Newsflash: Marketing your company based on its AI capabilities alone is not going to help you win your market. Chances are it won’t even help you stand out in the crowd. Too many companies are hanging their hat on AI as a differentiator, presuming it’s the fast track to long-term brand success. But this is a deeply misguided belief.
Integrating AI into your software product is already becoming table stakes; additionally, we’ve long known that attempting to differentiate on product is a largely unsustainable strategy. You lose leverage the second competitors crowd the market and copy your product features.
This is why the most effective way to compete is by building a distinct brand that resonates with the right people. Build that brand around your people’s needs, wants, and desires—not just AI-driven products/solutions—and you will stand out from your competition.
- Does that mean you can’t develop important AI solutions? No.
- Does that mean you can’t talk about AI in your marketing? No.
- Does that mean you can’t address the ways your company employs AI? No.
It simply means you need to keep the focus on how your brand benefits people. Everything from your products and services to your community and culture contributes to people’s lives in some way. The more you center people (instead of features) in that narrative, and tap into the emotions that make them feel connected to your brand, the easier it is to win their trust and lifelong loyalty.
The secret to brand success: people over product.
But why has this fundamental truth been eclipsed in an AI-driven world?
The Fallacy of AI-Centric Marketing
There’s no doubt that AI has caused seismic shifts across all industries. But marketers’ obsession with pushing AI as a selling point is painfully shortsighted.
A lasting brand isn’t built on new trends or technology. It’s built on the basic tenets of brand-building: value and connection. (Remember that all of the world’s biggest brands thus far have been built without being “powered by AI”.)
Thinking you can slap a few AI integrations into your product and sell yourself as the “next revolution” in your industry is a flimsy strategy that we are already seeing falter for several reasons.
1) Too many brands are overselling their capabilities.
I get why brands are eager to use AI as a point of differentiation. It seems like the smart move, but many are overselling their AI capabilities—essentially “AI washing” their brands in an attempt at relevance. (Your inbox has probably been flooded with brands announcing AI integrations so tangential or vague you’ve begun to wonder what “powered by AI” even means.)
If your company is not truly AI-driven, this looks like a desperate ploy—and is a great risk to your reputation once users find out you’ve oversold and underdelivered on your AI promises. (We’re likely to see more brands suffer embarrassing public call-outs for this behavior.)
Remember: When trust is broken, so is your pipeline.
Note: Just because you don’t have a purely AI-centric brand doesn’t mean you can’t market your brand effectively, but any whiff of AI washing is dangerous.
2) AI features don’t help you stand out from the competition.
There are many truly innovative GenAI companies doing incredible work—and they will continue to innovate in impressive ways. But for every advancement, a competitor is likely to catch up and put out the same—if not better—tech. If everyone is touting “groundbreaking AI,” then nobody can genuinely stand out.
It’s also dangerous to promote your brand based solely on specific AI features, as any major glitch or failure can damage your reputation.
70% of consumers would switch bands after one bad AI experience.
—Acquire BPO
Truthfully, we’ve seen this same thing happen in industry after industry. Think of the “camera wars” among smartphone companies. In an effort to out-feature each other, they essentially created feature parity among brands.
In this era, true product differentiation is increasingly rare—and it’s not something consumers are particularly impressed by.
Only 5% of brands are considered unique by consumers.
—Brand Aperature
AI-driven brands will see as much homogeny as any other industry, so you need to look for more meaningful ways to stand out.
3) AI is already becoming table stakes.
Because AI has become omnipresent, the novelty has essentially worn off. People basically expect AI integration at this point. We saw this same cycle with cloud computing about a decade or so ago. At a certain point, buyers expected all their software to be cloud-based, and companies that decided to go all in on cloud-centric branding had to go back to the drawing board to find a new value add. We’re already seeing this dynamic right now, and it’s only going to become more pervasive.
4) The AI backlash has already begun.
AI has invaded just about every corner of the internet and brand interaction. Chatbots are everywhere. AI-generated content (aka “AI slop”) has degraded the quality of marketing content. Automation has been confused with innovation, leaving the buyer experience devoid of human connection.
People are fatigued, frustrated, and disconnected.
- They don’t know who to interact with.
- They don’t know who to trust.
- They don’t know if they’re even talking to a human.
As a result, the emotional gap between people and brands has become a chasm, eroding trust and making it harder to create meaningful relationships.
46% of people trust a brand less if they learn the brand uses AI to provide services they assume are coming from a human.
—Acquire BPO
AI’s rapid adoption has also brought about ethical concerns regarding everything from biased algorithms, to altered images, to data privacy issues.
Because of this, some brands like Dove are standing out by taking a strong anti-AI stance. Gartner also predicts that 20% of brands will leverage an absence of AI in their business as a point of differentiation by 2027.
Obviously, tech brands are not going to ditch AI—and it will be integral to many business products/services—but there’s no doubt that people are going to have higher standards and more skepticism.
How, then, do you build a successful, relevant brand that will survive and thrive—without using AI as a crutch? Put your focus on the humanity at the core of your brand.
Why Human-Centric Marketing Will Save Brands
Successful brand-building is about making emotional connections with your audience to create a trusting long-term relationship. This exchange is grounded in the deep human need for community—buoyed by demonstrations of interest, care, and empathy.
