I hope you prepare for a wonderful season of giving and take a break from all things marketing and business. I ended the last – well, ten-year – year with a special review.
This year, AI seems to have sucked all the oxygen out of the marketing space. With a nod to the brands feeling compelled to infuse their marketing with AI-generated content, 2024 felt a bit grin-inducing. So if you treat me to something:
Everyone in marketing loved creativity very much,
But the executives who ran the company did NOT do this.
They hated creative! The mood! The trends!
Elaborate brand campaigns with emotional objectives.
They grinned at the memes; the creative was so sweet.
They scoffed, “Who needs empathy when we have computing power?”
“Look at these idiots with their thought leadership talk,
Hours of brainstorming – as if that were enough!
They are slow and inefficient, stuck in their habits,
I optimize content in seconds, not days!”
Now, with a neural network hum and a Tesla-like purr,
The AI learned all of its content in one quick process.
They launched drones over Jersey with flair,
And have rewritten their ads with a cold, bot-generated expression.
Gone were stories, the joy and the fun,
Replaced by AI: “Research and develop savings!” Buy one, get one!”
Advertisements full of gerunds galore,
While bots buzzed in circles and crashed into the door.
And since the executives planned to lay off the team,
The tech brothers got together and logged in with a plan.
Sam Altman wrote: “Let’s optimize the joy with OpenAI flair!”
While Bezos declared: “Creativity is dead – AI will write more carefully!”
Sundar Pichai agreed: “Productivity is key! No delay!”
“AI will bring marketing Christmas the Google way!”
But far down in the marketers' corner, teams regrouped,
I ignore the chaos of tech bro loops.
They slowed down and created things that people would feel.
No algorithms or billionaires stealing anything.
They wrote slow stories with care and joy,
Handcrafted campaigns that feel human and radiant.
While the AI kicked up dirt – cold, soulless and boring,
Their creative magic flowed, built by real hands.
Executives stared at their dashboards and feeds,
Amazed by the magic that creates human joy.
They stopped their machines and didn't know what to say.
As the marketers showed, they knew the right way.
They didn't need bots or predictive commands,
Just humor, emotions and work from their hands.
They gathered in rooms to exchange ideas,
Proof that it is people who give brands their flair.
“What is that?” The executives shouted, “We can’t look away!”
How have humans eclipsed the power of AI?”
You learned that connections cannot be traced on a graph.
And real commitment begins in the heart.
So what happened then? Well, in marketing they say:
The leaders' sense of wisdom grew by five orders of magnitude that day!
They joined the marketers and wrote captions with flair.
And helped Santa upgrade with WiFi.
Now they play a small role every Christmas,
Balancing big data with the heart of a marketer.
And even Sam Altman, with a sheepish little grin,
Writes human content – without artificial intelligence.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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