BRK Limits with Strategy: Part 1

Using AI While Keeping It Human

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m excited about AI. After 35-plus years in marketing, I’ve watched technology completely change how we work. AI is simply the newest—and potentially one of the most powerful—tools we’ve had.

We use it at BRK for research, competitive analysis, data, brainstorming, content development and building strategic foundations. But here’s where I think companies need to be careful. AI can help you get started. It doesn’t mean it knows where you should go. That’s still the job of strategy – you have to understand the company, the customer, the marketplace, you have to question the information and make sure it’s actually accurate.

Then you have to humanize it.

That’s a big part of what we do at BRK. We use technology, but we don’t simply accept what it gives us. We challenge it, refine it and make it relevant to the specific company we’re working with because the last thing the world needs is more generic marketing that sounds exactly like everyone else’s.

AI can give you 20 ideas in seconds, but which one is right for your brand? Which one sounds like you? Which one will actually connect with your customer? That’s where human experience, creativity and judgment still matter.

I’m not anti-AI. Quite the opposite. I believe companies that learn how to combine AI with experienced people will have a tremendous advantage. Use the tools but don’t let the tools become the strategy.