As AI approaches and exceeds human intelligence, I’ve been thinking a lot about where humans fit in the mix. I hope you’re thinking about this, too.

Compared to any time in history, there are a few unique aspects about the technological change we’re facing.

First, we’re not replacing a horse with a car, or a book with a Kindle. We are replacing intelligence. This has unparalleled consequences for the usefulness of human beings.

Second, nobody knows what’s next. Even the most ego-driven tech bros say … “we don’t know.” Will we enter a period of enlightenment, or will we destroy ourselves? Don’t know.

But here is something that we do know. Many knowledge-industry professions are facing an existential crisis. And our survival might depend on art.

The economic value of intelligence is zero

Every company is built on the organization of intelligence. We manage human intelligence units who possess useful knowledge in HR, accounting, marketing, etc. As those humans gain more intelligence, they are rewarded with economic incentives like money, stock options, and vacation days.

But what happens when there is no economic value for intelligence? Think about the ChatGPT you use every day. It’s more or less free, and it’s getting better month by month. As the capability increases, the cost to access that intelligence also goes down. So the most prized possession in any company — intelligence — is becoming a commodity. And that truly changes everything.

Now at this point, you might want to stop me and say, “But what about …”  Of course there are exceptions. And as I said, nobody knows for sure. But one trend we can see with clarity is that the economic value of intelligence will be near zero, and that is profound.

The impact on marketing careers

Let’s get more granular. Where do humans fit in the future marketing world where intelligence is not prized as it once was?

If you care about the sustainability of your marketing career, I beg you to read Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World. This book spells out very clearly the human-only aspects of marketing we can protect. It’s not about fighting AI or ignoring it, but transedning it in a uniquely human way. The book contains hundreds of ideas.

And here is a major theme of the book that I want you to internalize and carry with you forever.

If you’re a competent person creating competent work, you are vulnerable. You are ignorable. AI will take your job. I can’t sugarcoat this. AI is already competent and even excellent at many tasks. It is already taking jobs.

But here is one thing I am sure of: Art will persist. Art is the future of your marketing.

Becoming marketing artists

Tech analyst Shelly Palmer recently wrote:

“The debate over AI and its role in creative industries often centers on one question: Can AI ever be as creative as humans? While it’s tempting to philosophize about inspiration and ingenuity, this line of inquiry misses a crucial point for anyone tasked with making practical decisions about content creation: If the audience can’t tell the difference between AI-generated and human-generated content—or if they don’t care—then, for all practical purposes, there is no difference.”

My view is, you have to make them care!

Art is the expression of the human experience. AI can fake this in a convincing way. A humanoid robot recently painted a picture that sold for $1.6 million. But we will always hold on to the music, the stories, the paintings that are an irreplaceable part of a human story.

The same goes for marketing.

To stand out, you have to be original. To be original, you have to add your human story to the marketing mix. This requires a new way of thinking and some courage, but what choice do you have?

Your voice, perspective, and wisdom are the only things AI cannot copy. There is only one you, and the world is longing for authenticity that cuts through the AI pandemic of dull.

So here is one key to success. Art is an expression of the human condition and brand marketing must aspire to do the same. To survive and thrive in the AI-pocalypse our marketing must approach art. Make your customers care about your content.

Which would be audacious. Audacity: The AI survival skill.

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post When intelligence becomes worthless, marketing artists will survive appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

I have been going around the world giving two new speeches. One on “Harnessing AI for Your Business” and a new one based on my new book Audacious.

In the AI speech I make an important point — The rate of change will impact us as individuals and businesses as much as the change itself. To thrive we need to adopt a new mindset, a mindset of continuous change at a scale that is unprecedented in the history of our planet.

Think about it. The moment you read this sentence is the slowest rate of technological change you will ever experience.

If you’re in marketing, the problem is doubly difficult. It’s just nuts out there, and we need help coping!

I thought it would be interesting to discuss coping strategies with Jay Acunzo. We are both regarded as thought leaders in our spaces, and there is no halfway. Either you’re keeping pace, or you’re not.

