The Pro's & Con's of Ai for Brand Development

I've loved hosting the Big Debates for the MPA - Manchester Publicity Association over the years. Also, I have been discussing the pro's and con's of Ai in the Brand Development process with some industry peers over the last few days. So I thought I'd try and bring these two things together in this article - welcome to the Big DebAite....yes I love a pun too.

I’ve met with a number of agency and brand leaders over the last week or so. No surprise, the volatility of the market (by which they meant shitefest) was the main talking point. Followed by…no surprise…the impact and opportunities of Ai on the creative industries.

I think we are all bracing ourselves for a bad news budget so I’ll leave that until after the announcement next month. However, a specific area of interest for me is how Ai can influence, accelerate and augment the brand and creative development process. I also love a debate (as those who’ve attended an MPA Big Debate over the years will know well).

So I thought I’d combine those two interests in this post and have myself a little debate, an argument with myself if you like, as to the pro’s and cons of using Ai in the Brand Development process. Let’s call it The Big DebAite for want of a better pun.

Sorry I can’t offer you a drink but here’s a little scene setter to kick the debate off. In today’s creative landscape, the rise of Ai in brand development is impossible to ignore. But is it a game-changer or a cautionary tale?

I’m very grateful to Christian James for giving up his time today to debate this question. We're specifically going to look at three key stages in brand building—and how Ai stacks up.

A question to you first Christian. When it comes to Generating Unique Consumer Insight, is Ai a game changer, or an unnecessary distraction?

Well thank you for asking. I reckon where Ai excels is data-mining – especially when we are looking to see patterns in large datasets. It’s so much faster than manual research. And with 40% of UK consumers now using Ai-powered search tools daily, rich behaviour data is going to ever more readily available.

Interesting but what do you think Christian? Do you agree?

No, not necessarily. He makes a good point but the problem is speed doesn’t guarantee depth. Ai-generated insight can often miss the subtle motivations and cultural nuances that human researchers pick up. And I notice he hasn’t mentioned any concerns around ethics and data rigour. I think the majority of brand owners would agree that generative Ai poses significant ethical and legal risks.

Let’s move on to another key stage: Developing a Unique Brand Positioning. Christian, what’s your thinking here?

Well I’m glad you asked. It’s clear that Ai can map competitors, segment audiences and test positioning quickly—enabling faster iteration and experimentation. I’m not suggesting you just choose the first option it comes up with, but it gives you more time for evaluation of various options.

A good point, well made. What about you Christian?

Ok, so again he’s defaulted to the speed position and I cannot argue with that. However, if you’re too reliant on automation, your brand can end up sounding generic or disconnected. Also, what many are finding is that the ‘machine’ may propose “safe” positionings rather than disruptive stand-out ideas. I’d also point out that most consumers are uncomfortable with brands using GenAi, especially for social content. I think this is because it can be spotted as generic or tonally off.

Ok, I’m feeling this debate is on a knife edge right now and could go either way as we approach the final question.

Over to you Christian when we ask about the pro’s and con’s of using Ai in Developing a Multi-channel Creative Concept. What say you Christian?

Ok, well for me, this is where Gen Ai gets really exciting in helping both stimulate and produce so many aspects of the content we are going to need to deliver the brand in an impactful, attention-grabbing and engaging way. Everything from visuals to help the team ‘get’ the concept, through to scripts and message hierarchy. And then it can help us rapidly adapt campaign collateral across touchpoints—scaling creative variants fast to exploit the specific requirements of each channel’s unique environment and consumer requirements/interests.

Solid points there Christian. Over to you Christian.

Well I think we might be in a heated agreement on this one but I would also suggest we need to be aware that research by NIQ found that Ai-generated ads may trigger weaker memory activation and be perceived as more “boring” or “confusing” compared to human-led ads. I guess it comes back to the fact that for now, Ai is producing low risk, aggregated or averaged concepts rather than original. For me, quality, context and human judgement matter and Ai just isn’t able to deliver on this….yet.

Ok that’s all we’ve got time for. Thanks for joining this Big DebAite. For me, the bottom line is that Ai is a powerful accelerator—but not a replacement for human creativity, cultural understanding and strategic intuition. For now, in the creative industries, the sweet spot is human-led strategy + Ai-enabled execution.

Many thanks and have a safe trip home.