AI, Trust and IRL: Five Takeaways for Marketers From the DPAA Global Summit
The 2025 DPAA Global Video Everywhere Summit at New York City's Pier Sixty brought together leaders across media, brands and ad tech under the theme "Where Digital Meets the Real World." The message for marketers was clear: trust is the currency, AI is an accelerant, and real-life experiences are where connection sticks.
Here are five takeaways you can put to work now, plus tactical steps for your team.
1) Trust Is Built Through Action, Not Attention
Outfront Media CEO Nick Brien argued we're moving from an "attention economy" to an "action economy." The shift: stop chasing screen time and start designing for participation, utility and real-world outcomes. Trust earns margin and loyalty, and it's measurable in the market.
Edelman's research backs it: 88% of consumers will pay more for brands they trust, and 73% trust brands that reflect today's culture. Source: Edelman Trust Barometer.
- Refocus KPIs from impressions to interactions: trials, sign-ups, scans, store visits, QR engagement, and repeat behaviors.
- Design campaigns that invite action: utility-led OOH, live demos, sampling, community initiatives, and shoppable moments.
- Measure trust signals over time: price premium, repeat rate, NPS, brand lift on "is for people like me."
2) Agency Trust Is a Competitive Edge
ESPN's Inna Kern shared how a fast-turn DTC app launch leaned on deep agency trust. The team executed an NYC "E" train takeover with local mascots and leadership on board, then measured media impressions, PR impact and organic social love. The result: earned media did the heavy lifting because the execution was bold and timely.
- Choose fewer, faster partners. Prioritize those who can ship with late-stage creative and shifting requirements.
- Define decision rights up front: who approves creative, who owns ops, who pulls the emergency brake.
- Plan for earned from the start: creator invites, media access, on-site content capture and real-time posting.
3) AI's Efficiency Is Table Stakes - Strategy Is the Moat
Marketing advisor and author Shiv Singh noted that AI is touching every function - creative, testing, media, analytics and production. The baseline value is speed and scale: more versions, smarter A/B testing, better personalization.
The real upside comes when teams treat AI as a strategic thought partner, not just a content intern. With the right data access, AI can help pressure-test positioning, surface growth plays, and model scenarios for allocation and pricing.
- Stand up an "AI for Strategy" sprint: feed brand guidelines, past winners/losers, and sales data; stress-test three growth bets.
- Pair humans with AI: strategist sets the brief, AI drafts options, team validates with data and customers.
- Instrument learning loops: every test updates prompts, guardrails and your reusable playbooks.
4) Use AI to Improve the Experience, Not Just the Metrics
H&R Block CMO and CXO Jill Cress grounded her AI approach in purpose and trust. For money matters, people still want a human in the loop. AI should remove friction and free humans to focus on higher-value conversations.
Short-term clicks mean little if they erode long-term trust. The question to ask: does this optimization serve where the brand is headed?
- Define "human-required" moments: advice, edge cases, reassurance. Use AI for prep, summarization and follow-ups.
- Set experience KPIs next to performance KPIs: resolution time, effort score, satisfaction after human handoff.
- Audit prompts and outputs for brand voice, empathy and fairness. Ship with clear guardrails and disclosures.
5) Local Is the Shortcut to Human Connection
Chuck Todd called local media a pillar of the information ecosystem. People trust what they can observe and verify. As automation grows, live contact, community presence and human service gain value - and people will pay extra for it.
- Shift budget into local relevance: geo-led creative, community partnerships, local personalities and live formats.
- Make events a performance channel: attribute attendance to media, capture leads, retarget attendees with value-first offers.
- Offer human support as a premium experience: clear access to real people for high-stakes issues.
What to Do This Quarter
- Recast one campaign for action: add an IRL moment, a shoppable step, or a community contribution you can measure.
- Spin up an AI x Strategy working session: use AI to generate three growth theses, then validate with first-party data.
- Codify agency trust: a shared playbook for approvals, speed, and earned-media capture.
- Stand up a trust dashboard: price premium, repeat rate, complaint rate, human CSAT, and brand relevance scores.
- Pilot a local test: one market, one partner, one event; instrument the full funnel from exposure to action.
Want to build AI fluency across your marketing org? Explore practical training built for marketers: AI Certification for Marketing Specialists.
Learn more about the summit and the DPAA community: DPAA Global.
Feature photo credit: Living Face Photography / DPAA
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