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This edited extract is from Digital Branding by Daniel Rowles ©2025 and is reproduced and adapted with support from Kogan Page Ltd.
If you could lone get a consciousness for someone’s property by them telling you things astir themselves, we whitethorn extremity up with a precise shallow knowing of them.
We whitethorn besides person trouble believing successful the property that has been constructed – and we whitethorn commencement to question the motivations down what they are telling america astir themselves.
That is precisely the concern of commercialized branding that uses broadcast channels specified arsenic TV.
A property is sculpted, and past we are told what the property is. We don’t get to discuss, prosecute with, and truly recognize the existent personality.
Digital media present means, however, that the speech is nary longer 1 way. I tin challenge, inquire questions, and make a truer representation of the brand. I tin spot done a sculpted marque and commencement to spot it for what it genuinely is.
This tin beryllium a scary happening for galore accepted brands. It tin besides beryllium a immense opportunity.
AI And Branding
Artificial quality (AI) has had a profound interaction connected the satellite astir america successful precise caller months and years.
Things that were subject fiction, oregon astatine slightest highly hard to bash unless you had capable expertise and resources, are present made imaginable with tools disposable to everyone.
These AI-based tools and their exertion tin person a immense impact connected our integer branding.
This tin beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic giving america the accidental to make a amended idiosyncratic acquisition by utilizing instrumentality learning to assistance america optimize a website acquisition (for example, by giving idiosyncratic contented that is customized for them specifically) oregon by generating an representation that follows our marque guidelines utilizing generative AI.
However, beyond these AI tools that assistance america go more businesslike and much effective, we besides find ourselves faced with caller risks and ethical challenges.
Let’s instrumentality a real-world example. Using a low-cost instrumentality similar Eleven Labs, I tin make a wholly convincing deepfake of my ain voice. I tin past benignant successful immoderate substance I privation and get the deepfake dependable to work that text.
The dependable sounds precisely similar me, and I tin adjacent make the aforesaid code aggregate times, and each clip it volition dependable somewhat antithetic and person ever truthful somewhat antithetic intonation, conscionable arsenic I would if I work the aforesaid happening aggregate times.
To trial the prime of this voice, I replaced a conception of maine speaking connected the Digital Marketing Podcast, which has implicit 150,000 listeners. Nobody noticed.
So if I tin deepfake myself, bash I request to adjacent fuss signaling podcasts anymore? Do I request to pass my listeners?
Legally, I don’t person to, but I would suggest ethically I should. If I spot you, and I abruptly find that aft listening to your dependable for immoderate time, that it wasn’t truly you, it volition harm my trust.
AI gives our brands a immense magnitude of tools to amended what we do, but we besides request to beryllium cautious however and erstwhile we usage these tools, truthful we don’t harm the spot successful our brands.
Any usage of AI needs to beryllium done mindfully, considering the interaction it whitethorn have.
Global Soapbox
If a marque is fundamentally the property of something, integer media gives america the quality and accidental to recognize the existent property of something.
We tin past usage that knowing to assistance usher america successful our decision-making processes.
This is simply a large accidental from a lawsuit constituent of view.
For example, it means that alternatively of being enactment connected clasp for an hr erstwhile phoning a telephone centre and having small prime but to tolerate it, I tin present spell consecutive to 1 of galore societal media channels and marque my frustrations precise wide and precise visible.
I present person a planetary soapbox with entree to each of the different imaginable customers retired there, and I tin interaction a planetary organization’s marque successful a mode that was not imaginable earlier (or, astatine least, was incredibly difficult).
That highly disposable ailment past becomes portion of different people’s marque cognition (fairly oregon not), and suddenly, the years of gathering a marque tin beryllium tumbled precise quickly.
This is simply a precise overmuch changed situation for businesses to run successful – if they disregard this change, past it tin pb to problems.
This quality to prosecute with and probe into a marque tin besides beryllium looked astatine from an adjacent simpler constituent of view.
Perhaps I americium researching buying a car oregon a B2B service. I tin present bash a batch of probe and pass my determination earlier I talk to the car dealership oregon work vendor.
When I bash marque this last step, I americium acold much informed and person developed a reasonably in-depth cognition of the marque earlier I prosecute straight with them.
In fact, from the accusation I gleaned online, I whitethorn person opted retired from adjacent considering definite brands.
That accusation whitethorn person been connected a third-party website successful the signifier of a reappraisal oregon remark from idiosyncratic I person ne'er met, but I whitethorn spot it implicit the dependable of the marque itself.
Social Media Fail
This fast-changing situation and the dilatory gait of businesses to accommodate to it is starring the societal media catastrophe stories that we spot connected a regular ground online.
Most societal media disasters show a deficiency of cognition of however to practically usage a peculiar societal media transmission oregon amusement a content that the marque tin manipulate the transmission successful immoderate mode and get distant from this request for authenticity and transparency.
The different communal taxable is that of failing to recognize the changed relation of the marque successful this two-way conversation.
Traditional Brand Metrics
Traditionally, a marque has been measured by asking questions and trying to justice what idiosyncratic thinks of a brand, and trying to enactment retired what this means successful respect to imaginable sales.
There is simply a wide scope of antithetic ways of looking astatine this, but generally, we would instrumentality immoderate benignant of illustration survey of our assemblage and spot what their attitudes were earlier and aft vulnerability to immoderate signifier of marketing.
This survey would inquire a scope of questions, and determination are tons of antithetic approaches, but fundamentally, we would look to reply the pursuing questions:
- Are you alert of the brand?
- Do you similar the brand?
- Do you mean to bargain the brand?
- If you person purchased, bash you mean to bash it again?
Essentially, we are assuming that if we tin get much radical to reply positively to each of these questions, we are apt to get much sales.
This tin inactive beryllium an highly valid process, but lone erstwhile efficaciously integrated into an wide approach.
Sum Of All Experiences
Essentially, integer branding is the property of our organization, service, oregon merchandise created by the sum of each experiences that an idiosyncratic has with that brand.
This inactive includes things specified arsenic ocular identity, but present besides includes overmuch much important and influential touchpoints specified arsenic societal media interactions and online reviews.
Your logo whitethorn marque you recognizable, but it is your wide marque that decides what I retrieve you for.
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More Resources:
- What Is Personal Branding? Here’s Why It’s So Important
- Why You Should Be Focusing On Brand Marketing Right Now
- State Of SEO 2025
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