AI vs. Brand: which prevails in online search?;

AI is rapidly changing the branding landscape, enhancing data analysis, automation and efficiency in branding. Modern research shows that consumers show a slight preference for brands with a human element, but AI brands are quickly closing the gap, gaining in modernity and consistency. AI offers new strategies in both brand awareness and personalized customer experience, making it a valuable tool for marketing professionals and businesses aiming to compete in today's marketplace.

AI, or artificial intelligence, has been transforming many aspects of the business world in recent years - and branding is no exception. By leveraging AI, businesses are gaining the ability to analyze vast amounts of data on consumer behavior, automate branding processes, and formulate marketing strategies with greater accuracy. Nowadays, various AI platforms are being used in the production of names, logos and brand identity elements, creating a new reality for the branding industry.

The use of AI in branding enhances speed and efficiency, while offering solutions for both large companies and smaller ones that lack the necessary resources for costly agencies. However, the question remains: do consumers prefer an AI-created brand or one that comes from human creativity?;

The experiment: AI vs. human branding - how brands were evaluated

A recent study presented by Ahrefs explored whether consumers show a preference for brands created entirely by AI or human design. The research, titled “AI vs. Made-up Brand Experiment,” combined an experimental process and the participation of over 1,000 people via Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Participants were introduced to five brands in three different sectors: marketing, software and personal finance. Each brand had a logo, name and key information either completely created by AI or a human creator. They were asked to evaluate the brands in terms of both appearance and level of credibility, originality and market preference.

The process was completely anonymous and blind: participants did not know whether the brand was created by AI or a human. The results offer useful insights into the potential of AI in branding.

The results of the survey: Who dominates, AI or humans?;

The results of this research were particularly illuminating. While AI has had rapid performance and consistency in creating brand elements, consumers tend to slightly prefer brands that have a human element. Specifically, on the average evaluative score, brands built by humans had a slight edge over AI brands across all industries surveyed.

For example, in marketing, human brands scored 62% preference over the 59% of AI-created brands. Similarly, in software and personal finance the advantage remained small in favour of human agency. The results show that although AI has improved significantly and is able to compete with humans in generating branding elements, human branding seems to retain a distinct sense of originality and authenticity.

However, the gap is small and the AI quickly closes the gap. To illustrate, respondents quite often considered AI brand names more “modern” and interesting, thus creating a new type of competition in the marketing space.

Additional findings: How artificial intelligence influences brand strategy

Brand awareness and consumer trust are central to any successful branding strategy - and AI is starting to have an increasing impact. AI experiments show that consumers do not easily distinguish whether a brand has been produced by humans or AI. This creates both new opportunities and challenges in the effort to cultivate trust and a sense of identity.

In many cases, AI-generated brands offer greater consistency in visual identity, a particularly important element in digital marketing. In addition, the use of AI in data analysis allows brands to accurately target specific consumer segments, maximizing brand awareness and recognition performance.

Statistically, according to research by Statista and McKinsey, in 2023 35% of businesses worldwide will have integrated AI into their marketing strategies, an increase of 8% over the previous year, demonstrating the potential of AI in the business space.

How to use AI in your brand - Tips and instructions

Integrating AI into brand building doesn't have to be a challenge. Instead, it can add value and flexibility to professionals and e-shop or business owners. Here are some practical steps for those who want to enhance their branding with the help of AI:

He searched for and selected tools that specialize in name and logo creation, such as Looka and Namelix. These provide automated suggestions based on modern machine learning and big data techniques.

Use data analytics platforms, such as Ahrefs or SEMrush, to study trends in your industry, comparing your AI-generated brands with those of your competitors. This allows you to monitor the effectiveness of changes to brand identity.

AI can personalize your marketing message, producing personalized ads and customer experiences. Personalization, powered by AI algorithms, is proven to increase customer engagement and retention.

Artificial intelligence, branding and the future of marketing

The use of AI in branding is transforming traditional branding practices, and the gap in consumer preference between human and AI brand is rapidly narrowing. Marketing professionals and online store owners are being challenged to harness the benefits of AI to enhance their own brand, but without ignoring the importance of the human factor.

AI efficiency is progressing and is now an important tool in brand creation and management. As the Ahrefs experiment proved, investing in brand refresh with AI tools is capable of both improving competitiveness and increasing consumer awareness and trust, creating a new era in digital marketing.

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