In the new episode of The Marketing Companion we reveal our own strategies and secrets to stay ahead. Fasten your seatbelts! The world of blazing change is ahead. Just click here to listen:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion Episode 312

Please support our sponsor, who brings you this fantastic episode.

Bravo for Brevo!

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post Six practical tips to stay ahead of the marketing learning curve appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

Are you tired of reading about AI? Me too.

There’s a whole world of marketing disruption and opportunity to talk about, so let’s put GPT on pause for a moment and consider the State of the Nation and the 10 biggest marketing challenges.

One of the best parts of my job is interacting with business leaders of all types. I get a broad, global perspective of marketing issues from the very largest companies to solopreneurs and startups. And I certainly hear some common themes when it comes to the biggest marketing challenges.

Surprisingly, they have nothing to do with AI, at least not directly. Here’s what’s going on in the world from my perspective. These are NOT in any particular order.

1) Awareness

OK, I lied. This one IS in order — probably the biggest challenge we face today.

Marketers create customers. And to create customers, we must create awareness for our products. Rising above the noise to earn attention has never been more challenging. Media channels are fragmented and, as we see with TikTok, tentative!

Consumers have become their own streaming media entities. How do we get into those earbuds? And then you have AI swarming the media landscape. Sheesh. Marketing is hard. This is the time for audacity! 

2) From big campaigns to small acts of cultural relevance

A few years ago, Pepsi announced that the big brand “bonfires” were over. Brands had to connect to moments of cultural relevance. At the time, I wondered what that meant. But it became clear as brands became part of music, sports, fashion and leaned into emerging consumer signals.

Certainly, that is the direction of the marketing world right now, as brands try to capitalize on memes and trends instead of planning massive campaigns months in advance. A focus on cultural relevance requires an obsession with …

3) The Need for Speed

At 8:48 p.m. on February 03, 2013, a milestone event occurred that changed the face of marketing forever. The power went out at the Super Bowl. and in 10 minutes, Oreo launched an ad:

I remember being at a Super Bowl party  — there was a gasp in the room when the commercial ended. How did they do that?

The ad transcended all norms of advertising. The brilliance lay not only in the imagery but in the blazing speed of execution. This wasn’t a meticulously planned campaign — it was marketing at the speed of culture. The ad wasn’t just broadcast on TV; it also became a social media viral sensation and the company’s all-time most tweeted content. It was a global showcase of the potential of real-time marketing.

In the TikTok Era, a brand might have an hour to be relevant. There’s no time for planning or measurement. Many brands live in a reaction culture. This has massive implications for creative, resources, and legal approvals!

If the need for speed hasn’t transformed your marketing department, it will soon.

4) The Disconnected Customer

Many people, especially those under the age of 25, experience their entire media world by themselves through earbuds. They binge music, video, movies, and podcasts in an ad-free streaming environment. They play their games and socialize in Discord groups. They’re not visible to brands, and they don’t see the brands either, at least not like they used to.

A few years ago, I wrote a book about one solution to this dilemma: Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy. I was absolutely right about this trend. As I am writing this post, I’m attending the global thought leadership conference SXSW. The sessions on brands and communities are so hot that they had to create extra sessions. In the current marketing environment, this might be a hotter topic than AI.

Community is certainly one of the few options to earn your way past those earbuds!

5) Adjusting the marketing/advertising infrastructure

Quiz time.

You know without a doubt that word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is the purest, most trusted form of marketing, right? It’s been around forever … but how much of your budget is devoted to WOMM? My guess is: ZERO.

How about brand community? How about experiential marketing? Also, probably zero.

There are lots of marketing options beyond Facebook ads and SEO but we’ve stayed in the familiar marketing trenches. If you have a contract with an ad agency they are probably resisting alternative forms of marketing because, well, they’re not ads. There is a legacy infrastructure in place that keeps us less effective and boring.

6) Navigating a world where one person can alter brand strategy

Life used to be so easy. A brand was what we said it was. Today, a brand is what we tell each other. And that can spin out of control.

The problem with our social media world today isn’t a matter of free speech, it’s a matter of amplification. A hundred years ago, if somebody spread a conspiracy theory, it would be unlikely to get any further than the boundaries of a neighborhood. But today, false information and deep fakes can reach millions if it comes from an influencer.

