The rules of brand building that dominated marketing for decades are no longer sufficient in an AI-mediated marketplace, said global brand strategist Dr Erich Joachimsthaler at the 24th CII Brand Conclave 2025, urging companies to rethink brands not as communication vehicles but as demand-generating systems.
AI influence in brand growth
Tracing the evolution of branding from the early 1990s, Dr Joachimsthaler noted that traditional frameworks, brand identity, equity models, resonance pyramids and distinctive brand assets were designed for a world of linear consumer journeys, stable segments and mass media. “That world no longer exists,” he said, arguing that AI has fundamentally altered how demand forms, how decisions are made and where growth happens.
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In today’s environment, consumer journeys collapse into moments. AI infers intent from behaviour rather than declared needs, rewards reliable performance over messaging, and mediates choices across search, recommendation and comparison in real time. As a result, conventional ideas such as segmentation, positioning and funnel-based branding increasingly fail to explain growth.
Dr Joachimsthaler also highlighted that brand growth comes primarily from penetration, not loyalty. Big brands grow because they have more buyers, not more loyal buyers. Distinctive brand assets, logos, colours, symbols, and cues help brands show up, but by themselves do not explain why demand occurs or how value is created.
A new era of brand management
He argued that branding must now evolve from storytelling to system design. Presenting a holistic brand model, Dr Joachimsthaler showed how identity, resonance and value creation need to be directly linked to demand spaces, financial performance and economic profit. In this framework, brands must be machine-readable, context-aware and embedded in AI-mediated decision paths.
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“Brand equity is no longer just awareness or image,” he said. “It must be discoverable by machines, trusted by algorithms and useful in moments of intent.”
Dr Joachimsthaler cautioned against over-reliance on brand valuation rankings, calling them directionally useful but inconsistent. The real challenge for leaders, he said, is to connect brand strategy to revenues, margins, operating profit and future demand, rather than treating branding as a soft, isolated function.
Brands will grow in the AI era not through campaigns, but through AI-native interaction fields, systems that continuously sense, learn and serve consumer needs.
“AI collapses the distance between desire and action,” he said. “Brands that fail to redesign themselves for this reality will struggle to remain relevant.”
