AI helps us deliver better branding,
more efficiently than ever.
THE MAGIC OF HUMAN CREATIVITY PLUS THE ANALYTICAL POWER OF AI
At Solid, we see AI as an opportunity to expedite processes, reduce costs, and optimize efficiencies. On top of of that, we believe that by combining humanity with AI we can amplify the quality and effectiveness of the work we do for our clients. And that is when magic happens.
AI is a fundamental game changer
Having spent decades working at the intersection of business, branding and innovation, I’ve seen countless trends come and go. AI is different. I believe that AI is here to stay, and will continue to evolve over time, eventually being considered one of the most influential and most disruptive technologies since the invention of the computer. Below is an overview about how we’re using AI across the various phases of our workflow:
EXPEDITE RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
At Solid, we believe that good branding starts with a clear understanding of the situation and the goals for the project. Traditionally this has meant investing time collecting data and evaluating the findings to extract key insights about the business, the market, the existing perceptions, the competitive landscape, the target audience, etc. This process has always taken a considerable amount of time and resources. Not anymore. AI can dramatically reduce the amount of time invested in research and analysis, quickly providing us with a summary of valuable insights – which we leverage along with our personal experience to arrive at a final set of recommendations. Here are a few specific examples of how we use AI during the discovery process:
Competitive Landscape Analysis
We’ve started to use AI to capture and evaluate competitors’ branding strategies, identifying gaps and opportunities. Ai can help us collect and evaluate examples of the visual language as well as the messaging or campaigns of competitors, substantially expediting the process.
TARGET AUDIENCE AND Persona Development
AI helps us build target audience segmentation profiles and detailed customer personas based on data. This helps us craft messaging that is more precisely targeted to the specific target audiences the brand seeks to influence.
TREND ANALYSIS
AI-driven tools help us analyze large datasets to identify trends, preferences, and target audience sentiment. This is true of general consumer behavior, but can also apply to specific B2B audiences.
STREAMLINE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
I am fond of reminding our clients (and designers) that design without strategy is simply ‘decoration’. We believe that developing a solid strategy (pun intended) is an absolutely crucial component of developing a successful and sustainable brand. AI is helping us streamline the process of defining and articulating brand strategies that establish clear differentiation them from their competitors and resonate with the target audiences our clients seek to influence, positioning our clients’ brands as the preferred alternatives.
Here are a couple of examples:
Brand Platform
AI helps us streamline the process of identifying the essential elements of the brand strategy. The key here, is to make sure that the AI tools are ‘trained’ to take into account the specific Brand Platform framework we’ve crafted based on our may years of brand strategy experience. The combination of AI analytics with human experience helps us expedite the process while retaining the perspective that comes from individual real life experience of brilliant seasoned strategists.
Brand Positioning
AI tools can help analyze data to uncover a brand’s strengths and opportunities; map these to the target audience’s needs and desires; compare them to the competitive alternatives, and craft differentiated positioning statements. We consider the positioning statements suggested by AI and enhance them using the insights accumulated during our many years of business experience, then use AI to help validate the final approach.
Brand Messaging
The process of identifying and articulating the brand’s most important messages and mapping them to the brand’s audiences (such as decision makers, influencers and implementers) can be very time consuming. Some AI tools can very quickly evaluate the data and the brand strategy, and provide helpful options – which are then adjusted by our strategists. This approach substantially reduces the time that is required to do this type work.
AI content enhanced with HUMANITY AND EMPATHY
To be clear, we don’t rely on AI to design a logo or visual style. And we don’t use AI to translate messaging into clever headlines. We believe that today, humans can add an unexpected twist to an idea and a level of empathy and emotional connection that AI simply can’t. At least, not yet. That said, AI tools help facilitate the creative process, which enables us to end up with interesting concepts substantially faster than ever before. Here are some way we’re using AI to enhance our creative process:
Brand IDENTITY
We use a variety of AI enabled platforms to quickly suggest ideas for logos, research potential conflicts, and create prototypes of branded assets. The AI generated design ideas can be a helpful starting point, and can provide some inspiration. However, as of right now, we believe that the best designs require the skills and creativity of designers who have built careers reducing complex ideas into memorable corporate icons. By combining the speed of AI with the imagination and experience of talented designers our clients get better solutions, often faster than could be done without using AI.
Visual Style
Recent advancements in AI technology make it possible to create photographic-quality visuals and video content at exceptionally fast speed. Of course the AI engines need to be provided the general direction by designers who have a clear vision of what they want the AI tools to create, and know how to articulate their vision in the form of prompts. The visual content that AI generates enables us to evaluate the potential extensions of a brand’s visual style including key imagery, color palettes, font selection, composition, etc. The AI generated content is often painstakingly evolved using human expertise.
Brand Narrative and Voice
Storytelling is a crucial component of building a brand. We leverage AI tools to help us explore a variety of storytelling approaches which we enhance with the help of seasoned writers. This helps us very rapidly explore the opportunities of a brand narrative to become a compelling and differentiated story, while also exploring a variety of approaches to the voice and tone – ensuring that the whole aligns with the personality defined in the Brand Platform.
OPTIMIZE the CREATION of marketing assets
AI is drastically changing how we build the marketing tools our clients need to reach and influence their target audiences. Again, we don’t advocate relying on AI to independently design a website or create a campaign – however, we’ve found that AI can reduce the time and effort involved in developing concepts, creating content and producing files. Additionally, AI can help evaluate the viability of some of the ideas. Here are some examples:
Website Development
A wide variety of AI tools is expediting virtually every aspect of website development. AI tools are helping optimize the way that we deliver the architecture, design, content, coding and optimization processes that are all part of a website build. For example, tools like Figma with its new AI plugins can expedite design of templates, generate visuals, and establish design standards. At the same time, platforms like GitHub Copilot is used by developers to generate, debug, and optimizing code – speeding up the development process. While, AI-powered platforms like Surfer SEO suggest improvements for search engine rankings, optimizing site performance.
Email Automation
AI tools are being used to optimize subject lines and body text for better open and click-through rates using AI-powered suggestions, while also creating multiple variations for A/B testing. help automate email delivery based on optimal send times, audience segmentation, and user engagement patterns – which improves effectiveness, open rates and click-throughs.
Predictive Analytics
Tools like predictive analytics give clients clarity on potential ROI before campaigns even launch. AI-powered dashboards provide real-time feedback, enabling faster decision-making and course corrections. This transparency builds trust and strengthens the client-agency partnership.
– – – – – – – –
The importance of combining technology with humanity
AI is not without its challenges and detractors. We agree with the idea that over-reliance on technology can lead to generic and predictable solutions. Some of the AI generated work we’ve seen lacks the human touch that defines truly great brands. We see branding as an exercise in storytelling and emotional connection. This is why at Solid Branding, we view AI as a collaborator, not a replacement. Our approach integrates AI’s analytical power with human creativity, intuition, and empathy. This balance ensures that the branding work we deliver to our clients is not only data-driven but also emotionally compelling and authentically human.
Getting your startup off the ground?
We can help you build an agile brand.
We work with startups to build branding programs designed to help raise capital, attract the right talent and build awareness with potential partners and customers. We help articulate the strategic positioning and messaging that establishes differentiation and preference for our client’s brands – and we also develop compelling brand identities that are polished and memorable.
