I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role AI is playing in all of our work, and especially how easy it is for brands to start sounding and looking the same.
The tools themselves are incredible. They can help us research faster, analyze more information, explore ideas, write, create and get to useful places much more quickly than we could before.
But having access to AI doesn’t automatically make the work better.
If anything, I think it puts even more value on experience, perspective, instinct and knowing what questions to ask.
That’s the part I find most interesting.
Over the years, working across music, marketing, creative projects and different kinds of businesses has taught me how to look at something from a lot of different angles. I’ve developed instincts for when an idea feels right, when something feels generic, and when we need to dig a little deeper before moving forward.
AI gives me another incredibly powerful tool to apply to that process.
But I don’t think the best use of it is asking AI to tell us who a brand should be.
A lot of the real work happens by asking people the right questions and helping them unpack what may already be there.
What makes you different?
Who do you really want to reach?
What do you want people to feel when they come across your brand?
What sounds like you?
What definitely doesn’t?
Those conversations give us something meaningful to work with. Then we can use AI to research, explore, challenge ideas, organize information, test different directions and help turn those insights into something useful.
That’s how we’re using these tools at AB Strategy.
We’re not interested in using AI to make every brand look more polished in the same way. We want it to help us get closer to what makes each business, artist or brand unique, and then build a smart, sustainable strategy around that.
AI is already part of how business gets done. The tools are available to everyone. What matters is what you bring to them, how you use them, and what makes you different in the first place.
To me, that makes your voice, your perspective and the human experience behind your brand more valuable than ever.
— Anton Bass
Founder, AB Strategy