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When it comes to marketing, Jakub Marcin knows when to keep things practical. He’s been leading high-profile campaigns for major FMCG brands, and since 2020 he’s been doing the same from the inside out as Marketing Leader at Applifting. He’s even found time to create and launch Fandoor, an app designed to help smaller clubs engage with their fans.
At Applifting, Jakub has built the marketing department from the ground up, shaping everything from brand strategy and B2B marketing to PR, events and social media management. But he told us that he has a “people-first mindset”. From the team culture he builds to the campaigns he releases, his focus is always on empowering people to grow, learn and create with confidence.
That mix of critical thinking and hands-on leadership defines his approach to AI too. While many treat it as a shortcut, Jakub frames AI as a catalyst for the creative process. “The most difficult block for creative people,” he explains “is a blank page or canvas.” And through smart use of AI, that initial block might be something of the past for Jakub’s team.
Rather than using AI to create a final product, he insists that “AI will give you a great basis, but it is still your job to make it resonate with your audience”. He sees AI output as raw material, useful for sparking thoughts or testing angles, but always requiring the final human touch to make it authentic and brand-focused.
Jakub’s people-first approach carries directly into his use of AI. He’s far less interested in chasing trends, and more focused on finding tools that support his team. So, we decided to start by asking him what tools and technologies are already making a difference in his day-to-day campaigns?
AI tools became a great accelerator for marketing activities from ideation to execution. I believe the biggest added value is currently at the beginning of the marketing process. Ideating, validating and expanding on your ideas with ChatGPT is very inspirational. It gives you different perspectives and new ideas immediately. The most difficult block for creative people is a blank page or canvas. To start working on something and get your thoughts together, this is where you can really benefit from AI. It doesn’t matter which tool you use. Just unlocking your brain is invaluable. But be cautious, do not copy ideas from AI 1:1, as they tend to be very generic. Use it as a platform to create something special and combine its ideas with yours.
For the execution, I see the biggest benefits in mockups. For example, we use AI-generated voiceovers as placeholders for our videos. That helps a lot to get closer to the final output and tweak the final details before the final recording. And it’s very cost-efficient. You can use ElevenLabs or any other that suits you.
Also, you can use ChatGPT or Canva for simple social media posts that don’t have to be perfect, just funny. These tools have improved massively in the last few months. Just keep in mind that your simple posts follow your communication and brand strategy.
Don’t expect instant miracles, as AI doesn’t know what your business is about. It all depends on what you put in your AI tool. My colleague did a detailed interview with our customers to deeply understand their customer behaviour. He gathered data and created a ChatGPT Customer Bot, which works with all that information. After that, the understanding of our clients has improved significantly. We work in a B2B segment, and it’s a very personal business. Even though every person is different, their interests, problems or way of work gets similar. You need to identify these patterns yourself, teach it to AI and after that, it can be a great partner for you.
My advice here is, don’t be lazy. Give and gather all the information you can for your AI tool. Every B2B or B2C business has its specifications, and those matter a lot. Go deep in research and update your data regularly. This is the only way to avoid being misled. And it’s very easy to take the wrong path, as people tend to choose a faster and easier way to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts, and it’s usually a dead end and a waste of time.
The biggest reason for generic communication is laziness and a lack of confidence of people working with AI. You can find many LinkedIn posts praising AI-generated content that is just far away from perfect and absolutely lacks any brand distinctiveness. It’s just because people think of AI as a replacement for hard work and, for some reason, admire it. Make it quicker, make it cheaper. That seems to be a mantra, and it’s wrong. It can be a big trap for junior marketers who lack the experience to evaluate what is authentic and what is not. Remember, the main motivation of people on LinkedIn is to chase reach and numbers, not educational quality.
There is a way to make your AI-generated content authentic. As I mentioned before, the quality lies in the details. Another colleague created an AppliftingGPT bot with all our copywriting and tone of voice rules, so creating the final copy is faster, and the output is very close to our brand tone. Yes, we use our professional know-how and skills to polish it a bit in the end to guarantee the authenticity. Additionally, this not only makes execution faster and more effective, but also unlocks copywriting as a skill to other colleagues.
I believe AI gives a great opportunity to scale your content, but it’s your job to keep it authentic. If you decide to create a fully AI-generated content piece, don’t pretend it’s not. Recently, Coca-Cola released an AI Christmas commercial, and reactions were mixed, pointing at execution flaws and zero creativity. It lacked what the Coca-Cola brand is all about. It was too impersonal, and people did not identify with it. Their ad didn’t deliver that chilly feeling of love, family relationships and a warming Christmas atmosphere. But what if they made a twist and changed the last few seconds of the ad from AI-generated to a real one? With real people. Wouldn’t that be a nice message, that it’s all about people?
AI will give you a great basis, but it is still your job to make it resonate with your audience. Those final human touches matter a lot. You don’t have to be a global lovebrand, and it still applies. Your customers can still see the difference between the ad made by AI because it is easy, or because it just makes sense and boosts your message. Remember, AI-generated content is still easily recognisable, so make sure your customers don’t think you didn’t really try.
Marketing roles vary widely, but one universal challenge is clear for everyone working there. Gain skills to work with AI to boost your productivity and results. It doesn’t matter if you are a social media specialist, performance or strategic marketer. Don’t be afraid, AI won’t replace you – but someone who knows how to use it efficiently might. You must learn to use it for the benefit of your employer. The only way you can lose your job is by stagnating and becoming inefficient in a new era. And we just entered a new era.
I also think that the role of marketing leaders is becoming more crucial than ever. Your team can get lost in what they do much more easily, their motivation can decrease as they see so much AI content presented as gold, and they just think, “I can’t do that, I am useless.” You must be much more sensitive and supportive and offer them a path to follow.
Similarly, marketing leaders need to be prepared to face the pressure from the board or C-level on automation and effectiveness. We know we can’t trust AI with everything. We need to keep our tone of voice, our brand distinctiveness, etc. But the world of others is different, and you need to be prepared to defend these human and authentic aspects. Yes, boss, we might be able to write that ebook in two days – but it won’t reflect our brand, our voice, or the trust we’ve built over the years. Where is the value of our brand in that?
We all remember those people praising Web 3.0, NFTs or tokenisation as the future of marketing – you don’t meet those people at conferences anymore. Gone. Silence. It was just a hype. But one thing is certain, AI is not. It is here to stay with us, because it brings value to everyone.
Start now, be curious, but don’t get carried away with it. Explore new tools, go beyond chatting with ChatGPT, the sooner the better. It is okay to fail, to find a dead end. It’s part of a learning process, just stay positive and keep on trying. If you’re a marketing leader, your role is to create space for that exploration. Make it okay to experiment and fail. That investment will absolutely pay off.
Also, remember that your current skillset and knowledge will be much more important than ever to navigate and protect the sensitive and human parts of Marketing. Protecting your brand and building real, authentic relationships – that’s the task we all face. Combine your know-how with the power of AI, and you are set for the future.
If I should sum it up to one sentence, it would probably be this: use AI to boost your expertise, not replace your judgment.