Our favorite brands have spent decades and millions of dollars building consumer connections. And all that can be ruined by somebody who is out to get you. It is certainly a weird world where our hard-earned brand marketing can be tarnished in a single post.

7) Activating influencer marketing

I was sitting at a table of brand managers, and one of them said, “Influencers are everything.” That’s a profound statement. But if you’ve followed this post so far, you can see how influencers fit into this new marketing world.

Influencers have massive, loyal audiences, and their message can cut through the earbud blockade. They can be counted on to react with speed, in the moment. In fact, day-to-day relevance is what makes them great. They are more than trusted — Their biggest fans consider them family.

I’ve been following the influencer marketing trend since its beginning, and I think the momentum will pick up going forward. While this is mainstream media for the biggest brands, most companies are just getting started.

8) Talent Acquisition and Skill Gaps

The rapid evolution of digital/influencer/meme marketing requires new skills in AI, analytics, and content creation. Finding and retaining top talent is increasingly difficult. Something I hear all the time: “There is no shortage of marketing jobs. There is a shortage of the right skills for those jobs.”

9) Proving ROI and Justifying Budgets

Marketing teams face increasing pressure to demonstrate clear ROI on campaigns. With long sales cycles and brand-building efforts, attributing revenue directly to marketing initiatives has always been challenging.

I think this is the greatest source of marketing stress. Your boss expects marketing to be coin-operated. Put coins in, get more coins out. But customers don’t operate that way and they don’t care about your quarterly revenue goals. Marketing takes patience and that is not a popular trait these days.

10) Global de-population

I bet you didn’t see that one coming. But this mega-trend will put a lot of pressure on marketers and their brands.

The global birthrate is nowhere near the replacement average of 2.1 births per family. In the U.S., for example, the rate is about 1.4 births per family. Almost every business depends on population growth for incremental annual sales gains. However, the population will inexorably decline in most developed nations, which has massive implications for sales and marketing.

The latest UN numbers show that 2040 will be the peak population on earth, just 15 years away. So, it’s coming at us quickly.

Well, on that happy note, I’ll conclude this post on non-AI marketing issues. You might be thinking, “Whew … that’s a lot.” But that’s exactly why I love marketing. It’s a field that is endlessly changing and endlessly fascinating.

I love solving hard problems and marketing has no lack of them!

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Image courtesy Mid Journey

The post The 10 biggest marketing challenges have nothing to do with AI appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

I am a fan of internet pioneer Kevin Kelly. His futuristic projections and books have informed much of my work. And while I don’t always agree with him, I pay close attention to his writing.

Last week, Kevin wrote a blog post titled The Handoff to Bots, which thinks through the implications of two colliding megatrends: global de-population due to a rapidly declining birthrate and the inevitable rise of AI bots taking over human jobs.

This collision seems calamitous — how many businesses depend on steady population growth for their economic progress? The specter of the population and job market simultaneously crashing in a freefall seems horrifying.

But Kevin is optimistic, even in the face of this probability. His thesis is that AI is not only capable of manufacturing and innovation but also driving consumption and economic growth. He contends this “handoff” from human labor to machine efficiency is essential for sustaining and improving living standards despite a declining human workforce.

What AI Utopia?

Kevin’s article repeats a familiar futurist theme: When the bots come, we’ll be able to do whatever we want to do! No more careers, no more toil. We will be living in Leisure World.

Go play. Or volunteer. Or write poetry. Hurray!

When will a transition to a dreamy AI Utopia arrive? Job loss is already occurring in some sectors, like customer service, where thousands of jobs have been replaced by AI agents.

But the initial tendency for these displaced workers isn’t to start watercolor painting or gardening. They’re looking for another job because there is no safety net for AI-replaced workers. There is no AI Utopia, at least not for the foreseeable future. There are bills to pay.

When will we see job displacement at scale? Many AI advocates say it’s soon, but I think it will be at least two to three years away. Why? Because every time a big tech shift seems imminent, it’s not. Tech moves fast, culture moves slowly, so there will be an adjustment period.

