Do Marketers Need 'Therapy' to Use AI?
The ethical tension between technological advancement and human creativity may require "therapeutic" intervention.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming marketing and branding. In the thought-provoking interview that follows, Jaime Schwarz, founder of branding agency Brand Therapy, blends his expertise in psychology and advertising to examine the tension between leveraging AI capabilities and preserving humanity. His insights offer a roadmap for maintaining a brand's core identity while embracing technological advancements.
The key takeaways are:
Brand therapy aims to simulate brand consciousness and let the brand speak for itself through a "voice of conscience" approach. This helps ensure all stakeholders speak from the brand's perspective.
Generative AI has advanced conversational abilities but still requires human input and oversight to maintain authenticity. Companies need to balance automated vs. augmented uses of AI.
Human brand stewards will still play an important role alongside AI brand ambassadors in providing oversight, authentic human perspectives, and meeting legal and ethical standards. The goal is human-in-the-loop rather than full automation.
There is tension between fully utilizing AI capabilities vs. preserving human perspective and opinion. Brands are still navigating this balance as technologies evolve rapidly. Maintaining a role for human ideation and decision-making is important.
Interview With Jaime Schwarz
Q: Can you explain the concept of "brand therapy" and its relevance today?
JS: Brand therapy is a discipline that predates AI. It focuses on simulating brand consciousness. It involves letting the brand speak for itself, serving as a "voice of conscience" for all stakeholders. This methodology aims to ensure that everyone involved with the brand can speak from its perspective, fostering a uniform brand voice and persona.
Q: How has generative AI impacted the field of branding?
JS: I gave Brand Therapy the tagline: "Let your brand speak for itself." Generative AI is letting brands speak for themselves, whether we realize it or not.
Generative AI has significantly advanced, offering conversational capabilities that were previously unattainable. While AI can mimic authentic human interactions, maintaining a brand's authenticity still requires human oversight. The balance between automated and augmented AI uses is critical, as is ensuring that AI does not replace but rather complements human interaction and relationships.
This has significant implications for companies, as they now have the ability to engage in one-on-one conversations with consumers on a massive scale. However, it also comes with the responsibility of maintaining authenticity and ethical standards in these interactions.
While AI can mimic authentic human interactions, maintaining a brand's authenticity still requires human oversight.
Q: In our earlier conversation, you mentioned the term "brand stewards." What role do human brand stewards play in an era dominated by AI brand ambassadors?
JS: Human brand stewards remain crucial in overseeing AI's integration into branding strategies. Their role is to provide authentic human perspectives and ensure that the brand's voice remains true to its core values, even as AI technologies evolve. I advocate a "human-in-the-loop" approach, where AI enhances but does not replace human decision-making and creativity.
Q: How do brands navigate the balance between utilizing AI and maintaining human creativity?
JS: We're currently in a phase where the novelty of AI is causing a lot of excitement, but as the technology becomes more widespread, we'll start to see a natural backlash and a desire for human-crafted, bespoke experiences.
It's important for brands to find a balance between leveraging AI for efficiency and scale while still preserving the value of human creativity. AI should be seen as a tool for sparking human creativity through assisted ideation rather than a replacement for originality. Ultimately, consumers will determine what they value, and brands need to respond.
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Q: What ethical considerations should brands keep in mind when implementing AI technologies, particularly in marketing?
JS: One key ethical consideration is intellectual property rights. As AI models are trained on vast amounts of data, ensuring that any owned IP is properly credited and compensated is crucial.
Moving forward, we may see the development of IP APIs that allow for the proper sourcing and provenance of AI-generated content. Another important aspect is maintaining enough human involvement and oversight to ensure that AI-generated content aligns with legal and ethical standards. Brands should consider adhering to AI ethics policies or codes of conduct to responsibly guide their use of these technologies.
Brands should consider adhering to AI ethics policies or codes of conduct to responsibly guide their use of these technologies.
Q: What is the "AI brand dichotomy," and how are brands responding to it?
JS: The AI brand dichotomy involves making complex decisions about creating and communicating through AI or traditional human craftsmanship. Some brands are embracing AI fully, while others are cautious, prioritizing human creativity and oversight. This dichotomy has led to an "AI-free" movement, advocating for a deliberate approach to AI integration that respects the brand's authenticity and human essence.
Q: How can brands measure the impact of AI on brand loyalty and customer engagement, and what metrics indicate success?
JS: In what I refer to as the "conversational media era," AI enables personalized, one-on-one interactions at scale, allowing brands to build deeper connections. However, the key metric of success will be trust.
Building trust takes time, empathy, and consistency in these AI-powered conversations. Brands must be authentic and focus on building long-term relationships rather than just short-term transactions.
Every touchpoint, whether AI-driven or not, is an opportunity to strengthen or erode trust. As such, brands need to carefully monitor and measure the quality and impact of these interactions over time.
AI enables personalized, one-on-one interactions at scale, allowing brands to build deeper connections. However, the key metric of success will be trust.
Q: In closing, what advice do you have for brands navigating the integration of AI into their marketing strategies?
JS: We're entering an era where technology itself can create a relational interface, allowing brands to engage with consumers in more human-like ways. AI is enabling conversational user experiences and spatial immersion, breaking down traditional barriers between brands and consumers.
In this new paradigm, every touchpoint becomes a potential conduit for direct, personalized interaction with the brand. The traditional marketing funnel is being disrupted, with AI dynamically adapting to each individual's needs and context.
As brands gain this power of relational media, they will need guidance and "therapy" to navigate the complexities and responsibilities that come with it. The brands that get it right by building authentic, empathetic relationships with consumers while maintaining trust will be the ones that thrive in this new era of conversational AI.
Main Takeaway
Brands should embrace AI as a tool to scale a brand’s potential, making us better brand stewards and patrons, not replace humans with AI, removing the brand’s humanity at the same time.
Brands should approach AI with ethical considerations at the forefront, ensuring transparency, respecting intellectual property, and maintaining authenticity. By doing so, they can leverage AI to forge deeper connections with consumers, ultimately leading to more authentic and meaningful brand experiences.
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Jaime Schwarz is the founder of Brand Therapy, a discipline built on the principles of marketing, strategy, technology, and psychology to create brand-perspective positioning in service of product market fit. He filed the oldest NFT patent, is the co-founder of Parallel Worlds and The Team Flow Institute, and lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with his wife and two sons.