Branding in the age of AI

By Paige Arnof-Fenn

I started a global branding and digital marketing firm 24 years ago before social media or AI were on the radar. Today AI generates content by remixing what it’s already seen. The one irreplaceable human element is creativity which involves intuition, emotion, and ideas sparked from imagination, not just patterns. AI responds to prompts, it doesn’t initiate discovery. AI mimics compassion, but only people can feel it. The emotional resonance that comes from shared experiences like grief, love, awe, and hope are uniquely human. Compassion drives engagement, loyalty, and performance. People want to be seen and understood. Authentic first-hand experience is key today, Google said for years that experience, expertise, authority, and trust matter but the prevalence of robotic and generic AI-generated content and users’ search for authenticity have made those qualities critical for anyone trying to rank content now.

When you share what you know, your passion, war stories, good, bad, ugly, the stories are interesting and the lessons real, people remember and come back for more. Tell your origin story, share mistakes and failures, be vulnerable if you want to drive engagement, build connections and relationships with your audience. Just show your humanity, which is more important now than ever before! Who would have thought that the killer application in 2025 would be authentic interactions, not Artificial Intelligence? A key challenge today SMBs face is juggling the speed of change with the volume of activity and noise distractions. With all the AI tools generating robotic messages that sound generic, people can stand out and break through the sea of sameness with personalized, thoughtful communication serving your audience's specific needs. Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT are great tools that can help generate ideas and brainstorm but they cannot compete with or replace your humor, experience or war stories! To build trust you have to connect on a personal level.

Successful entrepreneurs today are also adaptable/agile, are strong communicators and have a growth mindset. Those are the traits that make the biggest difference between success and failure I think because the road is always bumpy and you know you will have to overcome obstacles along the way, you get knocked around often so you have to be able to keep getting back up and trying again with enthusiasm and energy. Being able to adapt to change is critical so staying nimble today is core to survival and ultimately success.

Entrepreneurs with a growth mindset never stop learning/experimenting, are focused on the future and see opportunities ahead by embracing a culture of learning/growth. It takes effort and a commitment to excellence for people to continually learn/grow especially now in a virtual/remote environment. I do not think there is one trait to stay sharp/fresh, I recommend using a combination of reading/learning online and off/attending conferences/talks, networking/newsletters from influencers/TED talks/podcasts/finding mentors/ listening to all feedback good and bad. To stay relevant/keep growing I also try to prioritize professional development to keep skills fresh and stay on top of new trends/technologies.

With AI speeding up the production of lots of blather, I’m trying to double down on what’s real and personal. For my business Content Marketing/Thought Leadership are great ways to build your brand/increase visibility/raise your profile/attract more clients. LinkedIn has become more than an online resume/rolodex, it’s the foundation for building trusted relationships in the digital economy and adds credibility/transparency when you know the people you are meeting or working with know people in common. If your customers don’t use Facebook/TwitterX/Instagram to find you then you don’t need to make them a priority. For many professional service businesses like mine, LinkedIn matters the most.

Connect With Paige

www.linkedin.com/in/paigearnoffenn

www.mavensandmoguls.com