This is the second of two posts sharing insights from our 18th annual research project looking at how to accelerate brand strategy with AI. The research used a quantitative survey of 100 senior marketing professionals across the globe covering different sectors. Much has been written about the impact of AI on “downstream” marketing like online video. But our research paper is one of the first to look at the impact on “upstream” brand strategy work.
In the last post we highlighted the impact of AI on brand strategy, showing how this varies by stage of the process.
In this second post, we look at the optimum blend of AI and human collaboration. We then show how we are rebooting the brand strategy process by harnessing a series of custom designed AI “agents”.
A hybrid blend of AI and human talent
How companies plan to blend AI and human talent in the Brand Strategy process going forward is structurally similar to their current use of AI.
Nearly 50% expect Culture & Market Analysis and Concept Writing & Visualization to be done using all or mainly AI. In contrast, Vision & Ambition Setting and Strategy Alignment & Action Planning are expected to rely primarily on human input and collaboration.
Collaboration is more critical than ever
With the growing use of AI, we asked ourselves if collaborative workshops were going to be a thing of the past. If you can work on brand strategy with the push of a button and smart prompt, why bother investing in getting people together to collaborate.
In fact, 63% of marketers see an increased importance for brand strategy workshops. In an age where everyone is using AI, human collaboration is key to find an edge. In addition, AI generates high volumes of ideas early in project, with variable quality. This also creates a need to get smart people together to review, prioritise and blend this ideas.
WD-40 Company is an example of a business believing in the continued value of collaborative brand strategy workshops (see side bar). “Global brand workshops help teams build connection, deepen cultural understanding and drive alignment,” explained CMO Claudia Fenske. A structured sequence of workshops each year allows a Global Brand Team, made up of different country marketers, to refresh global strategies, generate & prioritise marketing plan ideas and work on global implementation. This approach has boosted consistency of global brand execution from 68% to 100%
Another CMO zoomed in on the human expertise needed to facilitate effective brand strategy workshops. “Bringing together the right people and facilitating the right discussion is needed for powerful outputs,” he commented. “I can’t see how this can be replicated by AI, in the short term at least.”
Rebooting Brand Strategy Projects
Using the insights from the research we at the brandgym have rebooted our approach to brand strategy projects. A series of custom-created AI ‘tools’ speed up tasks in the early and mid stages of projects in each of our core offers. These tools help create deeper analysis and more ideas, whilst also speeding up the process, saving 30-40% of the time from a typical project approach.
Human talent & collaboration remains the focus for other key parts of the process:
• Ambition setting: creating an inspiring ambition for the brand and business
• Ideas Workshop: bringing the team together to review, prioritise and blend all the insights and ideas
• Action Workshop: reviewing exploration learning as a team, then aligning on the final strategy and action plan
In conclusion, we think of AI’s role in brand strategy like an electric bike. It allows you to go further and faster but still needs human talent to direct it. And collaborative workshops that bring smart people together will continue to play a key role in doing this.
Please drop us an email if you would like a full copy of the report, including detailed processes for Brand Positioning and Annual Brand Planning.
