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In one camp, we have those who view gen AI running end-to-end creative ideation and production as a derivative action, akin to trying to replace Michelangelo with machines. Yes, AI will do in the lower end of the funnel where the need for content is insatiable, and accelerated production processes are vital, they say. And it can help expedite the briefing process – or at least make you more succinct. But don’t bring it into strategy or emotive work, they cry. In the other camp: Tech platforms and AI agent-based solutions coming out of companies like research consultancy, Forethought, that claim to be producing creative work autonomously that’s testing as well as the top two or three campaigns brands have tested to date. Stuck somewhere in the middle are the curious marketers like those from Swinburne University and Specsavers. These CMOs are looking for data-driven effectiveness, better briefing processes, a way of feeling more confident about the investments they’re putting behind creative work and campaigns – but they also believe brand and human creative ingenuity remain vital in the mix. At Australia Post, meanwhile, the marketing team is using AI to transform operations, not replace creativity and has formed an internal AI council to keep pace with governance. Conversations about whether AI can, and should, be replacing humans throughout the creative supply chain is only in the early stages, and it’s already dividing the industry, as Mi3 discovers.

If you’re looking for a revolution, look elsewhere. At Australia Post and creative production agency BRX, AI isn’t rewriting the rules of marketing;  it’s finally enforcing them. The two organisations have embedded generative tools not to invent campaigns, but to systematise them. That means codifying brand guidelines, automating asset production, and auditing every prompt. At Aus Post, that’s led to bottom-of-funnel automation at scale and a 30 per cent efficiency dividend – and the firm, rather than cutting fees, is using those gains to do more. 

When Anchorage Capital bought David Jones in 2023 for circa 5 per cent paid by Woolworths Holdings less than a decade earlier, it was a $100m bet on customer data as much as flagship stores. The private equity firm’s thesis was simple but radical: get smarter, use the customer data trove to unlock buried value. That meant stripping back legacy systems and federating intelligence across the business. Two and a half years later, David Jones is on a path towards a business that looks more like a data platform with a luxury retail layer on top, though rooted in brand and curated customer experiences. If Anchorage’s bet pays off, the strategy could rewrite the playbook for how private equity values – and acquires and ultimately sells – old brands.

Two singing and dancing kiwifruit characters have helped Zespri International more than double sales in Australia over the past five years and lifted penetration of its SunGold kiwifruit products to 22.9 per cent. It’s the power of compounding creative, investing in distinctive assets, understanding your target audience and importantly, knowing when it’s time to trade up on health benefits to taste as an underlying communications platform, says the group’s local marketing leader, Janice Byrnes. Having received multiple gongs for its ‘Crazy Tasty’ fruit and the recent ‘Healthier Way’s pilot including at the recent Australian Marketing Institute Excellence Awards, she shares what’s it taken to bring the creative to life.