But, it’s coming. And when it does, there will be no mass migration to AI Utopia, as the futurists like to say. Most displaced people will be looking for jobs, not fishing trips. This is what’s nagging at me. What are the plans to help people navigate to a world without work? Who is planning for this?

Our smartest visionaries, like Kevin Kelly, think it’s inevitable.

But how?

Surviving AI Utopia

To get to the next step in my thought process, let’s assume we figure this transition out. The AI bots and humanoid bots arrive. They take millions of jobs. Somehow, the government extracts bot-created wealth from the technocrats, and re-distributes it equitably to the unemployed, and we indeed enter a new era of AI Utopia for humanity.

So we’ve arrived. But there is another aspect of this “do whatever we want” vision of Leisure World that’s unsettling. What exactly will we be doing with all this free time? Take endless vacations? Sit around writing poetry? Plant flowers?

If many careers go away, realistically, how will people fill their time? How many flowers can a person plant? My mind is boggled by the prospect that billions of work hours could suddenly be shifted to … what?

If and when we get through this transition to AI Utopia (5-10 years away?), there will be significant business opportunities ahead. Think about what businesses could thrive if they focus on 1) occupying all this vacant time and 2) creating meaning in our lives.

Occupying time

Part of the new AI Utopia will indeed be leisure. Follow your dreams! Thinking this through, there could be a huge surge for any products and services that serve these areas:

• Creative Industries: Art, music, literature, and design could experience a renaissance as more individuals pursue creative expression and innovation. Lessons, art supplies, crafts.
• Entertainment and Media: Immersive virtual reality experiences, gaming, and digital content production would evolve to offer personalized, high-quality entertainment. High-end electronics, gaming, gambling.
• Travel and Experiential Tourism: As disposable time increases, tourism may shift toward experiential and culturally rich travel, emphasizing unique, transformative journeys. Hunting, fishing, premium travel.
• Wellness and Personal Development: Sectors focused on physical health, mental well-being, and self-improvement—such as fitness, mindfulness, and holistic health services—are likely to expand. Trainers, studios, fitness apps, gear.
• Lifelong Learning and Education: Education could transform into an ongoing, enrichment-focused experience rather than a strict career path, fostering personal growth and new skill development. It could be a niche for universities or, more likely, community colleges.

Not an exhaustive list. But if you’re looking at a transitional career, these areas might be good bets.

Creating meaning

When the bots come, some people will just drop out, take the government replacement income, and sit on the beach all day. But I think most people will want something more than a hobby to occupy their time. They’ll need to replace the meaning and personal value that comes with having a job.

This will be a significant problem: Creating personal meaning for millions of unemployed people! So if you figure out a way to do that when AI Utopia arrives, you’re probably on a path to success. How might people find new meaning?

• Community and Social Engagement: Social clubs, local cultural events, and artisan markets might thrive. Might be an opportunity for a fresh approach to local service clubs.
• Spiritual Pursuits: I think there will be a renaissance in religion and religious studies. Joining a church community can provide meaning as well as companionship.
• Volunteerism. Perhaps the greatest benefit of Leisure World will be a passionate workforce ready to solve problems, protect our planet, and lift up the needy.

Another interesting side note on volunteerism. A recent experiment with a universal basic income found that when people had a stable monthly flow of money, their charitable giving increased. So the AI Utopia future might mean more volunteers and also more funding.

The asteroid we’re ignoring

There was news recently about an asteroid that might hit Earth in 2032. The probability is less than 1%, but scientists have already tested processes to alter its path. Cool.

What are the chances that AI and robots will displace millions of jobs by that same year? Far higher than 1%. Yet we have no deflection plan. No preparation strategy. No safety systems.

As we move closer to this inevitable collision of depopulation and unemployment, you’ll hear this refrain about humans being “free to pursue anything they want” over and over again. That’s not a solution. That’s the beginning of the real problem.

The next time the AI experts claim how we’ll all be free to do whatever we want in this AI future, ask them what that actually means.

Ask them who’s building the bridge.

Ask them who’s creating the safety nets.

And, ask yourself, what are our business plans for preparing for both the problems and opportunities of a drastically changing world?

