ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Brands must find better balance between AI and authenticity in 2026

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2026

Brands need to work out how they strike a balance between leveraging AI and reaching consumers in a way that still feels genuine.

Late last year, the US-based Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced its annual ‘Word of the Year’, and for the first time, two words were selected: ‘authenticity’ and ‘agentic AI’.

Brands must show an authentic face. Photo: Pixabay

The ANA’s decision reflects a marketing landscape simultaneously disrupted by autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) and anchored by a sharp public cry for transparency. Corporations, brands and marketing professionals should take note.

“In recent years, consumers have seen this technology evolve in real time – with increasingly sophisticated AI-generated content infiltrating television, social media and other platforms,” says Professor of Marketing and Management at the New York Institute of Technology, Colleen Kirk, who has researched consumer response to AI-generated marketing messages.

“However, at the end of the day, people still crave real connection and transparency. In the new year, brands must figure out how they strike a balance between leveraging AI and reaching consumers in a way that still feels genuine.”

Using AI to generate emotional content could impact brand perceptions

Kirk’s research on consumers and AI-generated marketing messages, published in the Journal of Business Research, provides insight into how using AI to generate emotional content could negatively impact brands’ perceptions and, in turn, the consumer relationships that support their bottom lines.

The findings suggest that companies must carefully consider how to disclose AI-authored communications, prioritising authenticity in their interactions with consumers.

Some brands are already adapting their methods. For example, Kirk notes that while Coca-Cola’s 2024 AI-generated holiday ads in the US received consumer backlash, 2025’s Christmas advertising by the brand signalled improvement and seems to have resonated more with audiences.

She believes this may be due to the brand’s decision to use AI-generated animals rather than humans to evoke holiday nostalgia, while also communicating the high level of human involvement in creating the 2025 ad campaign.

“Consumers are becoming ever more sceptical of the human origin of advertisements and marketing messages. While AI tools offer marketers an exciting new frontier, these professionals should bear in mind a time-tested principle: authenticity is always best,” states Kirk.

You can read more about her research here.

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