Marketing Trends 2025: Four Key Insights from Our AI Expert Webinar
During our December webinar, Dr. Christian Scheier Co-founder and Chief AI Officer at Brainsuite, shared valuable insights about where AI is truly creating value in marketing.
Here are the key takeaways from this insightful discussion.
Where's the Real Value in AI?
While investment in AI continues to surge, with business spending on AI search increasing by 500% this year, prominent voices like Sequoia and Goldman Sachs are asking a crucial question about generative AI: Where's the real value? This question is particularly relevant for generative AI, which only emerged in 2022, unlike predictive AI which has been proving its value in established markets since 2017. Looking at Gartner's famous hype cycle, some wonder if we're at the peak of inflated expectations for generative AI. However, our webinar participants strongly indicated that we're not – and the evidence supports this view. The real question isn't about the technology itself, but about its practical value for marketing teams. The answer lies in how AI helps solve fundamental marketing challenges: ensuring creative effectiveness at scale and improving return on marketing investment.
© Brainsuite
4 Critical Trends Reshaping Marketing in 2025
#1: Data as Strategic Asset: Building the Foundation for AI Success
"Data governance is crucial for scalable business cases going forward," noted Dr. Christian Scheier during the discussion. Leading brands are now treating their marketing data as a valuable asset, centralizing it in data lakes for comprehensive accessibility and integration. This approach goes beyond simple data storage – it's about creating a unified view of all marketing assets, from packaging designs to digital campaigns, alongside their performance data. Forward-thinking companies are already integrating predictive AI insights into these data lakes, enabling a 360-degree view of creative effectiveness. As one industry leader put it, they're "treating data as a valuable asset rather than a byproduct." This shift is fundamental for organizations looking to scale their AI capabilities effectively and make truly data-driven marketing decisions.
Our recommendation: Start small by focusing on one key channel or market. Document what data you're currently collecting, what you wish you had, and where the gaps are. This baseline assessment will guide your data strategy.
“Only 26% of companies have advanced beyond the proof-of-concept stage to generate value.”
#2: The Power of Combined AI: Merging Efficiency with Effectiveness
The most compelling trend centers on the integration of different AI technologies. According to the Boston Consulting Group's study of over 1,000 companies, the highest-value use cases combine predictive and generative AI capabilities. While generative AI excels at creating content efficiently, predictive AI ensures its effectiveness through data-driven optimization. This combination creates a powerful feedback loop: generative AI produces creative variations, while predictive AI evaluates their likely performance before deployment. Leading brands are now integrating these capabilities into their workflows through API connections, enabling continuous optimization cycles that improve creative performance. This systematic approach ensures that AI not only speeds up content creation but actively improves marketing effectiveness.
Our recommendation: Don't just create content faster – ensure it performs better: Choose one type of marketing asset (e.g., social media posts) and implement a simple pre-testing workflow. Test it for a month, measuring both speed gains and performance improvements.
#3: Quality at Speed: Transforming Creative Decision-Making
Organizations implementing AI-powered approaches are seeing transformative results. Teams report making decisions about creative assets 10 times faster, while optimized campaigns show up to 200% higher brand lift. But speed isn't just about moving faster – it's about making better decisions more quickly. For instance, major brands are now using AI to pre-test 100% of their e-commerce assets before launch, something previously impossible with traditional testing methods. This comprehensive quality control, integrated with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, ensures that every asset meets effectiveness standards without slowing down production. Marketing teams can now test multiple creative variations, optimize based on predictive insights, and still meet tight deadlines – effectively eliminating the traditional trade-off between speed and quality.
Our recommendation: Calculate how much time your team currently spends on creative reviews and approvals. Then pilot an AI-powered workflow for one month, measuring time saved and effectiveness gains.
#4: Strategic Personalization: Beyond Basic Customization
The ability to create and deliver personalized experiences at scale is becoming a reality, but not in the way many expected. Rather than just customizing messages, leading brands are using AI to ensure their content resonates with specific audiences while maintaining brand consistency. This sophisticated approach combines understanding of consumer behavior patterns with creative optimization. For example, some organizations are using AI to analyze how different audience segments respond to creative elements, then optimizing their assets accordingly. This data-driven approach to personalization goes beyond simple demographic targeting, enabling brands to deliver content that's both personally relevant and proven to be effective. The result is personalization that drives business results rather than just customization for its own sake.
Our recommendation: Start with one key audience segment. Test different creative variations, measure their performance, and document what works. Use these insights to create segment-specific creative guidelines.
Looking Ahead
As marketing teams face increasing pressure to prove ROI across more channels than ever, AI is becoming essential for ensuring creative effectiveness at scale. The key to success isn't implementing everything at once, but starting with focused initiatives that can demonstrate clear business value. Begin with the area that most directly impacts your current challenges and expand from there.
Want to learn more about how leading brands are driving marketing effectiveness at scale? Watch the full webinar recording here.
