On the other hand, AI is no longer just relegated to the creativity of science fiction writers. It has become a current reality, and its evolution seems to be speeding up.
So what does that mean for companies, the future of business and brand health?
The recent surge of AI growth has been largely driven by the evolution of large-scale neural networks and the development of deep learning techniques. These large-scale neural networks like the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) by OpenAI are on the forefront of this expansion. Released in 2020, GPT-3 shows how AI has evolved. The current iteration is GPT-4 and it has expanded the boundaries of AI potential.
Brand Health
Simply put, brand health is the measurement of how effective your brand is in helping you to achieve your goals as a business.
Top brands remain as top brands because they continue to analyze their brand health while also monitoring the brand health of their competitors. And while your brand can be on top at the present, it’s not something that should be taken for granted. It’s likely that your competitors are also monitoring your brand.
Brands not only seek to attract new customers, but also to retain their existing ones. And regardless of your prior marketing strategies, all brands today are media brands. We are inundated with an array of options from traditional media outlets, social media and digital advertising. Smartphones are utilizing AI to monitor your browser history and suggest products and services that might be of interest to you.
AI’s Marketability
According to Statista, the market for AI has a current value of $100 billion USD. According to the same study, that value is expected to grow by 20 times that figure by 2030. That’s $2 trillion USD (2 followed by 12 zeros).
Currently, the main target of AI is in ad targeting but it can also assist with both audience and competitor intelligence.
Potential Risks of AI
Know its limits. AI is a tool, not a replacement, that can help humans do their jobs better. And while AI platforms like ChatGPT can obviously help write a press release or other announcement, it doesn’t understand tone or context. It’s a tool that can save time and can help to create a foundation, but it should not be used to create one solely for distribution.
We live in a society where information is freely shared, and often it’s instantaneous. Some of that information is factual, but often it can lack credibility. Distributing inaccurate information can be damaging to your brand.
We have all seen or heard of data breaches. Whether from credit card companies, medical facilities, etc., these breaches of security occur. The more data that you have, the more likely it can be compromised.
Any of the above can damage the trust that consumers have with businesses.
According to recent research published by Redpoint Global, 48% of consumers say that they would interact more frequently with AI if it made their customer experience with the brand more seamless, consistent and convenient.
Note: The FTC recently began an investigation into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, over the tool’s inaccuracies and potential harms.
How AI Can Help Boost Your Brand
Here are 5 ways to protect your brand health in this growing AI-powered world:
1. Brand Associations
This is where social media comes into play. A large percentage of consumers are engaging brands on social media, and this is influencing their decisions to buy products from these brands. Utilizing AI to target potential consumers is one way to harness the power of this evolving technology.
2. Ad placement
Properly placed ads can prevent negative associations. Having your brand’s ad aligned within the proper contexts and avoiding its association with violent or offensive content is one example. AI can assist with tracking your brand’s ads to make sure that they are in line with your brand’s marketing strategy.
Example: If you’re looking for camping or fishing equipment, you wouldn’t expect to see ads for these products or by relevant brands on pages that have no affiliation with those pursuits.
3. Partnerships
Choosing the right partners to align your brand with can be essential to a consumer’s attitude toward your brand. It’s important to continually monitor and evaluate these relationships as values can change over time.
Example: If the product is climbing gear, choosing an influencer or ambassador who is notable in the market can add credibility to your brand. However, monitoring their activity can also be advantageous should their agenda change over the course of your partnership to where it doesn’t align with your brand’s values.
4. Brand mentions
Brand mentions can be either positive or negative. And while positive brand mentions can potentially bring viable opportunities, negative ones must be addressed quickly.
Direct brand (this includes products and services as well) mentions are the easiest to identify. These can be picked up by keyword tools. AI, on the other hand, can help in identifying these indirect brand mentions that may come in the form of a selfie with a product or other images that don’t directly mention the brand.
5. Content generation
Tools like ChatGPT can reduce the workload for marketers, but the platform isn’t perfect. Additionally, it can also produce inaccurate information and has even been shown to plagiarize other works.
On the positive side, AI is also beneficial in providing proofreading tools that can offer insight and improvements.
Are you monitoring your brand health? What about that of your competitors? As a fully integrated marketing firm, TBA Outdoors can cover these bases — and lots more — for your brand. Reach out to our team of marketing professionals today to see how we can help your outdoor brand with improving its brand health, SEO, content creation, marketing campaigns or just navigating the potential minefield that is AI.
