In my last article, I explored why empathy and authenticity are essential in the AI age. Today, I want to dive into the future role of marketers working with AI.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

A recent McKinsey report estimates that gen AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion in annual global productivity. (McKinsey & Co.) According to the analysis, marketing and sales are one of four functional groups that combined could reap an estimated 75 percent of that value. The productivity of marketing alone, due to general AI, could increase by 5 to 15 percent of total marketing spend, worth approximately $463 billion annually.

Yikes.

The Questions Everyone’s Asking

Marketing students are worried. Industry marketers are scrambling. Professors and teachers are sprinting to update their curricula and keep up with all the latest AI tools. As someone teaching the next generation of marketers while running an AI-integrated agency, I’m living the future of marketing education and practice simultaneously. Here’s what I’m hearing from both sides:

• What AI skills do I need to know to get hired?
• What do I need to teach to prepare my students for their careers?
• What is marketing management going to be like in 2, 5, or 10 years?
• What positions will be available?
• Do I need to know how to create GPTs and Agents?
• Can AI create our content for us?
• What AI tools are the best for image generation? Writing? Video? Customer service? Website design? Data analysis? Marketing research? Creating personas?
• Are human marketers still valuable?
• How can I stay valuable to my company?

These are serious questions that we need to discuss and find the answers to so we can write the playbook for the “new and improved marketer – now with AI!”

AI vs. The Internet: This Time It’s Different

I was an early adopter of AI. I started using ChatGPT in December 2022 and immediately had the “Holy Cow!” moment when I recognized the enormity of this technology’s potential, both good and bad. Like many Gen Xers and Boomers, I made the comparison to the launch of the internet. I remember attending website development courses in 1996, learning to code HTML, and getting excited about creating an animated GIF.

The internet was like a tidal wave of change. What’s different about AI is that this wave is much bigger and coming faster. AI is a tsunami of disruption in every industry and in our personal lives. The impact of the advancements in AI over the past two years is overwhelming, exciting, and downright scary.

This time, we can’t wait and think about it. Remember those laggard companies that took forever to develop a website? We must embrace the notion that AI is here to stay. There’s no putting the genie back into the bottle.

The Struggle to Keep Up

So, what do we do?

If you’re at all like me, you’re feeling behind. I have a list of certificates and badges from training over the past two and a half years, but many already seem outdated. I’m scrambling to keep up with the exploding selection of AI tools, LLMs and protocols for best practices to get the most out of these incredible “machines.”

The pressure to stay current and relevant is real. As a lecturer, I’ve had to revise my assignments three times in 18 months, not because marketing fundamentals have changed, but because the way we apply them has been revolutionized.

Beyond preventing brain rot and cheating, I am obligated to prepare my students for their future careers in marketing. That’s become an incredible challenge because we don’t know what marketing will look like in five years or even two years. It has already changed dramatically.

How We’re Using AI at 80/20 Agency

At 80/20 Agency, AI is particularly helpful for executing our content strategies. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude act as creative partners who can pressure-test campaign concepts, identify blind spots, and connect abstract ideas to actionable tasks. Additionally, with proper prompting, we’re able to generate clever copywriting and ideas we could have never thought of on our own.

Last month, we developed a four-part newsletter series for a local non-profit. AI helped refine the content and structure so that it could work as a template that the non-profit staff could easily customize and use for ongoing editions.

“AI without a human-led strategy is like a muscle without bones. It’s functional, but can’t stand on its own or move with purpose. But with a well-designed skeleton (a solid strategic framework) AI can build beautiful muscle around the bones that allows you to execute your strategy more efficiently. The key is that AI does not build the skeleton by itself.” –Alex Coniaris, Brand Strategist & Content Lead, 80/20 Agency

Our team is aware that these tools will continue to evolve or be replaced. Almost daily, we discover and evaluate a new tool. So, we cannot get comfortable.

Introducing: Human Leaders in the Loop

The approach I am taking for myself, my agency team, and my students is to embrace a framework I’m calling HUMAN LEADERS IN THE LOOP. Human Leaders in the Loop isn’t about humans competing with AI—it’s about humans orchestrating AI teams to create marketing that resonates on a deeply human level. In other words, it’s an approach that must include the human element.

