When Artificial Intelligence (AI) art goes viral, is it still marketing — or just trend-hopping? Let’s decode what marketing really means in the age of Ghibli filters and action-figure aesthetics. If you have not been living under a rock, chances are your social feeds have been flooded with AI-generated visuals—Ghibli-style art, action figure renderings, and other quirky creatives made using AI tools. It’s not just social media anymore; brands are now leveraging these AI-generated images across formats—video ads, print ads, billboards, and even packaging.
And why not? They are fun, eye-catching, and often go viral. Moment marketing has given brands the license to loosen up, bend their brand guidelines a bit, and chase cultural relevance in real-time. The urge to “go viral” has, in many cases, overtaken the traditional values of brand consistency and long-term messaging.
But should it?
Rewind 20 Years…
When I entered the world of marketing, Kotler, Al Ries, and Jack Trout were our guiding lights. I started in marketing research, moved into brand roles, and lived through an era dominated by the 4Ps, marketing mix models, deep consumer insights, and religiously followed brand guidelines. Advertising meant TV, radio, print, and outdoor—with precision, consistency, and discipline.
The Shift to Online Marketing
Until 2010, marketing was still fairly conventional. But then came the rise of social media, Google Ads, and the golden era of online marketing. Facebook and Twitter became new playgrounds, and digital budgets started climbing. Brands built followings and started conversations online. From SEO to SEM to ORM, a new skillset took center stage, and digital marketing started redefining the marketing landscape.
Then Came Covid-19
2020 changed everything. Digital was no longer optional; it was survival. Brands that had never invested in online presence suddenly turned to Zoom, e-commerce, and digital engagement. And with more screen time came meme culture, viral trends, and thumb-stopping content. Platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn became prime real estate for marketers. Even traditional ad formats such as print ads and outdoor ads found their way onto social media for a more amplified reach and conversations.
The Advent of Al in Marketing
Another noticeable trend in the last 2-3 years has been the usage of AI in marketing; it has become the marketer’s most powerful assistant. From content creation and design to ad optimisation and video editing, AI is now everywhere. Tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Canva, and DALL-E — the list keeps growing. So much so that it often feels like there are more AI tools than marketers.
But here’s the catch: many young marketers today have started confusing AI with marketing. For them, catching on to the latest trends is more important than the consistency of the brand color.
The marketing objective is more about garnering views than creating long-term brand equity.
Is Al marketing? Absolutely Not.
Al is a tool—an incredible enabler. It speeds up processes, sparks creativity, and helps us do more with less. But Al isn’t marketing. Because marketing isn’t a single action or tool—it’s an ecosystem.
Marketing is your product. It’s pricing. Its distribution. It’s customer experience. It’s how you handle a complaint. It’s what your brand promises and how consistently it delivers. It’s what makes a consumer come back, recommend you, or pay a premium for your offering. Ghibli art? Viral memes? Action figure versions of your brand? They’re fun, trendy, and yes, they get your attention. But they are only a slice of marketing, not the whole pie.
Let’s Not Lose the Plot
Marketing is about strategy, psychology, positioning, and building a brand that people trust and love over time. AI can help you execute faster and better. But if we start equating AI-generated posts with the definition of marketing, we risk forgetting what makes marketing effective in the first place: deep human understanding and long-term brand thinking.
Let’s use artificial intelligence, but without losing marketing intelligence. Let’s go viral but also stay valuable.
Send your exclusive thoughts to:
info@thefoundermedia.com
