🤖 AI in Marketing: Hype, Risik or Revolution?
AI makes us faster, smarter, more efficient - but can it also replace us? My honest look at how AI is changing marketing - and why it needs more than just good prompts + an infobox on the EU AI Act
Hi 👋 I’m Florian Schleicher. This is the FutureStrategies newsletter of FUTURES. Thank you so much for reading along 💚
We need to talk about AI.
I know, everyone wants to talk about it.
All. The. Time.
But we need to discuss the impact of AI on marketing, its potential, and its risks. And how we can use it effectively for organizations.
In my last newsletter, I mentioned that I see 5 particularly exciting trends around marketing and strategy for 2025.
Today, we’re diving deep into number 4:
🤖 GenAI Explosion – The AI Cultural Shift in Marketing
Let’s get this straight from the start—I wrote this piece myself.
But AI helped me research a little beyond my usual scope.
Some key questions that have been on my mind (and maybe on yours too?) are:
Will young marketing managers have a harder time finding jobs now that agencies and brands have artificial assistants?
Will AI not only change our work but also our perception of creativity itself?
Will companies and employees who don’t engage with AI still be competitive in five years?
Will AI models soon replace creatives and strategists—or will they free us from repetitive tasks so we can focus on real ideas again?
Will AI make brands smarter, more relevant, and more unique—or will it lead to uniformity, making all content interchangeable?
As these questions show:
We’re moving in a field of tension.
On one hand, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, claims that AI will take over 95% of all marketing, creative, and advertising work currently handled by agencies.
"It will mean that 95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI — and the AI will likely be able to test the creative against real or synthetic customer focus groups for predicting results and optimizing. Again, all free, instant, and nearly perfect. Images, videos, campaign ideas? No problem."
Yes, Generative AI produces text, images, videos, and even entire campaigns in seconds.
But is that enough to create real brand relationships?
Marketing is more than just generating content quickly.
It thrives on intuition, human creativity, and cultural sensitivity. It’s about understanding emotions, telling stories that stick, and giving brands a unique identity.
AI can test, optimize, and personalize—but it can’t feel. It can analyze data, but it can’t create genuine brand culture. And if everyone uses the same algorithms, won’t everything start looking the same?
Data Points
88% of organisations are exploring how to use Generative AI (only 61% are working on prediction models, and just 30% on robotics).
25% already say, that they are integrating Generative AI capabilities across large parts of their organizational structure als integrierte Fähigkeit in großen Teilen ihrer Organisationsstruktur (not just in marketing).
76% of marketing strategists have a positive attitude toward AI - and nearly 90% expect to work with AI even more.
Only 25% of companies invest in AI training for their employees, and only 39% of employees have received AI training from their companies.
80% of employees in organizations with AI bans admit to using AI anyway - 74% do so through their personal accounts.
Employees don’t want to wait for official AI guidelines. They use it because it saves time (90%), helps them be more creative (84%), and makes their job more fulfilling (83%).
Between Unlimited Potential & Lack of Direction
Why do marketing professionals use AI in their work?
AI helps spark creativity.
It provides a quick overview of a topic.
It increases productivity.
So for many, AI is a game-changer.
Developing marketing ideas no longer takes weeks but seconds:
🎨 Visual content in seconds – With Midjourney or DALL·E, you can create stunning campaign visuals, product mockups, or social media posts tailored to any audience.
📝 Texts that hit the mark – From snappy headlines to blog articles and personalized emails - ChatGPT or Claude turn ideas into precise words, optimized for SEO and engagement. Perplexity generates sharp analyses.
🎭 Hyper-personalized content – AI tools like Persado analyze which emotions work best for each audience and deliver the perfect copy for every platform.
🎥 Automated video creation – Tools like Runway ML or Synthesia enable professional video production with AI-generated voiceovers and stunning effects -faster and cheaper than ever.
I find this incredibly fascinating and appreciate how much time AI saves me while acting as a capable creative sparring partner.
That’s the good news.
But 53% of knowledge workers fear that AI will make them seem replaceable in “important” tasks.
What Marketing Jobs Will Still Exist in 5 Years?
Let’s shift perspectives for a moment.
In 2004, it was hard to find a designer who wasn’t talking about Adobe Photoshop.
And back then, there were fears, too.
