Why Generative AI elevates the importance of Brand Experience as the critical element for creating a sustainable competitive advantage

A recent Harvard Business Review article, AI Won’t Give You a New Sustainable Advantage[1] crystalized a thought I’ve been contemplated for quite a while. The more Generative AI is employed by a wider range of companies of every size in every industry the more it levels the playing field on any customer experience factor that can be easily duplicated or improved upon. AI leveling the playing field examples include, better product recommendations, situational AI Agent and chat bot deployment, internal data set analysis, product innovation ideation and the list goes on and on. Furthermore, anything you implement that gets put out into the world will eventually end up as data AI will use to turn your potential “first mover” advantage into a “later mover’ initiative your competitors can choose to copy and improve upon.

 I posit this means investing more time and resources into the one aspect of your business that cannot be duplicated by AI, your Brand Experience, is a strategic imperative that cannot be ignored or postponed. Why? Because Brand Experience is the one piece of intellectual property your company owns that cannot be copied and can be amplified versus compromised by AI.

 Let’s take a very simplistic example of how a well-defined brand voice is delivered in product ordering, shipment tracking and follow up email communications. That may seem like a trivial example, but when you think about how many times customers touch and feel a brand during the purchase journey the emotional impact can be substantial. It’s an important moment to reinforce how the brand makes them feel about themselves and why they wanted to purchase that product from that brand in the first place. It’s definitely not the time to send a generic “thank you for your purchase” email or text message.

 A great example of a brand that leverages this moment to amplify their brand character and ethos in the purchase journey is Etsy. Look at the examples below and tell me they don’t nail who they are as a brand by celebrating and reinforcing the emotions customers feel when they purchase and then use their products.

Notice the celebratory tone and the playful copy that mirrors the Etsy Brand.

The update proactively builds anticipation the order is nearby and will shortly be in your mailbox.

The next update cleverly builds anticipation of the imminent delivery of the item and celebrates the brand purpose by referencing the fact it comes from an independent seller.

Your brand voice is a critical advantage you must leverage at every stage of the customer journey. And you can use AI to amplify it in ways the competition can’t duplicate. If you don’t have a crystal-clear idea of your brand identity, I urge you to take the necessary steps to codify it, disseminate it internally and then relentlessly deploy it to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

[1] Jay B. Barney and Matin Reeves, C. C. 2025, Harvard Business Review, Volume 102, 71-79