Automation Is Easy. Differentiation Is Hard.

Q: Larry, you’ve recently posted about how AI is reshaping content marketing, especially in financial services. I believe you used the term “ocean of sameness” to describe the lack of brand differentiation. Is this new?

Larry: Well, the “ocean of sameness” isn’t new – it was creeping into marketing long before AI showed up. In industries like financial services, brands have historically clustered around safe, familiar messaging. Terms like “innovative,” “trusted partner” and “cutting-edge solutions” – every brand uses them, everywhere.

What AI has done is accelerate the problem. If you don’t guide the AI, it will just spit out variations of what everyone else is saying. At that point, you’re not differentiating – you’re automating mediocrity. It’s like shouting into an echo chamber. Without thoughtful oversight, AI reinforces industry tropes rather than breaking new ground.

Q: So AI isn’t the root cause of the problem?

Larry: No, it’s how AI is used. Unless there’s a clear brand strategy, your AI will simply flood the market with more and more content that sounds just like what everyone else is saying. However, when you start with a strong brand voice and train your AI to reflect that, then you can amplify differentiation, instead of dilute it.

Q: How should marketers ensure AI-generated content retains a brand’s unique voice?

Larry: Think of AI as a new hire. You wouldn’t onboard someone to your comms team without training them on your company’s tone, values and messaging principles. Onboarding AI should be no different.

I see it as three steps.

1. Define your voice: Ensure leadership agrees on how the brand should sound – authoritative, conversational, playful, formal, whatever. If you don’t define the tonality, then the AI defaults to industry jargon.

2. Train the model: Feed the AI your best-performing content – the blogs, social posts and thought leadership pieces that truly represent your voice. Tell it: “Give me more of this.”

3. Create guardrails: Regularly audit AI-generated content for tone and accuracy, make your improvements, then feed the improvements back into the model. AI needs a human editor.

Q: You’ve also emphasized the importance of personalization.

Larry: Personalization is where AI shines – if done right. AI can analyze customer behavior, predict preferences and deliver hyper-relevant content. But what you don’t want is personalization without personality.

For example, you can personalize an email with someone’s name and industry, but if the tone is robotic, the message gets ignored anyway. Successful personalization happens when AI understands both the recipient and the brand voice. That’s why training AI on your brand’s unique style is non-negotiable.

Q: Weird question, but where does vulnerability fit in? In your post you called vulnerability the “2025 superpower.”

Larry: Vulnerability is about being real – dropping the corporate polish and embracing authenticity. In marketing, that means telling stories about challenges, lessons learned and work in progress. Not every story needs to be a success story.

Blackstone’s recent campaigns are a great example. They went beyond transactional messaging to show the human side of their business – employees, community impact, even personal reflections from leadership. AI can support this sort of thing, but only if it’s trained to prioritize emotional resonance over corporate jargon.

Q: Another thing you said is AI will shift power from corporate platforms to executive platforms. What does that mean?

Larry: Social media has moved us from brand-centric to people-centric content ecosystems. People engage with people, not logos. In many cases, executive platforms – LinkedIn profiles, bylined articles, personal videos – are becoming more influential than corporate websites.

The thing about AI is it can personalize content for each executive – like a virtual ghostwriter. Imagine your CEO’s AI assistant drafting LinkedIn posts in their voice, aligned with company messaging but tailored to their personality. The same is true for the CFO, head of sales, head of digital – really, anyone who has a company-related profile in social media. You can train AI agents individually on each person’s unique voice and style; that said, all these agents need to be aligned so they’re singing off the same song sheet. Each executive has an individual voice, but they need to be in sync on brand values and core messages.

Q: As we look at this AI-enabled brand future, should CMOs have a special role, as keepers of the corporate brand?

Larry: The CMO can and probably should be the orchestrator, convening the leadership team and aligning them around a strategy: What’s our brand story? How should our executives come across in the market? The best CMOs are treating AI as an extension of their team – a powerful tool, an enabler. Not a replacement for human creativity.

Q: I’ve heard you say there’s a playbook for this, yes?

Larry: Yes.

1. Define your brand’s differentiated value.

2. Clarify your voice and tone.

3. Humanize your content choices – literally, involve humans, not just brand proof points.

4. Be thoughtful how you use AI.

5. And get the leadership team to buy in.

Q: Last question: You have ten seconds with a CMO. What’s your advice for navigating the new content landscape?

Larry: One word: humanity. AI can accelerate content production, but it’s the human stories – the customer wins, employee experiences, leadership insights – that break through the noise. CMOs who get this balance right will create brands that stand out, not blend in.