Artificial intelligence changes economics of branding, not its human core

At the Brand Canvas Grand Finale, industry leaders said AI can make branding faster and more personal, but creativity, judgement and consumer trust still need a human hand

From a shopping basket that knows you are making a salad to an OTT platform convinced it knows what you want to watch and a computer-generated voice for an ad film, artificial intelligence (AI) is already making decisions around consumers, often before they notice it.

 

That set the stage for a panel discussion at the Brand Canvas Grand Finale at Kristu Jayanti University in Bengaluru, where leaders from Havas Creative India, UTI Mutual Fund, MilkyMist, and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) joined academia to ask whether AI is a collaborator or disruptor in branding.

 

The room did not quite accept the choice.

 

Tina Mansukhani Garg, president, Havas Creative India, called AI “100 per cent a disruptor”. Mohit Totlani, head, brand and channel marketing, UTI Mutual Fund, called the question itself a “false binary”.

 

Both positions eventually arrived at similar territory. AI can analyse data, predict behaviour, reduce costs, and dramatically shorten the time needed to execute ideas. What it cannot easily replicate is the instinct behind choosing the right idea.

 

Garg illustrated the distinction through a shopping platform. If someone buys a few ingredients for a salad, AI can recognise the pattern and recommend the rest. But while a machine can predict a pattern, she argued, it cannot know what feeling that pattern will produce. Her rule was simple: leave repeatable work to AI, but keep intuition with people.

 

The limits become more visible when algorithms get too confident. Devesh Mittal, deputy general manager, corporate communication, PFRDA, pointed to OTT platforms repeatedly recommending similar shows based on viewing history. Humans, unlike recommendation engines, do not necessarily want more of yesterday’s choice.

 

Personalisation creates another contradiction. Totlani noted that consumers increasingly expect brands to understand their tastes, while simultaneously asking what those brands know about them and how their data is being used. Therefore, better recommendations can quickly become a question of trust.

 

MilkyMist’s Shivakumar M P raised a related concern: algorithms increasingly determine which products consumers encounter online, despite having no understanding of emotion or sentiment.

 

Even classrooms are negotiating the boundary. Dr D Ravindran of Kristu Jayanti University said faculty discussions once centred on whether students should use AI at all. The question now is how to use it without sacrificing creativity. Used properly, he argued, AI can generate ideas and improve productivity.

 

Garg saw fear of the unknown as one of the biggest barriers. Brands can use AI to prototype, test ideas, and generate voices for films. Experimentation, she suggested, is what turns an unfamiliar tool into a useful one.

 

The panel, moderated by Business Standard’s Arindam Bhattacharjee, ultimately found its answer in Totlani’s formulation: “Automate the repetitive, accelerate the analytical, protect the creative.”

Quotes

“Automate the repetitive, accelerate the analytical, protect the creative.”

Mohit Totlani

Head, Brand and Channel Marketing, UTI Mutual Fund

 

“AI can predict patterns. It cannot say which feeling will arise when that pattern happens.”

Tina Mansukhani Garg

President, Havas Creative India

 

“Listen to AI, but don’t let AI dominate.”

Dr D Ravindran

Associate Professor, Marketing and Supply Chain, Kristu Jayanti University

 

“AI has moved beyond being a supporting tool and has become a strategic copilot.”

Devesh Mittal

Deputy General Manager, Corporate Communication, PFRDA