The magic that the marketer brings is the personal experiences, human emotions, and human connections, as well as knowledge about human consumers.

My 6 Predictions for the Future of Marketing

1. Marketers will be leading a hybrid team of AI tools and human specialists that will run the AI tools.

2. We are going to see exponentially more AI-generated content as McKinsey estimates generative AI could boost marketing productivity by 5-15% of total marketing spend, worth $463 billion annually. (McKinsey & Co.) Some AI-generated ads will be cringe, while others might be decent and even quite impressive. However, the content that will truly resonate most with consumers will include real people who are relatable.

3. AI Influencers are going to explode. They are already here. More on that in another newsletter.

4. AI will be the new customers. With the emergence of agents making purchases, marketers will need to appeal to AI algorithms to be found and provide information that makes their product the recommended choice by AI. This means SEO becomes ‘AIO’ – Artificial Intelligence Optimization.

5. To add this “human value,” marketers will need to be pros at empathy, compassion, trends, and creating brand communities.

6. Even more, marketers will need to be adaptable and resilient. We will need to embrace the concept of failing fast as we test and evaluate the new tools. Our role is not to conquer specific tools to define our AI stack for marketing over the next five years, but instead, to agree on a pool of tools for a short timeframe and then replace or adjust as new tools are introduced or upgraded.

The Four Pillars for Human Leaders in the Loop

So how do we implement this human-centric approach? Here are the four pillars that guide my framework.

1. Authenticity

Make a commitment to align your brand content and messaging to your brand values and your customers’ needs. Include real people, real quotes, and real events for better engagement. At 80/20, we use customer interviews as our secret sauce for authentic branding and storytelling. Long-form interviews can be edited into multiple pieces of content and repurposed across social platforms, included in email blasts, and featured on the company website.

2. Transparency

Disclose when you use AI to prevent losing your consumer’s trust. Customers are willing to accept brands using AI as long as they are informed. AI chatbots and avatars for customer service are super helpful, extremely knowledgeable, fast, and efficient. Plus, they never get upset, tired, or have a bad day. They can also speak multiple languages. When the use of AI is not disclosed, the customer feels like they are being duped.

3. Emotion

Just because AI can create a video of a “happy person” doesn’t mean your audience will actually feel happy watching it.

Real emotion in marketing is about creating genuine human moments that audiences can connect with. Kendra Hall calls this authentic emotion, one of the four key components of brand storytelling (Stories That Stick, 2019), and it can only come from real human experiences that spark empathy.

Think about Doc Morris’s viral 2020 Christmas ad, where a grandfather lifts weights so he can pick up his granddaughter. You don’t get emotional because the actors look sad or happy. You get choked up because the story captures something deeply human that anyone can relate to.

In this context, AI could’ve helped brainstorm shot ideas for the video, develop call-sheets for the crew, and even plan a social media campaign around the concept. But only humans can create the experiences that generate genuine emotional responses.

4. Safety & Ethics

The fourth pillar, which I believe is most important for Human Leaders in the Loop, is to lead AI on safety, security & ethics. Sadly, this is not the priority of some of the popular LLM and AI software developers. AI experts who have been studying AI for decades, such as Geoffrey Hinton, Mo Gawdat, Ilya Sutskever, and Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, are sounding the alarm bells to slow down and set more guardrails.

It’s a critical time for marketers to lead more than ever. Before AI reaches Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), we must take charge by setting the guardrails and constraints for these AI tools.

This gets into a much broader topic than marketing, but marketers can influence the rate of adoption of many of these tools by asking key questions. Here are some key questions every marketer should ask their AI vendors:

• Where is your training data sourced?
• Does your platform learn from our proprietary inputs and the outputs it generates?
• What data security certifications do you maintain?
• How do you handle bias detection and mitigation?

Marketers have significant purchasing power, and our purchasing decisions can have a profound impact on our world.

Ready to Get Started?

