Editor's column: AI as the marketing impasse of 2025
All marketers now have only two options, and both are bad. Either they shout about "artificial intelligence integration" and are ignored even by cats on TikTok. Or they say nothing about AI and look like they are living in 2014 and still handing out flyers near the metro. Welcome to the most sincere marketing impasse of 2025.
AI hype is the new NFT: everyone has seen it, no one is impressed
The first campaigns mentioning artificial intelligence were met with a "wow", then "ah, another one". Today, the reaction is the same: "yep, we've heard it before, from you, from those, and from forty other competitors". AI communication has become white noise - like the "metaverse" a few years ago, only faster. Consumers are tired. They already sense falsity when another brand claims to have "implemented AI" but in fact just automated responses to customer support.
But silence is also a defeat
This is where the tragedy begins. If your brand doesn't mention AI at all, you automatically fall into the category of the backward. Not progressive, not cautious, but backward. Investors frown, customers start to doubt whether you are aware of what is happening in the market. The feeling that they are doing nothing is sometimes worse than a fake case.
It is hardest for those who have nothing but have to "generate" an AI advantage
When there is no real AI product inside the company, but it should look like an "AI-driven strategy" from the outside, imagination, a 47-page brief, and an agency that Googles the difference between GPT and API come into play. But here is the bad news: consumers have also become smarter. They have already learnt to distinguish between a real AI product and a marketing simulation, just as they once learnt to recognise the fake zero waste for electric cars.
What to do (besides nervously swallowing valerian)
First, calm down and do not rush to invent a "next-generation AI platform" if you do not have one. Consumers already understand everything. Fake cases die faster than the algorithm can index them. Don't try to appear to be OpenAI if the best you have is an autocomplete chatbot.
1. Don't shout if you have nothing to say - it's better to be silent than to shout "AI!" without any specifics. While others are tearing their throats out, you can stand out by being quiet and honest. Talk about people, not AI - Consumers are interested in how their experience will change, not what your model is. Speak the language of the user: "we've made ordering faster", "you can find what you need in 5 seconds", "our service really understands you the first time". Not every customer is interested in what makes it work, but everyone notices when it works better.
2. Be honest with your team (and yourself) - if you don't have a technological base, don't force copywriters to invent "artificial intelligence in next-level marketing". It hurts everyone. It is better to be honest: we are researching, testing, learning. This approach inspires trust. And you are not alone - the majority of the market is in the same boat.
3. And yes - a little irony never hurt anyone - hype fatigue is also a context. You can approach it with a smile: make a campaign about AI fatigue, create a filter that replaces the word "AI" with "ah-ha", or record a video with marketers who honestly admit: "We're still just reading about it on LinkedIn." That's honest. And it's fresh.
It's really a lose-lose situation. Marketers either stay silent and look lame, or they talk and look like hundreds of others. But at least you are not alone in this absurd transition period. And honesty, simplicity, and adequate self-irony have never failed anyone.
The AI hype will pass. And normal communications will remain.
