Dr Seuss-esque garden-inspired stage design. Interactive AI bot stations. An event-specific parfumerie aptly named ‘Scent to Inbox’. World-class audio system dropping data bombs.
This was FWD 2025, and what a sensory feast it was—each visually and intellectually. Between the plentiful meals and much more meals for thought, my stomach, pocket book and mind reached full capability.
The lineup delivered in spades—Neil Patel touting electronic mail advertising and marketing hacks, Byron Sharp dismantling advertising and marketing assumptions with scientific evaluation, Insurgent Wilson on constructing an genuine bulletproof private model, and even the creator of Australia’s beloved blue heeler household instructing us about genuine storytelling. Naturally, I discovered myself furiously scribbling notes and strolling away with nuggets of knowledge.
But it surely was the Inventive Intelligence panel that includes Joe Brumm (the artistic genius behind Bluey), Karen Ferry, and Zach Kitschke from Canva that sparked a connection I could not ignore. Their candid dialog about AI and authenticity received me considering: what does this imply for b2b manufacturers at present wrestling with their very own digital transformation journeys? How do firms preserve their hard-won technical authority whereas embracing AI improvements?
The AI adoption dilemma many manufacturers face
Whereas tech startups and digital-native firms seize headlines with their fast AI adoption, established b2b organisations are grappling with a really completely different actuality: how do you combine synthetic intelligence into advertising and marketing processes which have been constructed over a long time, typically in conventional environments, with out dropping the technical authority and genuine voice that is taken years to determine?
The challenges are multilayered:
- Technical credibility at stake: When everybody can generate “professional content material” with an AI immediate, how do you preserve the genuine expertise that sets your brand apart?
- Connection vs effectivity: How do you stability automation efficiencies with the human relationships which have all the time been the spine of gross sales?
- Model voice dilution: As content material quantity will increase by means of AI instruments, how do you preserve a constant, genuine model voice that resonates with consumers?
For advertising and marketing administrators throughout Australia, these aren’t theoretical questions—they’re urgent enterprise challenges with important implications for model fairness and market positioning.
The “soulless effectivity” entice
“When AI tries to sound human, and people attempt to sound like AI, we find yourself on this uncanny valley the place all the things feels the identical,” Karen Ferry famous in the course of the panel. This remark hit house for me.
The push to undertake AI has created a sea of sameness—LinkedIn posts that sound suspiciously alike, web sites with equivalent buildings and technical content material missing the grit and knowledge that comes from real business expertise.
For manufacturers whose worth proposition typically hinges on a long time of specialized experience and problem-solving capabilities, this homogenisation poses a specific risk.
Past the AI vs human dichotomy
What grew to become clear from the Inventive Intelligence panel is that the query is not whether or not to make use of AI or not—it is the right way to use it in a method that amplifies rather than replaces your brand’s authentic voice.
Joe Brumm’s strategy to creativity supplied an enchanting parallel. When requested about his artistic course of for Bluey, he described amassing actual observations from life—interactions along with his youngsters, parenting moments, human feelings—after which utilizing these genuine seeds to create tales that resonate universally.
This strategy interprets remarkably properly to b2b advertising and marketing: gathering actual experience, buyer insights, and business data first, then utilizing AI to amplify and lengthen these genuine foundations—not substitute them.
The Model Essence Framework: Discovering AI and authenticity equilibrium
Based mostly on the panel’s insights and our expertise working with b2b purchasers, I’ve developed a easy framework for figuring out which parts of your advertising and marketing should stay human-crafted and the place AI can greatest function an amplifier:
| Component | Human Position | AI Position |
| Model technique & positioning | Wholly human-driven; requires deep understanding of market nuances, aggressive panorama, and organisational values | Can help with knowledge evaluation and market analysis aggregation, however choices have to be human-led |
| Technical experience & thought management | Core insights should come from real human experience and expertise | May also help develop, format, and optimise content material, however not generate the foundational insights |
| Buyer relationship communications | Human contact important, particularly for advanced options and high-value relationships | Can help with personalisation at scale and response recommendations, however ought to preserve human overview |
| Visible identification & design | Inventive route, model pointers, and key visible belongings require human creativity | Can generate variations, mock-ups, and implement established visible languages at scale |
| Advertising execution | Strategic choices on channel combine, marketing campaign construction, messaging hierarchy | Can optimise efficiency, generate variations, and automate repetitive duties |
Discovering your AI-authentic stability
For b2b entrepreneurs trying to harness AI with out dropping their soul, listed below are 5 sensible methods to implement:
- Doc your brand voice with specificity – Create detailed pointers past simply tone and magnificence. Embrace business terminology, technical depth expectations, and examples of “what we are saying” versus “what we do not say” to information AI utilization.
- Create a human-AI workflow – Designate which components of your content material course of have to be human-initiated (usually technique, core insights, technical validation) and which might be AI-assisted (usually growth, formatting, optimisation).
- Set up a technical accuracy overview course of – Even AI content material that sounds good might include refined technical inaccuracies that may harm credibility. Implement a technical overview stage with subject material consultants.
- Construct an genuine content material basis – Systematically seize real experience by means of interviews, technical discussions, and buyer interactions earlier than bringing in AI instruments.
- Conduct common model voice audits – As AI utilization will increase, usually overview your exterior communications to make sure your distinctive voice and technical depth have not been diluted.
The long run belongs to the genuine
As we wrapped up the day at FWD 2025, Zach from Canva shared a perspective that completely captured the chance: “AI will make these mediocre keep common and the wonderful will change into extraordinary.”
For b2b manufacturers with real experience and distinctive character, AI presents an unprecedented alternative to scale your genuine voice whereas sustaining the soul that is been constructed by means of a long time of real-world problem-solving and business expertise.
The winners will not be those that merely undertake AI instruments quickest, however these who thoughtfully integrate them in ways in which amplify moderately than substitute what makes them uniquely useful to their prospects.
In a world the place technical content material turns into more and more out there by means of automation, the premium will shift towards authenticity, real perception, and the distinctive character that solely your organisation can convey to the market.
Is your organisation struggling to stability digital transformation with genuine model constructing? Let’s book a strategy call to discover how your experience might be amplified, not changed, within the AI period.
Model chemistry is a b2b branding agency that specialises in crafting compelling model methods and identities that assist organisations stand out from the gang, obtain cut-through and enhance gross sales and advertising and marketing outcomes.
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