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Image courtesy Mid Journey

The post From Work to What? Surviving the AI Utopia Narrative appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

AI and search

New research shows that 27% of adults are using AI platforms for traditional search functions. I am getting about a dozen direct inquiries on my site from ChatGPT, and I’ve secured two customers through AI.

So, how is this going to work? It seems that Google is in trouble, but how can you bet against the world’s number-one search engine?

That’s the subject of the new episode of The Marketing Companion. I welcome a new co-host, Andy Crestodina, one of the premier digital marketing wizards around. Andy has some well-informed views of what is happening, what is likely, and how we need to think about search in the next few years.

We also delve into a topic that is a bit more controversial (believe it or not!) LinkedIn newsletters. Historically, I have not been a fan. You’re turning over your email list, SEO value, and perhaps even content discoverability to LinkedIn. And hey, who ever heard of a newsletter going viral?

But Andy has had some success in this area and presents a compelling case for the platform. An interesting debate!  To hear it all, simply click here:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion Episode 310

Please support our sponsor, who brings you this fantastic episode.

Bravo for Brevo!

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post Goodbye Google? Dissecting the role of AI and SEO appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

“The most human company wins.”

If I ever had something close to a “catch phrase,” it’s probably this. I use these words to end most of my speeches. It is the central theme of my Marketing Rebellion book. Of the millions of words I have written, this is the only phrase I have trademarked.

But I had to pause this week and wonder if it’s still true. The data is in, and it’s startling. AI isn’t just matching human empathy—it’s now exceeding it. What happens when the AI bots are more human than humans?

The empathetic bots

If you’ve immersed yourself in the world of AI (and I hope you have), you’ve witnessed the inexorable and explosive improvement of these systems on every level.

Recent breakthroughs show that AI can now reason through problems instead of just collating web data, demonstrating human-like logic. And now, AI can express empathy and understanding in a way that is more human than humans.

New research (first reported by Mike Kaput of the Artificial Intelligence Show) suggests that AI may not just match human empathy but, in some cases, exceed it. A team of researchers tested whether people could tell the difference between responses from GPT 4 versus licensed therapists when presented with therapy challenges. The participants struggled to tell AI from human responses, and when they were asked to rate them, they preferred the AI responses in key areas like empathy, therapeutic alliance, and cultural competence.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the AI therapist was more effective in producing results in a patient. In fact, there is evidence of harm coming from bot-therapists. However, the breakthrough idea is that AI can produce empathetic responses that are preferred over highly skilled professionals, and there are some interesting implications for that.

Is it real human emotion? No. But it doesn’t seem to matter.

The leap to the business world

It doesn’t take much imagination to see how scaling soft skills like this could provide immediate value in the corporate world.

Allstate, one of the largest insurers in the U. S., is using AI to generate nearly all its emails for communications about claims. The reason — responses from bots are less accusatory, use clearer language, and express more empathy than humans, according to the company.

Allstate is using ChatGPT to fuel the customer replies, while grounding them in company-specific terminology.

Implications for our human work

Some people have soothed themselves by hoping that we could never take real human empathy out of our jobs. But these developments show that extracting humans from a process can produce results that are more empathetic,  patient, kind … and profitable.

AI might represent perfect empathy. It never tires. It never judges. It maintains unwavering patience and understanding, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It can instantaneously access and process vast databases of human psychology, cultural contexts, and communication strategies. It can read micro-expressions better than humans, understand vocal tone with greater accuracy, and predict emotional responses with superior precision.

If a customer receives better care, feels more understood, and achieves better outcomes with AI, what possible value is there in knowing their customer service rep or account manager is a human who has “real” feelings?

The harsh truth is that in many cases, human empathy will become a liability. Organizations that cling to human-delivered empathy will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage, unable to match the consistent, scalable, and superior emotional intelligence offered by AI.

Right?

Does human empathy matter?

About 20 years ago, I went through the darkest time of my life, an episode I describe in Chapter 1 of my book KNOWN. I would not wish that experience on anyone, but I emerged with a new superpower.

When I meet somebody who is “below zero” in their life, I can look them in the eye and express empathy based on my own experience. It’s not perfect. I’m not a trained psychotherapist. But sometimes, the perfect empathy isn’t based on a database or interpreting micro-expressions. It’s messy. It comes from a hard, lived experience. It comes from scars.

