Art Meets Science: How Major Brands Use AI Without Losing the Human Touch

How major brands use AI in digital marketing without losing the human touch

Generative AI reached nearly 40% of US adults within two years. That pace outstripped the internet's first five years and personal computers' first decade. Still, the biggest driver of marketing profitability remains the creative experience, which can multiply returns up to 12x.

The takeaway: let AI create efficiency, and let people create meaning. Blend both and you get scale, speed and staying power.

Art plus science: the operating system for growth

"In the age of AI, marketers must remember that there is room for both art and science in a modern marketing strategy, especially one that is primed for growth," says Jaco Lintvelt, MD of Incubeta Africa. He argues that strong tech stacks make teams more dynamic and responsive, while human judgement keeps brands relatable.

AI accelerates research, targeting and optimisation. The risk is trading originality for convenience. The work still needs soul.

Case study: Santam builds first, scales second

Santam took the slow-to-go-fast route. The insurer spent months laying the data and tech foundation before pushing radical changes. It has now implemented dynamic, data-driven marketing across the full digital funnel, including awareness and consideration.

"Our view is that it makes sense to use technology and AI to do the heavy lifting as it will enable brands to achieve significant scale and deliver on business outcomes," says Wesley Cloete, digital marketing manager at Santam. The team is in early adoption for creative and design, with plans to expand AI use.

Case study: Sanlam pairs humour with AI optimisation

Finance is serious. People aren't. Sanlam leaned into South Africans' love of humour to make money talk feel human, including its F-word campaign. "When we invest a lot of time in the creative upfront, we get more longevity out of the campaign," says Kelly Driscoll, head of demand generation at Sanlam. Fewer refreshes. Lower costs.

The team uses AI primarily in media and analytics to put budget where it performs. After consolidating platform data and using Performance Max, Sanlam cut cost per lead by 72% year on year. Strong creative plus precise spend is the lever.

Google's stance: AI should augment, not replace

Google is investing heavily in AI across ads products, including Performance Max and its Gemini models. Artwell Nwaila, Africa head of creative and ecosystems at Google, warns against using AI as a shortcut for generic work.

"AI's true value lies not in replacing human ingenuity but in powerfully augmenting it," he says. Use AI for deep consumer analysis, personalised messaging and campaign optimisation so creatives can focus on ideas and emotion.

What this means for your team

• Set the rules: define where AI adds value (audience builds, predictive bids, creative variations) and where humans lead (strategy, concept, brand tone).
• Fix the inputs: consolidate data, clean tracking and map events to business outcomes. Weak data guarantees weak automation.
• Protect the brand: create prompts, voice guides and review checklists to avoid bland or off-brand outputs.
• Split the workload: let AI do the heavy lifting on segmentation, budgeting and testing; keep people on insight and storytelling.
• Measure what matters: use lift studies, MMM or incrementality tests, not vanity metrics. Tie spend to revenue, not just clicks.
• Run structured experiments: predefine hypotheses, guardrails and stop-losses. Keep a weekly loop of learnings back into creative.
• Invest in skills: upskill media, data and creative teams on prompts, analytics and QA. Create shared dashboards and common language.

Practical AI playbook for marketers

• Funnel coverage: use AI for prospecting (e.g., PMax, Demand Gen) and retargeting; keep humans refining offers and angles.
• Creative system: build modular assets (hooks, CTAs, formats). Use AI to generate variants, but approve through brand and legal gates.
• Budget strategy: let algorithms allocate by performance bands; set floors/ceilings and recheck weekly against CAC/LTV.
• Insight loop: use AI to cluster queries, comments and search terms; turn those into briefs for net-new creative.
• Compliance: log prompts, sources and approvals. Maintain a living policy for data use and synthetics.

The big take-out

AI gives brands remarkable efficiency. The skill is capturing that value without losing the human touch-where originality, empathy and brand memory are built.

Level up your team

If you're building AI capability inside a marketing org and want structured learning, explore our AI certification for marketing specialists for hands-on frameworks, prompts and measurement guides.