AI's Marketing Playbook

There are enough think pieces out there about AI to fill ten data centers. But what I don’t think anyone has done is talk about the marketing behind it all. And it’s actually pretty impressive. In fact, I would say that it has been so seamless that most folks wouldn’t really think about a lot of it as advertising. So I wanted to break it down here into its parts.

1 The name itself.

Most folks think of Artificial Intelligence as a technical term, but it isn’t. More technical terms would be Machine Learning or Large Language Model. What the name AI does is give the technology a human characteristic – intelligence. Not even getting into “super intelligence” here, but how exactly do you measure that intelligence anyway? No one really agrees.

2 Consistency.

Usually, while related companies generally try to differentiate themselves from each other, AI companies are hugely coordinated. Their logos are all some version of a circular vortex. They use the same terminology. This would be unheard of anywhere else. Normally, one company would call their thing Premium Ham Snacks and the next would come up with something like Ham Noshables Plus. AI has already become kleenex with a small k.

3 Influencer programs.

The Interface has a good episode on this, and it’s the first segment. Some of their influencer programs (which can be totally great and legit) are targeting influencers who typically do not talk about tech. This is smart, but they are also not often disclosed as ads or sponsored content in the way they should be. By the way, AI companies are not the only ones who should get called out for this. There is a delicate funneling of money that involves a PAC and ultimately goes back to a handful of CEOs. Although they say it’s personal and not company-related. 

4 Pressure campaign.

Maybe what I’m most impressed about is the total LinkedIn takeover. If you convince business folks that they will be behind the curve without something, you have won the corporate world. Early on they built a huge sense of urgency about adopting AI. It’s the basic advertising idea of “only three left in stock” but at an incredibly large scale. Looking back, I’m honestly not sure how this started, and I can’t go back in time, but dang.

5 CEO as brand mascot.

The primary messages do not come from brand advertising, although it exists, but directly from the CEOs, who function a lot like company mascots. And maybe this applies to the tech industry in general? In what other industry do consumers listen or even hear from or care about top brass? Nobody is hanging on the CEO of Warby Parker’s every word.

The messages have been changing rapidly lately, but still somehow strangely consistent between companies. Agreeing on a slowdown. Agreeing it won’t wipe out all jobs after having agreed that it would. It’s hard to say how coordinated these companies really are, but they certainly all gain by being so. And plenty of other industries have trade groups that work out in the open for the industry’s mutual benefit. Remember got milk? or Pork, the other white meat. But those were clearly brought to you by the Milk Council or National Pork Board or whatever. 

My point here is that someone made a plan, and they are executing on it. What can we learn about it? What if you could keep the seamlessness of it, but eliminate the secrecy? They’re not doing anything fancy, they’re just doing it on a large scale, and spending A TON of money. It would be wild to know the actual marketing budgets. It’s really basic stuff though – get the word out, create a sense of urgency, be consistent or unified in your message.