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Why brands should embrace AI – and how to get started

At a recent CIM Social event in Glasgow, Alan Black, founder of Blackad, shared compelling insights into why AI is no longer just a tech curiosity for marketers – it’s a tool that brands need to master. His presentation made a clear case: brands that leverage AI effectively can sharpen their messaging, unlock creative potential, and achieve better results faster.

So, to see if his points rang true, we let AI write this blog, using his slide deck as the template. One of Alan’s points was about creating a strong prompt and asking AI to write in a certain style. Using Alan’s slides and the prompt to “write in the style of a very experienced copywriter explaining the topic in a clear, professional style suitable for marketers at different experience levels”, here’s the result…

The importance of brand consistency in the age of AI

Research from Marq's 2021 Brand Consistency Report paints a concerning picture: while 85% of brands have guidelines, only 31% consistently enforce them. Worse still, 47% of brands publish off-brand content. As AI tools become more accessible, the risk of diluting brand identity grows if clear definitions and guidelines are not already in place.

Alan stressed that brands must define their voice, values, and messaging architecture more carefully than ever. A strong brand platform not only ensures consistency but becomes ‘gold’ when using AI – because you can feed this structured information into AI models to generate outputs that stay true to your brand.

Alan Black discussing a graph that shows how AI performance can exceed that of humans

AI can do the heavy lifting – if you help it

It’s not unusual to hear people say, “I tried AI and it didn’t work.” Alan countered this mindset with an example from JP Morgan Chase, which used AI to optimise ad copy – boosting click-through rates by an astonishing 450%.

The lesson? AI isn’t magic. It’s a tool that works best when you give it the right material to work with. Brands should share more than just their brand guidelines with AI tools – they should also provide:

  • Successful past campaigns
  • Projects that didn’t quite work
  • Examples of 'before and after' improvements
  • Full context, not just snippets

By offering rich, structured information, brands can train AI to deliver outputs that align closely with their standards.

The creative possibilities with AI

Once set up properly, AI can become a powerful creative partner. Alan outlined just a few possibilities, including:

  • Product descriptions
  • Social media posts
  • Newsletters
  • Value propositions
  • Campaign ideas
  • Even full presentations

Rather than replacing human creativity, AI can act as a catalyst – helping marketers develop more ideas, faster, and with a consistent tone.

How to get started: small steps and smart setups

Alan offered a simple how-to guide for marketers ready to experiment. His advice?

  • Create a clear project: Define your end goal, what success looks like, and what examples you can share to guide the AI.
  • Write a strong project prompt: Be specific about your preferred style, structure, and tone. Sharing exemplars (good examples) is crucial. Suggest how the AI should write e.g. ‘act like an experienced brand strategist writing for a CMO’.
  • Use the right tools: Platforms like Claude Projects, Custom GPTs, and Gemini Gems make it easier to tailor AI to your needs.
  • Take baby steps: Start small, iterate, and improve as you go.

He also suggested using smart workflows: for example, auto-feeding brand briefs into AI, auto-saving outputs to shared folders, and always keeping a human in the loop for final sign-off.

The start of an AI prompt shared by Alan. It is a screenshot from Claude AI project instructions. The readable copy is: "To help you understand how I like to write headlines and organise lists of tasks, pains, gains, pain relievers, gain makers and key messages, I have shared three sets of exemplar files. First, ask me to paste in text from my current project. You will do this each time as we work from tasks, pains, gains, pain relievers, gain makers and key messages. Then ask me if I have an optional image I would like to upload to help you understand the votes. You need to know that the items with the asterisks immediately before or after them show the number of votes cast for these items – these are the most important elements in the list, and they will helpful to you when you write the headings you will use to organise this list. Keep the asterisks in place. One vote = one asterisk. Two votes = two asterisks, and so on. If there are NO asterisks next to items, look to see if I have shared an optional image to go along with this text. Read the image file, and look for numerals that sit alongside some of the items. These are your votes that I want you to append as asterisks to the front of the items which have the corresponding vote. One vote = one asterisk. Two votes = two asterisks, and so on."

AI rewards experience, it doesn’t replace it

One of Alan’s most reassuring points was that AI is not about replacing skilled marketers – it’s about rewarding experience. People who know what good content looks like, who can write clear briefs, and who understand brand nuance, will find that AI magnifies their impact.

Marketers who embrace AI thoughtfully, combining their expertise with the right tools and methods, will not just keep up – they’ll lead.