Promoting Progress: Marketing Tech’s Enlightenment
First, The Good News: No one knows or owns the narrative of AI, yet! (Keep reading for the bad news.)
Recent concerns from industry experts suggest that the current hype—particularly surrounding generative AI—could be obscuring its true potential. At COMMS/NATION, a PR agency experienced in new thought categories, we see the discourse around AI as SO NEW that marketers are just beginning to grasp how to adapt this technology, facing a Mount Everest-sized challenge in educating an entire population about it.
What does this mean? Simply put, it's not enough to spend minimally on a targeted, localized campaign to promote your AI product in the market and expect results. The goal is to guide AI out of hype-status while keeping it general enough to avoid appearing cultish to a broad demographic. There needs to be MASSIVE education on AI, encompassing multiple facets of people's lives to make the technology approachable.
Right now, AI is a complicated buzzword, since many don’t know how to apply it within their daily lives or at what moments they are interacting with it. While the application is broad, people are already using AI technology, but they perceive it as a mere featured update, not realizing the bigger capability of human progress. It’s crucial to recognize where each person is on their journey.
So, what’s the bad news? It all comes down to discernment.
Some companies and thought leaders have been downplaying their AI, treating them as trade secrets rather than talking points, or downplaying the capability of AI as a whole because of a couple of interactions.
While marketers are learning to market it to a wide demographic base with varying technological adaptations. And yes, there will be exaggerators, akin to those in the cryptocurrency boom, obscuring the significant scientific and research achievements in AI.
As you know, marketers must navigate between substantial advancements and sensationalism.
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned against “AI-washing,” where companies overstate their AI capabilities or a technology’s potential for capital gain. Yeah, don’t do that.
Amid these cautionary tales lies an undeniable truth: marketers need to align a realistic vision with the actual capabilities of AI, fostering educational marketing campaigns.
If we can view AI as a monumental shift in how we interact with technology, solve complex problems, and, most importantly, understand ourselves and our world.
The challenge and opportunity for marketers in the AI space is to educate and inspire, not merely sell. We must craft narratives that capture the imagination and convey why learning about AI can enhance personal and collective growth, rather than letting technology impose itself like ivy on an immovable structure.
We're not just talking about AI; we're discussing the future of marketing at large. It should pivot towards fostering intellectual awakening and better living —even if idealistic. Positivity—believe it or not—is the new black.
Interested in how your brand can thrive in this era? Let's talk! Schedule a free consulting call with us to discuss how we can help you navigate the AI marketing landscape together.
More about the author: Andréa M. Garcia is the managing partner of COMMS/NATION LLC where her team builds strategic award-winning PR and communications campaigns and thought-provoking leadership for ambitious business leaders who want to dominate their respective industries. She’s a trailblazer in communications and a dedicated advocate for minority entrepreneurs.