What AI won’t tell you – the No.1 mistake made by brands today is thinking in 2D.
AI has brought fresh agility to brand strategy and insight. The ability to have a new creative sparring partner, synthesize data at lightning speed and even write concepts is all very useful and 100% will revolutionize the way we work, but… and there is a big but…
It has also exacerbated a long running mistake that too many brands make – to only think about a brand in 2D, as words on a page. A brand onion, a pyramid, a concept, a claim. Let’s ask ChatGPT: ‘As a brand innovator, write me a single sentence concept for a new dairy free milkshake’. Output: “Savor the indulgence of our plant-powered milkshake, blending the creaminess of oat milk with the richness of natural flavors, for a dairy-free delight that satisfies the conscious consumer’s sweet tooth.” – But what should it really taste like, feel like, smell like? It’s all just a delicious word salad.
The trouble is that people don’t really buy brands or the words that describe them, they buy the promise of a rewarding experience. Brands and products are experienced in 3D, in full technicolor – with all our senses and within a complicated and deep-rooted set of social norms and cultural beliefs which drive our behaviors. This is never truer than in food, drink and personal care categories, where brands are bought to be shared, tasted, felt, smelled, seen and heard - the ‘snap crackle and pop’ of Rice Crispies, the rich and creamy taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk, or the exfoliating milled pumice stone in Aesop’s cult hand wash.
Ultimately brands and products should be made to be experienced, in the real world of the people you are targeting. Great brands fit seamlessly into our lives because they link our cultural, emotional, and functional desires to a clear sensory and semiotic brand experience. At Huxly, we call this brand fluency. A fluent brand is bought time and time again because it has meaning in a person’s life, and it delivers the reward that it promises.
So how do you do this?
We build brands and products by exploring five lenses. Each lens is a piece in the puzzle that links people’s lives and desires to the sort of brand experience they will feel rewarded by.
Guinness is a fantastic example of a fluent brand. Its role at the heart of Irish culture is represented semiotically via its harp and the promise of anticipated pleasured is perfectly demonstrated through its unique pour and sensorial experience. The ‘settle’ should be as much a part of their brand ‘onion’ as their personality and purpose are. What does AI have to say? ‘Describe Guinness’: “Guinness is a world-renowned Irish stout that is distinctive for its rich, creamy texture and deep, dark color—almost black—that can appear ruby red when held up to the light. It has a smooth, velvety mouthfeel and a unique taste that combines elements of coffee, chocolate, and roasted barley, with a slight bitterness balanced by a malty sweetness.” – Does this really imbue the true experience of a pint of the black stuff?
What’s more when we innovate with our brand partners, we create real product that can be experienced as part of our ideation. This helps us develop ideas that are tangible – because we know people don’t really buy ideas, they buy things they can taste, touch, see, feel and hear. Not sure AI can help there either, yet!
So, whilst AI can help us understand the library of information out there, it is a way off creating the sort of tangible experiences that people seek from the brands they love. For that, us humans will still be needed for a little while at least.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today.
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