“Who will need designers anymore?”
“Will Photoshop kill the design industry?”
11 years later, the industry was still thriving, and many incredibly talented friends of mine were making a great living.
Despite—or because of—Photoshop.
A designer in 2025 who can’t use Photoshop will struggle.
I believe the same will be true for AI.
As marketing professionals, we must engage with AI, learn how to use it as a tool, and integrate it into our workflows.
“People are finding ways to augment their workflows to be more productive, creative, and make better or faster content. But you’re always going to need humans. You’re always going to need the human touch over this type of work.”
James Thomas, Dentsu Creative Global Head of Technology
We need to figure out how AI can help us solve strategic problems, uncover new insights, and formulate clear strategies.
But:
I believe young marketing talents will have a harder time breaking in over the coming years.
I wasn’t particularly good at it.
But I wanted to learn, and I got the opportunity.
Today, AI applications can do much of that work.
And I believe that will make it more difficult for entry-level professionals and generalists.
“AI is going to thin the herd quite considerably and if we're just saying ‘hey we all just need to be more empathetic and more creative and our jobs are cool’, that's not true. We are definitely going to see a massive headcount reduction in agencies.”
Zoe Scaman
In short: Depth and Specialization will be key.
And here is one more keyword that AI is still struggling with:
Authentizität and AI
The temptation to generate all content with AI is huge.
But brands that rely only on AI-generated content will eventually all sound the same—smooth, perfect, but interchangeable. The real art will be in using AI as an enhancer, not a replacement.
Real passion, personal experiences, imperfect yet human stories—this is what truly resonates.
Or, as a marketer put it:
“When you walk into our booth, you should feel as if you’ve just walked into a garage where people have grease—our grease—under their fingernails.”
Marty Echt, CMO Harley Davidson
3 out of 10 millenials unfollow brands on social media because their content feels ‘fake’.
Young people grew up in the era of fake news, which has made them skilled at spotting deception and resistant to branded hype. Instead, they seek brands that are transparent and authentic.
23% of Gen Z say that authenticity is the most important attribute of a company and its products - more important than anything else.
“Marketers who aren’t evolving their future-looking strategies to engage this generation with transparent, authentic experiences are already falling behind.”
If we want to capture the increasingly short attention spans of audiences, we need to move away from filtered ad messages, perfectly polished but soulless AI-generated texts, photos, and videos.
We need to show real people, real employees, real emotions, and real scenes. That starts with visuals but should ideally shape every aspect of marketing communication.
Focusing on that makes a brand unique—no matter how powerful the algorithms become.
3 Marketing Recommendations for AI in 2025
AI is evolving at a breakneck speed, and tools that are state-of-the-art today may be outdated in just a few months. The rapid rise of Deepseek at the end of January 2025 has shown us that.
So here are my tips for using Generative AI effectively in marketing:
1️⃣ Stay up to date
For marketing professionals at all levels, keeping up with AI developments is essential.
Understanding early on what’s truly a “game changer” and what isn’t—along with knowing how to use AI effectively—will be crucial for future-proofing both businesses and personal career value.
“We’re at the forefront of integrating AI to not just work faster, but to work smarter. It’s our responsibility as organizational leaders to ensure that this technology elevates our teams’ creativity and aligns with our ethical values.”
Karim R. Lakhani, Chair, Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard, and Dorothy & Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
That means investing in continuous education and actively using AI tools to understand their (current) capabilities and limitations.
“To stay ahead of the curve, we’ve made AI training a priority to ensure everyone can leverage the power of (…) AI solutions. We also launched the GenAI Academy, supporting employee growth and development with the aim of increasing ambassadors and GenAI power users across the globe. We are already seeing benefits that are transforming the way we work and innovate.”
Sheila Jordan, SVP, Chief Digital Technology Officer, Honeywell
2️⃣ Get the most out of AI
ike any tool, AI needs to be used and refined optimally.
Perfect prompting isn’t just about giving precise instructions—it’s also about asking the right questions.
It means forming hypotheses, interacting with AI like a creative sparring partner, critically questioning the results—or letting yourself be challenged.
I often ask ChatGPT and Claude what might be flawed in my thinking or what I might have overlooked.
If we can clearly define tasks while maintaining confidence in our own abstraction abilities, we can get more out of AI. Not just for faster results, but for better results.
