Foresight Alliance | Future of Brands 2030: The AI Brand

Intelligent, customizable brands seek out consumers.

With the influx of data analytics about consumer needs, sentiment, and lifestyle choices, by 2030 brands are seeking out users, rather than users seeking brands. Consumers no longer pay attention to brands because AI brands now know what consumers need, and present them with appropriate, individualized choices at the right time, in their preferred way. As a result, brands are able to reach niche audiences and individuals even as media continues to fragment and more information is delivered on individual devices.

What’s driving this forecast…

Branding through interaction, not advertising. By 2020 advertising will no longer be the primary tool for branding, but instead will be a channel for driving transactions with consumers.

The always‐on brand. With the transparency created by social media, the Internet, and mobile, brands are always‐on—not just tied to one product.

Consumer/brand interactions are digital. Increasingly, consumer interactions with brands are digital first; human/personal only second.

What this means for companies…

Who knows, wins. Analysis of data around consumer mood, behavior, brand interactions, etc., will require increasingly sophisticated programs to accurately identify user needs. Just as delivery companies were the unsexy backbone of online retail, data analysts will function in the same way for AI brands.

Whither marketers? As brands become smarter and independently active, traditional marketing departments will need to transform or perish.

The end of traditional retail. Subscription services and home delivery will be boosted by use of AI brands, resulting in a decline in traditional retail sales. With brands already knowing what you need and when you need it, going to a store becomes superfluous.

Busted! As brands learn more about users and respond appropriately, users will face increased risk of their secrets being accidentally revealed by a brand to their friends or family against their wishes.

For more on the future of brand, see our report Future of Brands 2030.