Meaningless Indifference

I just finished reading Kyle Chayka's excellent 'Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture'. In it, Chayka puts a spotlight on how digital platforms mold our tastes and spaces and challenges us to reconsider the cultural cost of our dependency on algorithms.

Chayka's intelligent and impassioned plea prompted me to consider the impact of algorithmic dominance and generative AI on marketing.?

It feels like technology is nudging us towards increased uniformity at ever greater speed. The edge of creativity is becoming more dull as we prioritize engagement over originality. Predictability and safety are increasingly taking the place of uniqueness.

I am not arguing for a rejection of revolutionary technology. You can’t (and shouldn’t) put this genie back in its bottle. I am still an optimist (for now). People may fret about job destruction, but like many technologies before it, generative AI will create as many jobs as it will eliminate.

But brands and marketers need to take stock and understand how to build the right conditions for technology to help brands connect on a deeper level.

Brand building involves deep consumer insights. It needs both creative and strategic thinking and demands consistent execution across all touchpoints. It requires an understanding of what truly matters to your audience. How your brand can uniquely meet those needs and desires. And, you must communicate and reinforce a distinct value proposition effectively.

If brands are seen as unique, consumers are more likely to notice, remember, and choose them. Therefore, it's important to carefully navigate the cultural homogenization and relentless 'flattening' caused by recommendation algorithms super-charged by generative AI tools.

Prioritizing predictability and safety by adopting replicable ‘best practice’ is only going to reinforce a tendency to risk aversion. Marketing leadership, increasingly short-term focused, needs to avoid this at all costs.?

Our industry is caught in the crosshairs of 'best practice' and short-termism and looks to be losing its appetite for the bold and innovative.?

We are focusing more on the potential for technology to streamline than inspire.

Yet, amidst this rush to conformity, there are those that are holding back the tide.?

Brands like Liquid Death, Fenty Beauty, and Gentle Monster remind us of the power to disrupt and delight.?

Liquid Death has turned the beverage industry on its head with its audacious approach. Fenty Beauty has redefined beauty standards and championed inclusivity. Gentle Monster has transformed eyewear shopping into an immersive, artistic journey.?

These brands have not only succeeded commercially. They have shown how we can uncover fresh avenues for connection and impact by re-engaging with the unique and the unconventional.?

Realizing this potential demands a framework that supports creative risk-taking. Valuing long-term vision and cultivating an environment of truth telling and trust.

Technology offers new opportunities for creativity. However, it will be necessary to build new attitudes, skills, and capabilities across marketing and agency teams to realize its potential.?

Unless we pursue imaginative leaps alongside technological progress, we will only add fuel to the fire of conformity.

Chayka argues that an answer to breaking down the relentless cultural flattening of ‘Filterworld’ might be a slow food movement, but for culture. A recognition of the time and space that it takes to develop and form an appreciation for the remarkable.

Technology places us at a crossroads. We cannot move forward incrementally, appeasing the algorithmic gods. We also cannot only rush to streamline. Revolutionary technology should not be used merely to maximize efficiency.

We have to pivot from a posture of caution to one of courage. We must dare to be different and prioritize the long-lasting over the ephemeral.?