Conversations: Brand Value in the Age of A.I.

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Rain strategist and cofounder Noel Thevenet sat down with content strategist Susan Langmann to talk about how the A.I. revolution is impacting brand value. Here are excerpts from their conversation.

Noel: So, is brand value at risk in this everything A.I. age?

​Susan: Yes and no. We’ve seen major brands screw up and get roasted by the public because they placed creativity solely in the “hands” of artificial intelligence. The most notable is Coca-Cola’s notoriously A.I.ed 2025 Christmas ad. Without human oversight, A.I. can erode brand trust, credibility and ultimately value.

Noel: Was the misstep really A.I. or leadership?

Susan: Clearly leadership. It’s easy just to place the blame on A.I., but as any marketer and creative knows, technology can only go so far. Human-led judgement, oversight, and creative discernment are increasingly critical in an A.I. driven world. Left in the wrong hands, leadership can mistake A.I. output for ‘good enough’ and undervalue what it takes to create and build authentic brand value.

Noel: Especially when the wrong hands have six fingers! So, how do brands prevent “good enough” from becoming the standard?​

Susan: Now that is the theme of 2026. We’ve seen reams of articles on A.I. slop. Brands are now wading through all the A.I.-generated content and trying to figure out how to, literally, get rid of it! Or at least tame it and have seasoned writers fix it. We see this time and time again. A new technology. Loads of excitement and way too much careless use of it. It may have seemed like a great idea at the time, but now the A.I.-led content issue is a major problem for brands. As in your discussion with Bill (Copywriting in an A.I. World), yes, there is definitely a place for A.I., just make sure it’s in the right hands. Humans are superior in judgment, reasoning, and discernment. And, most importantly, creativity!

Noel: Bill also mentioned how A.I. feeds on itself — a classic case of “garbage in, garbage out.” (Excuse the em-dash!)

Susan: Absolutely! And, justice for the em-dash!

Noel:  What should brands never outsource to A.I.?

​Susan: The final say. We all use generative A.I. — the kind used in chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — in our day-to-day work. Sure, chatbots are reasonably good sparring partners, but after a while, you spot their limits. The output is dry. It lacks human curiosity, experimentation, and novelty. And brands are seeing this. They handed over too much in the early days. They now have to find the right processes and tools to ensure that integrating A.I. platforms into their marketing stack doesn’t overtake human-led decision-making and judgment. Great brands stand the test of time, but only if they are smart in how they create and communicate value in a human-driven way.

“Sure, chatbots are reasonably good sparring partners, but after a while, you spot their limits.”

Susan Langman – Head Content Strategist, Rain

Noel: What happens when brands blur that line?​ I’m going to guess that it starts with “s”.

Susan: Slop. Let’s just say, some brands were too zealous. They handed over content creation to generative A.I. tools and believed whatever it produced was factually accurate and of high quality. What they forgot is that lots of other brands were doing the same thing. And customers were getting tired of being fed slop. Lots of it. To the point where it created customer mistrust, leading to erosion of brand loyalty and value. Remember, it is much easier to erode a brand than to rebuild one. Customers never truly forget a brand’s misstep in trust and loyalty. So, it may seem cheaper to hand over brand value to A.I., but the damage it can create without human oversight can be extremely costly.

Noel: I guess awareness that A.I. is a sort of “introduced risk” is key. What should brands be doing now to avoid that kind of damage?​

Susan: It’s really simple. Lead with humans. We’re moving into the next phase of A.I., agentic, referring to the autonomous bots with no human oversight. It’s scary when you think of it. We still don’t fully understand artificial intelligence, and now we’re going to let it go off and do the work on its own. Imagine an A.I. bot programmed to interact with customers without human oversight or intervention. We’re seeing it now, and the results are worrying. Think back to when you reached out to customer service for an issue, and you’re forced to interact with a chatbot! How do you perceive the brand? Probably negatively. The same with content creation. We’re seeing brands using generative models to create customer-facing content. Without human oversight, the results can be disastrous for the brand and dangerous for the customer.

Noel: Sounds like A.I. is the super smart intern that’s not ready to have the keys to the shop. So, what’s your advice to brands?

Susan: Lead with people. Forward-thinking brands understand the value of building and maintaining brand authority is grounded in trust. And they work hard to maintain and grow their customers’ trust. They have a voice. An authentic voice. One that understands their customers and doesn’t cut corners. Demonstrating that sense of value by communicating authentically. Yes, there is a place for artificial intelligence, but not letting it rule is key. Human-driven creation and oversight, in my opinion, is the best way forward for brands that truly understand brand value in an A.I. World.

Noel: Thanks, Susan, for reassuring us that humans will always have a place in brand strategy.