmare”. Viewers said it lacked the warmth and authenticity the brand is known for. No human Santa. No real feeling.
One thing is for certain, when used correctly, AI is a phenomenal tool that can help any brand or creative agency get to insights quicker. But, it can also get you to the wrong place much, much faster. A wonderful analogy is that AI is like a bow and arrow; if you’re pointed very slightly in the wrong direction at the start, you will end up missing the target by a mile.
What AI can’t fake: feeling
A brand is made up of the following things:
It’s core identity (The ‘Why’ and the ‘What’)
It’s visual identity (How it looks)
It’s verbal identity (How it sounds)
It’s experience and perception (How it makes you feel)
While you could argue that there are areas where AI could absolutely support the first three, it can’t help with the fourth; it can’t develop how a brand makes you feel. AI can process sentiment, but can it create genuine emotional resonance in the way a human-crafted story or visual can? It’s about the intent and lived experience behind the emotional connection.
You can’t ignore AI. The reality is that my 8-year-old daughter found out about ChatGPT before she discovered the bearded guy with a belly doesn’t actually whip around the Earth in December delivering presents. The quicker we understand its value, when used correctly, the better. Our younger generations, sometimes referred to as the entitlement age, will forever be in a race to the correct answer. But brand isn’t an answer, it’s perception, it’s a feeling.
The emotional benefits of the brand will forever be the differentiator, and capturing that is often the difference between merely existing and being memorable. In a world where AI can generate anything, that’s more important than ever.
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