The AI Paradox: Why Human Connection Is So Valuable In Marketing

This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Douglas Gregory is the founder and managing director of Promotion Products.

gettyWhen I founded my company in 2004, the way businesses marketed themselves looked very different. Technology has since transformed almost every aspect of how we work, and AI is accelerating that change.

Our company is embracing AI, exploring how it can streamline our processes, support our people and ultimately create better experiences for our customers. But more than 20 years in business has taught me something that technology hasn’t changed: People want to feel understood, valued and confident that someone genuinely cares about getting the right outcome for them.

And as more of our everyday interactions become automated, I believe those human qualities will matter more than ever.​

Running a business has taught me that efficiency and customer experience aren’t always the same thing. You can respond to an inquiry in seconds and automate every follow-up, but if the customer walks away feeling like just another transaction, what have you really achieved?

In our business, customers often come to us looking for branded merchandise for an event, a campaign or their team. But the product is rarely the whole story. Understanding the people, purpose and circumstances behind the request is what changes the conversation. It allows our team to recommend a better-suited product, identify potential challenges or suggest an approach the customer may not have considered.

That kind of service comes from listening, asking the right questions and genuinely understanding what matters to the person on the other side of the conversation. AI can help you access information faster and make more informed recommendations. But its real value should be in helping your people deliver a more thoughtful experience, not simply moving customers through a process faster. Efficiency should create more room for relationships, not replace them.​

I’ve spent much of my career helping businesses connect with their audiences through promotional merchandise. It’s given me a valuable perspective on what makes marketing memorable.

A branded product might seem like a simple marketing tool, but when chosen thoughtfully, it can become part of someone’s everyday life. A drink bottle that goes to work every day. A welcome gift that makes a new employee feel part of the team. A Christmas gift that reminds a customer their relationship is valued.

The product matters, but the thinking behind it matters more. We’ve seen businesses create entirely different experiences with essentially the same marketing budget, simply by taking the time to understand the people they’re trying to reach.

And that lesson extends well beyond merchandise. As consumers encounter more automated emails, digital advertising and AI-generated content, marketers need to think carefully about how their brands make people feel. Sometimes a personal phone call, handwritten note or thoughtful gift can communicate something that another automated message simply can’t.

These aren’t replacements for digital marketing. They’re opportunities to make your overall brand experience more personal, memorable and meaningful.​

One of the things that interests me most about AI is its potential to support creativity. Our team works across many industries, each with different customers and challenges. AI can help us research unfamiliar sectors, explore creative directions and develop ideas more efficiently. That gives our people more time to focus on the thinking that makes those ideas valuable.

But I’ve learned that the best solution isn’t always the most creative or impressive-looking one. Sometimes a customer comes to us with an elaborate idea, and our recommendation is something much simpler because we understand their audience, budget or intended outcome.

Making that recommendation requires judgement. It means being prepared to challenge an initial brief, explain your reasoning and occasionally tell a customer that their original idea might not be the most effective approach.

AI can provide options, but experience helps your team determine which options deserve consideration. I’ve found that when everyone has access to tools that can generate hundreds of ideas, the competitive advantage shifts toward those who can ask better questions, exercise good judgement and understand what will genuinely resonate with people.​

I’ve found that it’s helpful to look at AI through a simple lens: How can it help our team deliver an even better customer experience?

Can AI remove repetitive administration? Make product information easier to access? Help team members respond with greater speed and accuracy? Absolutely. But I don’t want technology to become the defining feature of our customer relationships. I want customers to remember that someone understood their brief, helped them solve a problem and delivered what they promised.

For other business leaders navigating AI adoption, I’d encourage a similar approach. Before automating something, consider whether you’re removing unnecessary work or removing a valuable human interaction. There’s an important difference. A customer shouldn’t have to wait for someone to manually retrieve basic information. Equally, they shouldn’t have to navigate endless automated responses when what they really need is a conversation. I believe the most effective business models will be those that find a balance between the two.​

Technology will continue to change, and businesses need to change with it. But the fundamentals of building a lasting business remain remarkably consistent.

Do what you say you’ll do. Understand your customers. Look after your people. Take responsibility when something goes wrong. Make it easy for people to work with you. These principles aren’t complicated, but consistently delivering on them takes effort. And no amount of automation can compensate for a business that loses sight of them.

I believe AI presents an enormous opportunity to improve how we work, but its greatest contribution isn’t in replacing the human elements of business. It’s in how it can give us more time to focus on them. The future of marketing won’t belong to businesses that use AI most effectively, but to those that understand what technology can do, what people do differently, and how to bring the two together to create something genuinely valuable.

That’s the opportunity I’m most excited about.

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