AI in brand management: Ipsos study reveals surprising findings
How AI Is Changing Brand Perception
How much artificial intelligence (AI) can a brand tolerate? When does it become a risk to trust? And what effect does labelling have? With the impending mandatory EU AI Act, brand managers are faced with these questions. Answers are provided by a consumer survey conducted by Ipsos, the official insights partner of the German Brand Awards. Gunther Theophile (Director of Brand Health Tracking and Creative Excellence at Ipsos) presented the findings of the study “Between efficiency and loss of trust – how much AI can a brand handle?” for the first time at the German Brand Convention, which takes place ahead of the Awards Show.
How target audiences really view AI in brand communication
A telling finding: an overwhelming majority of consumers are calling for clear labelling of AI-generated products, services and campaigns. At the same time, the use of artificial intelligence measurably improves the perception of campaigns: study participants found them more appealing and felt more engaged by them.
AI-generated advertising content is now so authentic that consumers can no longer recognise it as such. The key factor in a campaign’s effectiveness is therefore not whether AI was actually used, but how its production is perceived. Particularly interesting: in sensitive areas such as NGOs, political parties or lifestyle categories like organic food, travel and beauty, labelling content as AI-generated actually has a positive effect on campaign performance.
The full report on the study’s findings shows exactly what these insights mean for day-to-day brand management and what recommendations for action can be derived from them for brand managers.
