MAM
Generative AI and the future of brand storytelling
Mumbai : Brand storytelling is a powerful tool leveraged by marketers to communicate their brand’s values, identity, history and purpose. Marketers see GAI as a productivity booster in brand storytelling, enabling one-to-one personalised experiences and dynamic messaging. According to a SAP report, 48 per cent of companies leverage generative artificial intelligence (GAI) for their marketing and sales content. This illustrates the importance of GAI in enhancing marketing strategies and consumer engagement, improving customer experience, loyalty, and firm performance.
GAI has the potential to create content at scale and even real-time, helping brands maintain a consistent and dynamic presence on multiple platforms. These tools often are easy to use especially by users belonging to a non-technical background. Large brands like Vistara, Zomato, Coca cola, BMW etc. have employed AI in the creation of ads for various marketing channels like billboards, social media and events. Companies like Netflix and Amazon are leveraging GAI to curate personalised recommendations and experiences, effectively turning each customer interaction into a unique storytelling opportunity.
By analysing engagement patterns with AI-generated content, brands can also gain deeper insights into customer preferences and behaviours, further refining their storytelling strategies. Also, the scale at which content is generated, brands can rapidly experiment with different storytelling approaches and monitor their effectiveness to select the best suited story. GAI is also being used in engaging customer experiences at events, experience centres and museums. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York uses AI to enhance their visitor experience by analysing visitor behaviour and experiences. BMW teamed up with an agency to project AI content on their BMW 8 series Gran Coupe. The algorithm was fed with 50,000 images and artwork spanning 900 years.
Some researchers believe that there is a need for more empirical studies to quantify the benefits of GAI in storytelling. The research should focus on measuring the impact of GAI on key marketing metrics such as customer engagement, conversion rates, and campaign effectiveness. These studies will also initiate the development of best practices for implementing GAI in marketing.
While more small to medium companies are enthusiastic about adopting GAI there are a few barriers to the absolute adoption of GAI.
● Cost – The enterprise version of most GAI services charge monthly or annually which can be a hindrance for small companies in developing countries.
● Data privacy – Employing GAI on large scale projects collects proportionally large amounts of consumer data, raising privacy concerns and regulatory challenges.
● Lack of skilled workforce – Since it is a fairly new field of work, there is a dearth of skilled professionals in AI and data science who can develop and manage GAI systems.
● Quality control – Images especially videos generated by AI can be unpredictable as there is a lack of quality control on visual content. Often correcting mistakes made by AI in images and videos can take more time than creating them from scratch.
Although, GAI is great to enhance the creative process for creators and designers, potentially streamlining brainstorming and simplifying development stages. IT cannot entirely replace the need for human generated content. AI on its own is not good enough to develop the entire brand story. It is only a tool that requires more experimentation and study on its effectiveness. As the technology evolves, it is certain that newer innovative ways of leveraging it will develop.
The article has been authored by Tagglabs founder Hariom Seth.
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