People don’t care about features; they care about how you make them feel.
This is why it’s so important to reorient your brand around human connection.
You can’t control how people feel about your brand, but you can influence their perception of your brand based on the stories you tell at various touchpoints throughout your buyer journey.
- Tell that story clearly.
- Tell it consistently.
- Tell it constantly.
While the methods, mediums, and channels you use to deliver those stories may change, the goal is the same: make memorable, meaningful connections.
Think about Coca-Cola, a brand that has used 130+ years of “modern technology” to tell its story, from print newspapers and old-school radio to TV and social media stunts. Whether the brand is tapping into nostalgia or the excitement of the future, it creates positive emotional connections through every interaction.
If you want to do this well, you can’t abandon your brand’s humanity—or your audience’s.
- You need to intimately understand your audience’s emotional drivers, challenges, and desires.
- You need to demonstrate that you understand their unique needs—and have the solutions they’re looking for.
- You need to tap into key emotions (e.g., joy, excitement, relief, etc.) every opportunity you get.
This is where AI-focused brands tend to misstep. AI is not the story of your brand. What your AI does to better human lives is. This extends to both your customers and the people who work for your brand—again, the community that constellates around your brand.
If you put people first, and tailor your messaging and content to speak to their concerns and desires, you will make stronger, deeper connections and increase mental availability when they’re ready to buy. Most importantly, you won’t be so dependent on specific innovations in your product/service.
That said, creating a truly human-centric brand requires a serious shift in perspective and practice.
1) Focus on value.
With the current AI hype, a lot of marketers have forgotten the cardinal rule of great brand marketing: focus on value, not features. (In short, talk about outcomes and benefits, not tech specs.)
- How does your product/service solve problems or improve people’s lives?
- What makes you different than competitors?
- What is the desired future state you deliver?
Identify the core value you provide to your audience, and repeat it over and over at every touchpoint.
Tip: Use our brand messaging template to clearly articulate your value points—and infuse that messaging throughout your content.
2) Put your customer at the core of your business
Whether you’re deciding what product to develop or what social platforms to use, all that matters is what your customers need and want. It can be tough to put your brand’s desires in the backseat, but you need to check your self-interest at the door and think of what’s best for your customer.
3) Infuse emotion into your content.
What core frustrations and pain points are people looking to overcome? What desired future state do you want them to feel? How can you generate excitement, instill confidence, and earnestly connect? (See our tips to infuse more emotion into your b2b campaigns.)
4) Connect people to what they need.
How can you help customers by connecting them to the right resources? How can you cultivate communities to support each other, to support your brand, and to give you much-needed feedback? Events, conferences, and webinars are a great way to start building these bridges.
Tip: One of the easiest ways to create community is to collaborate on content, whether it’s a Q&A, poll, panel, or white paper. For example, we launched our Best Story Wins podcast just over a year ago, and it has been a fantastic opportunity to interact with our community and peers.
5) Create a stronger employer brand.
Your employees play a huge role in how your brand functions and is perceived. How can you celebrate and showcase them? How can you connect them through shared values? How can you peel back the curtain and showcase your company culture? The better you do this, the more people will want to buy from you—and work for you. (See our full guide to create a better employer brand.)
One note: There is a common myth that B2B marketing shouldn’t be emotional. But that is one of the biggest lies. Not only is it imperative to create emotion-driven content marketing but it is the key to accelerating the buying process.
The titans of B2B brand-building have proven this time and time again.
Mailchimp has become the master of human connection, establishing a distinct and playful personality from the jump. Their humor and empathetic approach is endearing. Their quirky visual identity adds a layer of delight to their buyer experience. Their large variety of content speaks to their audience’s needs and interests—no matter the format. (Special shoutout to their Call Paul podcast, where content and brand expert author Paul Jarvis chats with visionary entrepreneurs.)
They also maintain transparency by sharing real insights about their growth and strategy through resources like Mailchimp Presents and their newsletters. By creating a cohesive brand universe—and keeping their customer at the center—they have created a loving and loyal following that has grown with the company.
Hubspot is also a standout in the B2B space, building their services and massive content marketing efforts around providing value first. Their tools, resources, and content are designed to empower businesses to grow, and they take great care to make complex topics like CRM and marketing automation more engaging and digestible. They are especially good at fostering a sense of belonging and community through forums, events like INBOUND, and local user groups, which create more opportunities for customers to connect and grow together.
(For more inspiration on how to emulate their success, find out how to shift from a tech-first company to a human-first company.)
Will AI Play Any Role in Brand Success Going Forward?
It’s true that AI should not overshadow your core brand, but it doesn’t need to be backburnered either. Brands like Mailchimp and Hubspot don’t gloss over their AI explorations. They have integrated it into their products, their workflows, and talked at length about it. But they have always done so through the lens of value—improving their customers’ lives, giving them helpful knowledge, and sharing experiences to build community.
By prioritizing authenticity, trust, and community, you can create lasting emotional connections that no algorithm can replicate—with or without AI. Just remember what matters most in buildling your brand: creating human connections that are meaningful and memorable.
