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Will AI destroy your brand and reputation?
CEO of Purplex Marketing, Andrew Scott discusses the potential dangers of relying solely on AI-generated content for brand marketing and argues that, while it’s a powerful tool, AI must be used with caution.
Companies can spend years building a brand, only to have it destroyed with some bad decisions.
You’ve probably seen the controversy surrounding the rebrand of Jaguar Cars.
This iconic marque is synonymous with power, performance and luxury, with a cult following of enthusiasts. But last month Santino Pietrosanti, Jaguar’s new head of brand, unveiled a re-brand that is set to alienate Jaguar’s core customer and fan base in the hope of attracting a younger, alternative audience – an audience that doesn’t resonate with the gas-guzzling performance cars driven by alpha personality types.
The result, I predict, will be disastrous, as Jaguar’s historic customers flee to other iconic brands and Pietrosanti’s new target audience simply choose vehicles they already connect with.
History is littered with similar tales of rebrands going wrong; who can forget Royal Mail’s failed rebrand to ‘Consignia’ and back again within 18 months after customers defected on mass?
Your brand is much more than your logo or current ad campaign. In reality, your brand is better explained as how your customers perceive your products or business in their minds eye. How they feel towards you.
And that feeling is affected by the messages they receive about your brand, whether it’s on social media, in the press, online or the latest marketing literature.
Today, millions of companies are playing Russian roulette with their own brand, putting their very business at risk by turning to AI generated content.
AI is a powerful tool, but only in the right hands
With the arrival of Chat GPT and other AI generators, I’ve seen entire marketing departments across the world publishing AI generated content that is undermining their company’s brand and reputation. Suddenly, every novice with an AI tool can be a ‘brand expert’, while senior marketers now think they can do it all themselves.
But what happens when everyone is churning out a tsunami of AI generated content and every ‘prompt writer’ is telling Chat GTP to ‘write copy that will rank higher than our competitors’?
Overnight, strong brands have become vanilla, expert opinions have become diluted, everyone sounds the same and customers no longer know who to trust.
Of course, AI is a powerful tool that is only getting better. But it is a tool, not the tradesman. And the wrong tool in the wrong hands can be very damaging.
Old technology re-invented
AI isn’t new. It was first used in the 1950s when a computer scientist trained a model to play Chess and progressively learn.
I first became interested in AI in 2019 when I recruited a Computer Scientist in my marketing company, Purplex. Since then we have been busy building and testing AI and learning models to optimise the power of AI for marketing, content and lead generation.
While Chat GPT brought AI into the mainstream, it is still a blunt instrument and, sadly, those that use it often lack the wider skills to use the tool to its best effect.
At Purplex we built our own AI model, Orago, based on the Llama large language model. Orago has been trained on our 20 years of specialist marketing knowledge in the construction and home improvement industry, with in-depth expertise that general AIs cannot replicate.
When we work with a client, our team build a dedicated AI model that we train on every aspect of the client, from brand values and culture to product knowledge, the history of the business and customers. The client AI gets better over time as it learns.
However, it requires real human skills to understand the nuances and bring together expert prompt writers, experienced content creators and human editors to create powerful, meaningful content that resonates with the brand and really moves the audience.
That’s why, despite our huge investment in AI and other technologies, Purplex is investing more in human marketing experience with ‘lived experience’ than ever before.
Next time your marketing team use AI to write your blog or website copy, email newsletter, social media posts or ad campaign, consider the fact that everyone else is doing the same thing, with the same tool.
Working with an AI enabled marketing agency such as Purplex, with the full arsenal of tools, marketing expertise and depth of knowledge will not only protect your brand and reputation, but position you as the stand-out market leader, head and shoulders above your competitors. Get in touch today to learn more.
Andrew Scott is CEO of Purplex Marketing. He is a recognised marketing expert and thought leader who has advised over 1,000 business leaders on strategy and growth.
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