Ready to implement Human Leaders in the Loop?

Start with an audit: Review your last 10 pieces of content and ask, Would my audience know the human insight behind this? If not, you’re missing the human element that creates a real connection.

What’s Your Take?

My intention is not to write another article about the dangers of AI, but to invite you to join me in evaluating this perspective and to continue the conversation. The purpose of this article is to share ideas, inspire, and support each other. If this resonates with you, please join this conversation as we navigate these unknown waters and ride this tsunami together.

Keep It Human,

Kelly

Written by a human, polished with AI.

The post Developing Human Leaders in the Loop appeared first on 8020 Agency.

If you don’t know Mo, he’s one of the GOAT’s of AI. He was Chief Business Officer (CBO) at Google X from 2015 to 2018. Google X is Google’s “moonshot factory” that develops innovative technologies.

While watching Mo’s keynote last week, I felt inspired to share his insights and perspective. His message deeply resonated with me, particularly his three tips on leveraging AI to enhance our work, advance our careers, and shape the future of this transformative technology. It got me thinking about how we can apply these principles specifically within the realm of marketing.

Play and Use It EVERY DAY 

“Use it every day” – this first tip is gold. The more I learn about AI, the more I realize how much I don’t know. It’s like learning any new skill – consistency is key. Trial and error are essential. Practice prompting. Sometimes you only need a sentence, and for other tasks, the prompt needs to be very detailed and robust. 

For us marketers, this means rolling up our sleeves and experimenting with AI across different tasks: maybe drafting those email campaigns, digging into customer data patterns, or generating image variations. But here’s the thing – make these interactions purposeful rather than passive.

Don’t Be a Yes-Bot: Question Everything!

“Be critical”—this second point is crucial for balance. As marketers, we’re natural skeptics, right? We question assumptions, test campaigns, and constantly validate results. This mindset must extend to our AI interactions.

Critical engagement means developing a nuanced understanding of where AI shines and where it stumbles. For instance, AI is amazing at analyzing massive datasets to spot patterns human analysts might miss. However, it often lacks contextual understanding of cultural nuances or emerging social trends that haven’t yet generated sufficient training data.

This critical lens prevents both over-reliance and under-utilization. We avoid viewing AI as either magical or meaningless. Instead, we develop a sophisticated understanding of its role as a powerful but imperfect tool in our marketing arsenal. The better we understand the technology, the better marketers we become!

Robots Can’t Feel FOMO: The Human Edge That Matters

“Keep it human” – this third point touches on something fundamental to marketing’s essence. At its core, marketing has always been about human connection—understanding desires, addressing needs, and building relationships. AI cannot replicate the emotional intelligence, empathy, and authentic connection that define meaningful human interactions.

This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for us. The challenge lies in resisting the temptation to automate everything simply because we can. The opportunity lies in leveraging AI to handle routine tasks, so we can invest more deeply in the human elements that truly differentiate our brands.

Imagine AI analyzing customer service transcripts to identify common pain points, while human representatives bring the empathy needed to address individual concerns with genuine care. Or AI generating initial creative concepts, while human designers bring the cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence to refine those concepts into resonant campaigns.

What strikes me most about these three principles is how they work together. Daily use builds familiarity and skill. Critical thinking prevents blind spots and mistakes. Maintaining human connection ensures we don’t lose sight of marketing’s fundamental purpose.

The marketers who will thrive in this AI-enhanced landscape won’t be those who simply adopt the latest tools. They’ll be the ones who thoughtfully integrate these tools into a practice that remains deeply human at its core.

 Let’s Raise a Superhero, not a Supervillian

I can’t stop thinking about Mo’s brilliant Superman analogy at the end of the interview. He pointed out that we’re essentially creating Superman with AI – a being with extraordinary capabilities. But the outcome—whether utopian or dystopian—depends entirely on how we treat this technology.

If we approach AI with respect, ethical consideration, and thoughtful boundaries, we create a benevolent Superman that helps humanity thrive. But if we mistreat it, exploit it without limits, or use it recklessly, we might create something that works against our collective interests.

