AI Makes Creative Cheap. Strategy Becomes the Edge

AI has collapsed the cost of creative production. A brand can now generate dozens of polished ads, product shots and regional adaptations in an afternoon. The problem: every competitor can do the same.

The volume trap

When output gets cheap for everyone, more output stops being a moat. Afaqs! guest author Apurv Singh, founder and CEO of HQ Digital, makes a blunt point: the industry is measuring the wrong thing. The question is not how many ads you can make; it is what you are saying, to whom, and why they should care.

His footwear example is useful. AI can spin ten versions of the same shoe with different backdrops, models and headlines. But if the real reason buyers choose it is ten-hour comfort, that insight should lead the creative. Otherwise you get variety without positioning.

This is the classic distinction between production and strategy. AI lowers the cost of making; it does not automatically answer the harder marketing questions: what should consumers remember, what reason do they have to believe, and why choose you over ten similar alternatives?

Discoverability is the second edge

Singh points to a second shift emerging beyond message: the purchase journey is fragmenting. A shopper might discover a product on Instagram, compare options in ChatGPT or another AI search tool, check reviews on Amazon, then decide where to buy. He cites developments such as Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol and AI-assisted shopping as signs the journey will keep evolving.

That raises the stakes for what he calls discoverability—accurate product information, credible reviews, useful content, visibility across relevant platforms, and consistent positioning. Brands that rely on one or two channels become harder to find as AI becomes part of shopping.

But he draws a key line: being discovered is not being preferred. An AI recommendation may put a brand in front of someone; the brand still has to earn consideration, trust and the final click.

What to do about it

• Write the creative brief from a customer insight, not from a prompt: name the reason to believe first.
• Audit every place a new buyer might encounter or evaluate you—social, AI search, marketplaces, reviews—and make product information consistent.
• Measure effectiveness by positioning and discovery, not by the number of AI-generated assets produced.

For brand managers and marketers, the lesson is simple. Use AI to move faster. But keep the competitive edge where AI cannot yet live: in knowing why customers buy and making that sharp enough to remember.

Source: Afaqs!