If you outsource everything to AI, you stop adding value yourself.
Here are some exciting resources for exactly that:
3️⃣ Develop an AI Strategy for Marketing
In my opinion, AI adoption in marketing is still in its infancy.
Many professionals experiment with tools like the ones mentioned above (or use niche tools privately, like the vacation planner Vacay).
But few organizations have figured out how to best integrate these tools into workflows to truly save time and produce better results.
79% of decision-makers say their company needs to integrate AI to remain competitive.
But 59% struggle to measure the productivity gains from AI.
A clear strategy for AI implementation is essential.
How can AI be integrated into marketing strategy?
60% of decision-makers fear their organization lacks a plan or vision for AI adoption.
But that’s exactly what’s needed.
And it has to come from the top.
Every tool needs a clear framework so that both small and large organizations can use it effectively.
Right now, companies are at different stages of Generative AI adoption:
To move to the next level, they need a clear strategy.
How I Define AI Marketing Strategies in My Strategy Labs & Workshops
1️⃣ Defining an AI Vision for Marketing
A clear, forward-looking statement that reflects the organization’s commitment to AI in order to achieve responsible and positive outcomes.
This is a top-down issue with a bottom-up approach:
The decision to adopt an AI vision must come from leadership. The inspiration for applications should come from operational teams.
2️⃣ Guidelines for Strategic AI Use
Setting concrete outputs and outcomes from AI in marketing, aligned with business priorities.
The key to successful AI adoption is selecting the right processes.
For example:
The global advertising network Dentsu uses AI to enhance creative processes.
Estée Lauder develops new products and improves customer experience with AI.
We need a measurable ROI for AI.
Does your marketing team need an AI strategy?
Tell me about your thoughts—I’d be happy to design a Strategy Lab workshop specifically for you and your company.
3️⃣ Responsible AI Principles
Ultimately, AI’s impact will be measured not just by ROI but also by how safely and responsibly it is used.
This can range from establishing an AI governance committee to ongoing training for employees.
What’s crucial is that companies regularly address the biggest benefits and concerns while ensuring compliance with the GDPR and the EU AI Act.
🚨 EU AI Act: What Does It Mean for AI-Generated Content?
The EU AI Act regulates AI usage—including content production.
Companies using AI in marketing must comply with legal liability requirements and ensure their teams are trained accordingly.
1️⃣ Liability & Transparency Requirements
Companies are liable for AI-generated content if it spreads misinformation or misleads consumers. AI-generated texts, images, and videos must be labeled as such.
2️⃣ Data & Training Obligations
The Act requires companies to continuously monitor AI usage. This is especially critical for personalized advertising—companies must prove that their AI models do not cause discrimination.
3️⃣ Mandatory Employee Training
Depending on AI usage, companies must ensure their teams receive training—especially in highly automated content production.
No training = compliance risk.
If there’s no AI strategy or framework, employees will take AI adoption into their own hands.
And that’s a risk for companies.
Banning AI in marketing is like refusing to be on digital channels as a brand.
You can do it.
But it won’t help.
With digital media, customers were there before companies arrived.
With AI, it’s the employees who are ahead of their employers.
Final Thoughts
We’re at a crucial moment in AI adoption in businesses.
Just like we look back on the time before computers (or, for designers, before Photoshop), one day we’ll wonder how marketing ever functioned without AI.
AI is already helping people be more creative and more productive, while giving experienced professionals an edge in the job market.
Great marketing creates excitement, fuels dreams, and provides solutions to people’s problems.
The difference between an outstanding brand and a mediocre one?
The outstanding brand has the courage to be different.
AI can do a lot—but it can’t have a vision.
That part is still up to you.
“Advertising should have an edge,” a legendary marketer once told me at the start of my career.
AI still struggles to create that edge.
Because the data it pulls from is mainstream and mass-market.
Can AI even create new content, strategies, or insights?
Or are we heading toward an explosion of homogeneous content that excites no one?
Marketing has to excite.
Whether B2B or B2C.
AI can help.
But it still can’t do everything to create truly exciting marketing strategies and campaigns.
And that’s why—despite using ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Midjourney, and other AI tools every day—I still write this newsletter completely by myself 😊
Thanks for reading,