When you’re just trying to get through life hour to hour, you need something more than a bot.

It’s a paradox. While AI can demonstrate behaviors that appear more consistently empathetic than humans, this very fact illuminates something profound about human nature and our future role in an AI-dominant world.

The human advantage isn’t in flawlessly executing empathetic responses — it’s in our capacity for genuine connection, especially when we’re imperfect. We can relate to others precisely because we share the messy reality of being human: we know what it means to struggle, to doubt, to sit in a dark corner and sob. Our empathy comes from going through an existential war, not AI pattern recognition.

What emerges isn’t a story of replacement for human empathy, but of evolution.

The most human company

Yes, the most human company still wins. But the most human company will be the one that thoughtfully blends AI’s reliable, empathetic responses with unique moments when we need our messy, vulnerable, beautiful, authentically human selves.

Those companies will recognize that while AI can handle the day-to-day empathetic heavy lifting, breakthrough human connections — those moments of real understanding, creativity, and growth — still require human hearts and minds.

One time, I had a coaching call with a young man who had a resume-writing service. This is a pretty boring product that has been commoditized. I struggled to help him find a meaningful niche where he could stand out.

“Why do you do this job?” I asked.

He became emotional and animated. “I see people every day who have not looked for a job in 20 or 30 years,” he said. “They are terrified. I know I can help them. I will hold their hand through this process. I will not let them down.”

I told him to record a video of himself saying exactly that and post it on the front of his website immediately. His humanity was his niche.

Sometimes, true human empathy is everything.

The most human company wins. Now and forever.

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Image courtesy Mid Journey

The post When Robots Care More: The Evolution of Human Empathy appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

A few months ago, I viewed a demonstration of a new ad agency “operating system” that showed how AI could take one piece of blog content and distort it endlessly into a nearly infinite number of variations to serve every platform and every language. It made me feel ill as the copy of a copy of a copy gradually lost any connection to its human origins.

An AWS study showed that already a shocking 57.1% of all the content on the web is an AI-garbled dumpster of poor quality re-purposed content. And as AI inexorably scans the web for more information to learn and grow, it’s now training on its own crappy content.

In one respect, this ocean of meh might seem intimidating. Wasn’t it hard enough to stand out in this world — and now we have bots flooding our niches with so much crap that we’ll never be found?

But this is also an opportunity because the real, the human, the content that is surprising and even a little crazy, will feel like an oasis. The content that approaches the level of human art will stand out. The marketing activations that bring people together in shared experiences will be remembered and even celebrated.

But we simply can’t keep doing what we’ve always been doing. Competent doesn’t cut it. Competence doesn’t create conversations. Competent is ignorable.

This new AI marketing reality demands human audacity. So let’s get to it.

The place for humans in a pandemic of dull

Last week, I was given an incredible gift that I want to share with you.

Douglas Burdett, the legendary host of The Marketing Book podcast, came out of retirement to interview me about these topics — the core of my new book Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World. The interview was part of a global livestream (you can see it here).

This discussion was so wonderful that I turned the recording into a special podcast episode for you. We cover:

• What are the strategies for human-based marketing in an AI-dominant world?
• How do humans unleash the revolutionary power of “everyday awe” in our businesses?
• Why AI creates a “pandemic of dull” that can only be overcome by human ingenuity.

… and much more.

It’s an incredibly fascinating show, and I hope you’ll join in by clicking here:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion Episode 309

Please support our sponsor, who brings you this fantastic episode.

Bravo for Brevo!

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post How AI is creating a pandemic of dull (and what to do about it!) appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

My new book is called Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World. It’s a call to action for those who refuse to be left behind, as AI infringes on our work and our careers.

I knew the book itself had to demonstrate the norm-bending path I outlined in the book … but how? The publishing industry is so boring, built on processes that have existed for more than 200 years. There’s not a lot of room for breaking rules in a business like that.

But I did it. The cover of Audacious is a first-in-the-world AI-driven Augmented Reality experience — a book cover that’s never the same twice. Some have compared the cover to an art show or a video game. Click the video to see what it looks like:

This is the story of the “infinity cover” and how the most audacious book cover in history came to life.

