At 5&Vine, we’re constantly asking ourselves: “Why does it have to be this way?” and “How can it be better?”
There’s no question that AI offers incredible opportunities to become a more efficient and effective marketer. However, we’ve also seen an overreliance on AI that results in basic, bland content that threatens brand differentiation.
Where AI Shines
Streamlining Competitive Research
Competitive research is a crucial but often time-consuming task for almost every marketing role. Competitive intelligence tools, like Browse AI, can be your new, always-on research assistant. Identify the insights you need to stay ahead – like competitor reviews or product pricing – and leverage AI to streamline data collection, freeing you up for analysis and strategic decision-making.
Challenger Takeaway: Consider the manual competitive research tasks you can enable automatically through AI to transition from a one-time activity to always-on.
Automating Manual Design Tasks
Say goodbye to tedious design tasks! AI can automate processes like creating clean vector graphics from PNGs through a tool like Vectorizer, modifying images with simple text prompts though Adobe’s AI plugin Firefly, and even upscaling images without sacrificing quality through a tool like Capcut’s AI Impage Upscaler. This frees up your valuable time to focus on the creative aspects of design that truly set your brand apart.
Challenger Takeaway: Categorize any repetitive design tasks. If it is repetitive there is likely to be an AI solution that can support.
Boosting Social Listening
Social listening tools have long been essential for brands to stay in tune with consumer sentiment. AI is rapidly improving these tools, with platforms like Sprinklr automatically categorizing and analyzing sentiment data. This empowers customer service teams to prioritize and address the most critical cases.
Companies like Spotify take social listening a step further; they leverage AI to monitor social media trends and identify hot artists, songs, and genres to inform their playlist recommendations.
Challenger Takeaway: Look into the customer experience data you capture. How can AI tools help you analyze your customer sentiment, stay on top of trends and deliver smoother experiences?
Editing Content
Emphasis on “editing” – not content creation, but content editing,
At 5&Vine, we believe in leveraging AI to streamline the editing process, not to replace creative writing. Not to get too meta on you, though for the experimental purposes of this AI newsletter, we enlisted Gemini to edit our draft, based on previous months’ newsletters.
Challenger Takeaway: Leverage AI editing tools to streamline revisions by catching typos, grammatical errors, and clarity issues. This frees up your team to focus on the big picture – crafting compelling content that resonates with your audience.
Sparking Design Inspiration
Struggling to find design inspiration? Experiment with unique color palettes through tools like Khroma, or use AI art generators like Firefly to spark fresh ideas. Though at 5&Vine we haven’t experimented with fully AI generated design yet, we certainly advocate for exploring to generate inspiration throughout the creative process.
Challenger Takeaway: While AI likely won’t single-handedly design your next masterpiece, it can be a powerful tool to spark creativity, then leverage your human expertise to refine and bring concepts to life.
Driving Personalized Experiences
Hellmann’s mayonnaise is paving the way for the future of online recipes with their AI-powered Flexipe tool. Enter 3-5 ingredients you have on hand, and get personalized recipe recommendations. A win-win for wallets and tackling food waste!
Challenger Takeaway: Consider the common challenges your customers face – How can you use AI to showcase how your brand can address any friction they experience?
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Empowering Customer Service
A few weeks after Sephora launched an AI-advanced bot to manage personal questions like shopper points, product availability and order tracking, 20% of all client requests were already successfully handled by the chatbot.
However, we strongly caution against relying solely on bots! Always offer clear options to connect with human support for complex requests, as 77% of consumers still prefer interacting with a human for customer service needs.
Challenger Takeaway: Consider leveraging an AI-enabled chatbot to handle routine inquiries, freeing up human agents to tackle complex issues and build stronger customer relationships.
Improving Video Accessibility
Previously tedious tasks like video transcription are now simple with AI. Tools like Descript (which we use for our Marketing Good series) or Fathom AI (which we use to transcribe meeting notes), generate accurate transcripts and captions.
Not only can this create more engaging videos or save time recording meeting notes, it also results in a more accessible experience for individuals with hearing impairments.
Challenger Takeaway: What routine tasks can AI support with to create more accessible experiences?
Analyzing Product Development Opportunities
NotCo, a plant-based food company, uses its AI algorithm, Giuseppe, to analyze the molecular makeup of animal products and find the perfect plant-based alternatives. This enables rapid innovation, addressing consumer demands for plant-based food without compromising on quality.
Challenger Takeaway: Consider integrating AI within product development to reduce R&D cycles and respond quickly to changing consumer preferences.
The Human Touch
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s just that – a tool. To be truly helpful, AI needs to be used strategically with a solid understanding of the desired outcome. As marketers, our next big step is determining how and when to leverage the right tools to drive efficiency and reduce risk.
While AI can be a helpful resource for research and writing, crafting truly impactful stories requires the human touch. AI can’t replicate the real-life experiences and emotional connection that humans bring to storytelling. As Josh Lieber’s LinkedIn post demonstrates with a powerful Nike ad versus a generic AI-written version, there’s no substitute for human creativity.