As marketers wrangle these powerful tools, this responsibility hits especially close to home. We’re often early adopters and influencers in how technologies get used. So let’s be intentional about creating the “good Superman” version of our AI future. This is why keeping it human isn’t just a nice idea—it’s essential to ensure that AI enhances rather than diminishes what makes marketing truly meaningful.

The post Mo Gawdat’s AI Wisdom: The Marketing Playbook We All Need Right Now! appeared first on 8020 Agency.

For those of you who haven’t yet explored the world of brand archetypes, let me tell you—this stuff not fluff! It IS fun but also relevant and useful. Knowing your brand’s archetype helps you create a stronger brand identity. 

What Are Brand Archetypes Anyway?

Think of brand archetypes as characters in the branding world. They’re personalities representing different facets of human psychology, from heroic to wise to adventurous.

The concept was originally introduced by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and later made marketing-friendly by Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson in their book “The Hero and the Outlaw.” There are 12 primary archetypes, each representing specific values and emotions that can help create a memorable brand identity.

The more you learn about archetypes, the more you’ll realize how much they shape our favorite brands without us even noticing.It makes our brands more human – and that’s what we want.

The Fantastic 12: Which One Is Your Brand?

Here’s a quick rundown of the 12 archetypes (I’ve added some of my favorite examples):

1. The Innocent: Purity, simplicity, authenticity (Dove)
2. The Everyman: Relatability, approachability (Target)
3. The Hero: Achievement, excellence, ambition (Nike)
4. The Outlaw: Rebellion, individualism, freedom (Harley Davidson)
5. The Explorer: Adventure, discovery (The North Face)
6. The Creator: Innovation, imagination (Apple)
7. The Ruler: Power, control, luxury (Rolex)
8. The Magician: Transformation, change (Disney)
9. The Lover: Passion, sensuality, intimacy (Chanel)
10. The Jester: Humor, spontaneity, fun (M&M’s)
11. The Caregiver: Nurturing, compassion, empathy (WWF)
12. The Sage: Wisdom, knowledge, insight (Google)

I’m curious—which one resonates with YOUR brand? 

Why Brand Archetypes Are Such Game-Changers

1. Consistency is Key A clear brand archetype makes it easier to create consistent messaging and visuals across all channels. Customers will know exactly what your brand stands for, building trust and credibility over time.
2. You’ll Master Memorability Creating a brand identity aligned with a specific archetype helps you stand out in that ocean of competitors. When customers can easily identify and remember your brand, you become the hero of their hearts (and purchasing decisions)!
3. You’ll Create Human-Like Emotional Connections When your brand embodies a relatable archetype, it feels more human to your audience. This emotional connection taps into customers’ deepest desires and values, creating a bond that goes way beyond features and benefits. And we all know that emotional connections are what drive loyalty and advocacy in today’s market!

I’m fascinated by how these archetypes can transform an ordinary brand into something extraordinary! It’s like having a built-in compass for all your branding decisions. 

Finding Your Perfect Brand Archetype

So how do you discover which archetype best represents your brand? Start by asking yourself these questions:

• What values does your brand stand for?
• What kind of personality do you want to convey?
• What emotions do you want to evoke in customers?
• What sets you apart from competitors?

If you’re having trouble choosing between several archetypes, consider which of the four subcategories your brand fits into:

1. The “Ego” types: Innocent, Everyman, Hero
2. The “Soul” types: Explorer, Outlaw, Magician
3. The “Self” types: Sage, Ruler, Creator
4. The “For-Others’” types: Jester, Caregiver, Lover

Pro-tip: Finding your brand’s archetype isn’t a one-time process. As your brand evolves, you may need to revisit and refine your archetype.

I also think it’s okay to pick two. That often makes it easier for my clients to decide.  

Bringing Your Archetype to Life

Once you’ve found your perfect archetype (or archetypes), it’s time to infuse it into every aspect of your brand:

• Messaging: Let your archetype guide your voice across all marketing channels
• Visual branding: Choose colors, imagery, and design elements that reflect your archetype
• Customer experience: Create touchpoints that reinforce your archetype at every turn

Imagine stepping into a store where every detail—the colors, materials, layout, ambiance, and even scent—instantly envelops you in an experience that distinctly embodies the brand. That’s the power of consistently applying your archetype across all dimensions!

