Let’s talk about the two letters that every CEO loves to say, and every marketing VP hates to hear: AI.
The fear these two letters create in the marketing, content, social media and PR departments across the outdoor industry has made it the only topic that matters. Stories of companies as large as Oracle and Cisco down to mom-and-pop operations cutting staff and replacing them with an LLM are everywhere.
The AI revolution is here, and it is not friendly.
Hogwash, I say.
It’s time to show my age and talk about all the “revolutions” in technology I’ve survived and why the AI tsunami is no different.
See, when I first entered this industry, it was all website all the time. Websites could replace printed catalogs! Websites could replace paid advertising! Websites could replace in-store merchandise!
#RIPMarketing
Then, once everyone had a thrown-together website, brands learned that wasn’t enough. You needed some wildly crazy things like good design, a friendly user-experience and actual content that the visitor found of value.
And to do that, you needed to bring on web designers and copywriters and digital marketing experts. Those that did, succeeded. Those that didn’t, struggled.
Next came blogs.
Heck, all we have to do is send out some product and we’ll get shiny reviews without having to pay for it. Then we can copy/paste that right onto our website. Blogs will replace marketing! Blogs will replace media events! Blogs will replace copywriters!
#RIPMarketing.
Except the basement bloggers’ reach dwindled as the market got saturated and taken over by monetized channels and pay-for-play. Like most media, the blogs that drew the most eyeballs weren’t always the ones you wanted to showcase your products. The solution? Start your own blog to control the messaging, provide education to users and help convince shoppers to buy your product.
And to do that, you needed to bring on content creators, videographers and digital marketing experts. Those that did… Well, you know.
Now, it was Facebook, which was quickly repackaged as social media et al. These sites are free and my 15-year-old kid can do it. Social media can replace digital marketing! Social media can replace blogs! Heck, social media can replace our website!
#RIPMarketing.
Then the rules changed. And they never stopped changing. Restrictions on what you can post became almost insurmountable challenges. Monetization hit all the channels, so your message disappeared unless you threw boosting dollars at it. The almighty algorithm became the new de facto god we all struggled to please. Turns out, you need content strategists, paid digital experts, writers, editors and marketing experts to make the now large investment pay off.
Next came the SMS wave. Data show that most consumers use their phones to shop and we can deliver messaging and offers right in the store based on geofencing. SMS can replace paid digital! SMS can replace PR! SMS can replace database marketing!
#RIPMarketing
Wait, what do you mean we can only send to opted-in users who allow us to send to them? How the heck are we supposed to get people to opt-in for advertising messages? You need to hire experts in marketing, digital marketing and PR to create interest and reasons for people to open the door to getting even more sales-focused texts.
Now, we’re at the AI tidal wave. And AI will replace… everything. Marketing, strategy, PR, Social, SEO, analytics, copywriting, design, photography, videography! All we need is a $20 a month ChatGPT subscription and we can replace entire departments!
#RIPMarketing
Not so fast, my friend. AI is only as good as the people who create the prompts. And just as it is in marketing or sales or even manufacturing, if the minds that control the machine have no clue, it doesn’t work. We’re being overrun with AI slop. For every AI piece that works well, there’s 999 others that are utter trash.
You need a marketing expert to create good messaging. You need a design expert to create good creative. You have to have an SEO expert to feed AEO. You need a PR expert to create good awareness content for the LLMs to find. You need… you get the idea.
Folks, the AI revolution is no different than all the other paradigm shifts. It’s a shiny new tool that no one fully understands yet. It has a lot of promise to be a huge force multiplier, but in the end it’s going to be another tactic in the marketing arsenal. Once brands get a handle on what good AI can and can’t do, they’ll see the need for experts in their disciplines to oversee and operate this tool.
Don’t believe me? Just look at the companies that created these LLMs and their biggest early adopters.
Both OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Anthropic (Claude) have recently hired marketing strategists and chief communications experts to oversee their programs. Amazon and eBay, huge global leaders in AI integration, have done the same. And these companies are taking it seriously. These have not been specialist or manager roles. They’ve brought on CCO and VP level leaders to ride shotgun on their AI marketing and communications programs.
Who better to understand the need for intelligent, thoughtful, strategic and, most importantly, human experts to steer the AI-generated marcom effort than the ones who built it to begin with? They don’t trust their messaging to an LLM and neither should you.
This understanding will start to trickle down through the users until the need for strong marketing-minded AI leaders is just table stakes, no different than the need we discovered for great website work, high-quality owned content, strategic social media and broad brand awareness campaigns.
There will be jobs to fill, and expertise needed. Leadership will learn, albeit some the hard way, that AI is no more a panacea for all things marketing than websites, blogs, SMS or social media were. All are valuable tools, but just part of a larger, cohesive, strategic marketing effort, driven by intelligent, expert humans at the helm.
So, if you’re concerned about your career by the threat of AI, I get it. It can look scary. But those that learn to use the new tools and maximize their potential will become even more valuable. Those that don’t may have reason to be stressed.
But I would simply suggest this. The marketing world sees a new revolution take over every 5-10 years. AI will be no different. You either learn to adapt, overcome and survive, or you don’t.
You just have to realize that once you get comfortable with this technology, there will be a new one waiting in the wings to overturn the apple cart all over again.
Times may change. Tools and tactics always change. The need for an expert to write the blogs, create the social content, attract users to opt-in and prompt AI to do the right and meaningful thing will never change.
– Allen Forkner
Allen Forkner has spent more than 25 years helping outdoor recreation, conservation and shooting sports organizations tell their stories in an industry that never seems to stop reinventing itself. As a communications and marketing executive, he has led brand strategy, public relations and corporate communications efforts for organizations ranging from nonprofit conservation groups to publicly traded companies. Along the way, he has worked through nearly every major shift in modern communications, from the rise of social media and digital publishing to podcasting, influencer marketing and data-driven content strategies.