The Spoonshot

Over the years, I’ve developed an admiration, and then a friendship, with the founders of Giant Spoon, a marketing agency recently named by Fast Company as one of the most creative companies in the world. Their quirky, norm-busting approach has won them award after award, and of course, that’s fascinating to a marketing geek like me.

I first mentioned Giant Spoon in my book Marketing Rebellion when I described the new momentum toward experiential marketing — a characteristic of much of their work. One of their activations was actually the catalytic idea that started me down the path for Audacious!

I knew I had to knock this new book out of the park. I was confident in my research and writing (my best work!), but I needed to create an experience that would push the boundaries of what a book could be. When I mentioned this to Marc Simons, a Giant Spoon co-founder, he said, “We can help.”

We were about to get a little crazy and launch what the agency calls a “Spoonshot.”

The creative process

It was a lot of fun going through the brainstorming process with Giant Spoon. Early ideas involved my naked body (the world is not ready for that one) and a pen that literally contained a sample of my sweat and blood (representing the work that went into the book).

The idea that rose to the top was an extreme version of the book — something that nobody had seen before. So we scoured the world for ideas and focused on an embossed leather cover. That proved to be far too expensive, and as we explored other techniques like foil embossing, we couldn’t find any idea that was an “oh wow” for a reasonable price.

I wasn’t against spending money, but the margin on book sales is so low so I had to watch the budget. One of the lessons in Audacious is that a big budget can hinder creativity. So we rolled up our sleeves and pursued new concepts.

I had the idea of creating a provocative book cover with nothing but a QR code — but where would the QR code lead?

The original Giant Spoon idea was that it would open a portal to another world populated by the stories and characters of the book — a quest. But this was also going to be complicated and costly.

And then, Giant Spoon Creative Director Ian Grody tossed out an idea that made my heart skip a beat. What if the cover kept changing? What if the book was never the same way twice?

If we could pull that off, we would achieve something that had never been done before! We had our path — on a reasonable budget!

The AI activated book

I did some tests to see how a QR code could be used in various circumstances. Would it work if it was as small as a thumbnail on Amazon? If it was presented on an angle? Would it even be legal within Amazon guidelines for me to publish a cover that was nothing but a QR code?

I determined that it could theoretically work and now we had to figure out HOW! This had never been done before, and it required ingenuity and determination.

Our concept was to upload the completed manuscript into an AI large language model and generate art based on stories in the book. The AI was also “fed” sample art to help us attain a unique, consistent output of abstract images.

It worked — sort of. The early versions were far too abstract and weird!

We learned that we needed to be more descriptive with our prompts for the AI to create something that resembled something from the book. The final results are still abstract but more connected to the stories in the book. You might even see abstract art of me on the cover!

The biggest technical challenge was linking the art to the QR code in a seamless reader experience. The Giant Spoon team found a creative solution — design a custom Snapchat filter that led to the AR experience. This was a breakthrough idea because it didn’t require any special download or passcode for the reader. Just point your smartphone camera at the cover, click to approve the experience, and go!

After a few months of work, we had a system in place!

The cover design

Now that we had an AI activated AR experience, we had to design the actual cover. It had to have a background with enough contrast to accurately display the code and bold enough to stand out as a small thumbnail image on Amazon.

Here’s an early version:

I loved the bold blue design, but it was inconsistent with the color palette of the abstract art in the AR experience. We wanted the cover-to-AR experience to seem seamless. We tried a lot of crazy combinations, including a photo of a plaster wall I took while visiting Italy:

I actually liked this idea … there was a story behind the cover art! But it was too pale to make the QR code stand out. We needed something bolder. I took a photo of a cool color pattern in an architectural magazine and asked the designer to see how it would look as a cover. We were getting close:

This is a great cover and it really popped. But there was one more iteration. Giant Spoon finalized the morphing AI images and suggested a more subtle gradient design that mimicked the tone of the new abstract art:

Voila! This is the final version, and it has the working QR code, so go ahead and give it a try if you haven’t purchased the book yet!