AI meets Archetypes  

As soon as you’ve clearly defined your brand archetype, it becomes the ultimate AI prompt engineering tool. 

Use your archetype as a quick reference to ensure AI-generated blog posts, social media content, email campaigns, and even product descriptions maintain your brand’s unique personality. 

For instance, if you’re a “Creator” archetype like Apple, you can instruct AI to generate content that emphasizes innovation, creativity, and cutting-edge thinking. Prompt it with something like: “Write this social media post as a Creator archetype would—focus on innovative solutions and imaginative approaches.” 

Pro tip: Develop an “archetype guide” that outlines your brand’s specific voice, values, and no-go zones. Save this as a document then use it as a consistent reference for AI interactions. This ensures that whether you’re using ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI tool, your brand’s essence remains authentic and true. 

The Path Forward

To me, the impact of this rapidly evolving market on branding is both fascinating and a bit frightening. But we can’t allow ourselves to be scared! We need to use these powerful tools with our fundamentals to innovate and create spectacular brands!

What archetype do you think YOUR embodies? And how about your personal brand? 

Remember, keep it human!

Kelly

The post The Magic of Brand Archetypes appeared first on 8020 Agency.

But here’s the catch: efficiency is not a brand strategy.

In a world where everyone has access to the same AI tools, empathy is what will differentiate your brand.

AI is Remarkable, But Humans Connect With Humans

As AI accelerates content creation, personalization, and predictive marketing, it’s tempting to let the machine do all the work. Many brands are already replacing writers, designers, and even strategists with AI-generated solutions.

But the brands that stand out in this new era won’t just be the fastest. They’ll be the most human.

They’ll be the brands that know how to pair AI’s speed with empathy and authenticity.

As Salesforce futurist Peter Schwartz recently put it in Business Insider, “Empathy may be more important than coding.” And he’s right. While tech stacks shift and APIs evolve, empathy is timeless, and it’s quickly becoming the most important brand asset.

+ =

As a marketing professor and founder of a brand strategy agency, I’ve coached dozens of companies through digital transformation. And here’s what I see over and over again:

AI can help you say more, faster. But only empathy will help you say the right thing.

Your customers don’t want to be “targeted.” They want to feel seen. They want relevance without losing the human spark.

Leading brands today embrace AI as a creative partner, rather than a replacement. They strategically automate tasks where it adds value while prioritizing impactful messaging and storytelling through their authentic brand voice and multiple personas.

That’s what “Keep It Human” really means.

3 Ways to Keep It Human

Whether you’re a startup founder, CMO, or content creator, here are three ways to maintain a human touch in your brand as you grow with AI:

1. Lead with empathy, not just data. Use AI to surface insights, but make sure real people interpret the story behind the numbers. Empathy is what makes a brand matter.

2. Define your brand voice—and protect it. Your voice is more than just tone; it’s how you convey your values, personality, and intention. AI tools should amplify that voice, not erase it.

3. Use AI as a tutor, not a crutch. AI is like a tutor on steroids. Leverage tools like ChatGPT’s deep research as a quick way to dive deep and receive critical feedback, but be disciplined to do your own writing. Don’t be cringe: don’t copy and paste without iterating.

The Future of Branding Is Human-Centered

At 80/20 Agency and in my classroom, I teach that the best brands are not just efficient. They’re emotionally intelligent, ethically aware, and unmistakably human.

As we all navigate this new terrain together, here’s the question every brand leader should ask:

How can we use AI not to distance ourselves from our audience, but to get even closer?

That’s the mission. That’s the challenge. That’s the opportunity.

Let’s keep it smart. Let’s keep it fast. But above all, let’s Keep It Human.

Written by a human, polished with AI. Full disclosure: I used AI tools to refine this article. The ideas are mine—AI just helped me get the words right faster.

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