There was one other significant change to this cover: The subtitle. Some of the beta readers (people who provide feedback on the book before it is finalized) didn’t like the original subtitle, “The Rebel’s Guide to Disruptive Marketing.” They didn’t think it encompassed the bold promise of the book.

I kept thinking about one of the lines in the book — “This is a rallying cry for those who refuse to be ignored.” That’s the spirit I wanted to capture. We all need to rally and find a way forward in a world where the bots are creeping in on us. So I landed on: “How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World.”

Beyond the AI activated cover

In addition to the standard AR cover, I also created AR experiences for:

• An alternative cover for ads where the QR code leads to the promotional video instead of the art
• A unique AR experience that aligns with the square audiobook cover
• Custom AR experiences for foreign publishers.

As you see, the cover took months of work and innovation. Some times it was nerve-wracking as we pioneered a new concept. But the cover is just the beginning of the book’s surprises. You’ll also find a puzzle within the book, QR codes leading to case study videos, and “Easter egg” surprises.

I hope you’ll buy my book and experience this unique work first-hand!

Need a keynote speaker? Mark Schaefer is the most trusted voice in marketing. Your conference guests will buzz about his insights long after your event! Mark is the author of some of the world’s bestselling marketing books, a college educator, and an advisor to many of the world’s largest brands. Contact Mark to have him bring a fun, meaningful, and memorable presentation to your company event or conference.

Follow Mark on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram

Top photo courtesy of Peggy Bodinaku

The post The story behind the world’s first AI activated book appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

I want to talk about my wife for a moment. This is relevant to AI, trust me.

In most marriages, there is a division of labor. For example, my wife does the taxes for our family. I used to do the taxes, but once we were married, this was something she wanted to do, so I happily off-loaded that duty.

Today, if I had to do my own taxes, I would be lost. I couldn’t log-in to the software. I don’t know where she keeps our files. I’ve lost my skills in this area, but I’m OK with that, at least as long as she’s around!

Today, we offload much more than our tax skills to a partner or spouse. As we immerse ourselves into a world of nearly free, abundant super intelligent AI, we can offload our need for memory, critical thinking, and formal education. This isn’t a weird, science fiction scenario. It’s already happening.

A recent Swiss study indicated that more frequent use of AI led to cognitive decline as users offloaded critical thinking to machines.

Younger participants (17–25) showed higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores compared to older age groups. Advanced educational attainment correlated positively with critical thinking skills, suggesting that education mitigates some cognitive impacts of AI reliance.

Although this is an early study, it sort of makes sense. I don’t use math skills like previous generations because math is automatically baked into everything we do. What happens to our brains when abundant, perfect intelligence is available to everyone? Interesting implications for education and I think this is coming fast.

Another study from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University suggests that over-reliance on generative AI may erode critical thinking skills. Researchers surveyed 319 knowledge workers across 936 AI-assisted tasks and found that the more users trusted AI-generated outputs, the less cognitive effort they applied. Said differently, confidence in AI correlates with diminished analytical engagement and cognitive decline.

This is the automation paradox—offloading cognitive tasks to AI can make humans worse at them. Participants who blindly accepted AI’s suggestions reported weaker critical thinking skills, while skeptics remained more analytical.

This is one of the provocative topics on the new episode of The Marketing Companion podcast. Paul Roetzer of the Artificial Intelligence Show and I cover AI + cognitive decline, as well as:

• The marketing (or lack of) for AI
• The hype around AI agents
• The Deep Seek outfall

It’s an incredibly fascinating show, and I hope you’ll join in by clicking here:

Click here to enjoy Marketing Companion Episode 308

Please support our sponsor, who brings you this fantastic episode.

Bravo for Brevo!

This episode is brought to you by Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Brevo gives you the tools to attract, engage, and nurture customer relationships.

Now, any business can build automated customer experiences, email marketing workflows, and landing pages that guide your customer to your main message. We are here to support businesses successfully navigating their digital presence to strengthen their customer relationships.

Go to https://www.brevo.com/marketingcompanion to sign up for Brevo for free and use the code COMPANION to save 50% on your first three months of Brevo’s Starter & Business plan!

Illustration courtesy MidJourney

The post How frequent AI usage is leading to cognitive decline appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.