Happy Wednesday!
I can’t believe summer is over. Before you know it, it will be Black Friday. I’m already planning strategies for Black Friday for the brands I’m working with through my company.
I’ll make more content around Black Friday because the strategies leading up to it are honestly more important than the actual day.
But before Black Friday, I want to talk about a topic that has been trending on social media: AI slop.
Aka content that looks so bad that it’s obvious AI made it.
I think every brand should be using AI somewhere in their workflow, but if you are trying to build a brand on social media, real content will be key.
And the brands showing real human effort are getting rewarded. So I wanted to share my favorite strategies I’m seeing to fight AI slop and break through the noise.
So let’s talk about it.
P.S. my current obsession is Quince jeans. I just got pair for $50 and they look like $200. I’d highly recommend.
Why Should Brands Care About Avoiding AI Slop?
AI has made it incredibly easy for brands to create more content and do it faster than ever before. But when everyone has access to the same tools, simply producing more images, videos, ads, and copy stops being much of an advantage.
I actually think the bigger opportunity is to make the brand feel more human.
Show the artist behind the work, the messy process behind a launch, the people wearing the product, or the customers showing up in real life.
Even something as simple as sending a physical catalog can stand out when so much of what we see every day feels increasingly digital and automated.
I don’t think brands should stop using AI. I think they should use it where it makes sense behind the scenes, while being much more intentional about keeping the parts customers see and interact with feeling real.
As AI makes content easier to create, the human parts of a brand start to matter more.
So lets breakdown my favorite strategies.
Use Artists To Make The Work Feel Human
When polished content can be made instantly with AI, work that clearly took real time, skill, and creative judgment starts to feel much more valuable.
For the launch of its Pomegranate Ultra Electrolytes, Puresport skipped AI imagery and commissioned four artists to create their own still-life interpretations of the product.
Instead of four variations of the same campaign asset, each painting had the perspective of the person who made it. It also fit Puresport’s larger “no shortcuts” philosophy.
Why it works
The creative process becomes part of the marketing. Customers aren’t just looking at another polished product shot; they can see the taste, imperfections, and decisions of the individual artist behind it.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Where could human craft make your marketing more interesting than the easiest AI solution?
Show The Process, Not Just The Final Product
AI makes it easier than ever to jump straight to something that looks finished.
That makes the process behind creating something more interesting.
SET Active regularly shares what happens before a launch: potential colors, product feedback, photoshoots, challenges, and decisions the team makes along the way.
Customers don’t only see what eventually made it onto the website. They get to see some of the thinking that got it there.
Why it works
The final product shows what a brand chose. The process shows what it cared about.
Showing the work makes launches feel more intentional while giving customers another reason to follow along before anything is even available to buy.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
What part of your process are you hiding that customers might actually find interesting?
Build Community Beyond The Feed
Online communities can be powerful, but showing up in person creates a completely different kind of connection.
For its Sephora launch, POV Beauty brought the brand into stores so customers could meet Mikayla, try the products, and talk makeup and skin prep in person.
Instead of treating its online following as an audience that only exists in the comments section, POV Beauty gave people a reason to participate in the brand offline.
Why it works
Showing up IRL turns an online audience into a real community.
Customers get to interact with the product and the people behind it in a way that feels more personal, memorable, and impossible to fully recreate with content.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
How could you give your online community a reason to connect with the brand in real life?
Partner With People People Know Are Real
As AI-generated people become harder to spot, familiarity can become its own signal that what you are looking at is real.
For the 40th anniversary of its Barn Jacket, J.Crew photographed 160 people across five cities, bringing together recognizable cultural figures, local personalities, artists, athletes, and musicians.
The campaign wasn’t built around one perfectly polished face. The same jacket looked different depending on the person wearing it.
Why it works
People customers already recognize make the campaign feel more human and harder to mistake for AI-generated content.
Their personalities also give J.Crew something AI can imitate aesthetically but can’t actually manufacture: existing cultural context.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Who could you partner with whose existing personality would make the content feel unmistakably human?
Use Print To Break Through Digital Noise
When every brand is fighting for attention in the same feeds, inboxes, and ad placements, physical media starts to feel surprisingly different.
Sid Mashburn sends seasonal catalogs directly to customers, bringing the brand’s photography, editorial choices, and attention to detail into their homes.
It’s old school, which is exactly why it works.
Why it works
An email can disappear from your inbox in seconds. A catalog can sit on your coffee table for weeks.
Print gives Sid Mashburn more time with the customer while turning the marketing itself into something worth keeping.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
What could you create physically that customers would actually want to keep?
Give Customers Somewhere To Experience The Brand
Digital is incredibly efficient for reaching people, but there are still things a screen cannot do.
You can’t feel the fabric. Try something on. Walk through the environment. Talk to someone working there.
SKIMS has been investing more heavily in physical retail, giving its community more opportunities to experience and try the products in person while also reaching customers beyond its online audience.
Why it works
A store gives the brand a physical life.
Customers are no longer experiencing SKIMS only through an ad or someone else’s post. They can interact with the product themselves, which makes the brand feel more tangible and real.
Thoughts to ask for your brand
Where could a physical experience make your product more convincing than another piece of content?
Final Thoughts
I don’t think the lesson here is to stop using AI.
AI can make teams faster, help with ideas, speed up production, and take a lot of tedious work off someone’s plate.
But if every brand uses those tools to create the exact same polished, frictionless content, people are eventually going to tune it out.
The brands that stand out will probably be the ones that use AI where it makes sense while doubling down on the parts people actually want to feel are human.
The artist. The founder. The customer. The process. The store. The physical object.
Because the more content AI can make for us, the more valuable it becomes to show customers what a human did that AI didn’t.
Have a great rest of your week!
-Brooke
Before The Hype
A section for my favorite products & product launches that you should know about before they become “hype worthy”:
Weezie Robes: These are the best robes and the best gifts. I couldn’t live without this brand and you can monogram them.
Just Ingredients Protein Powder: Protein yes is a buzz word, but I do see an insane difference in my body because of it and my go to protein power is Just Ingredients. They gave me a discount code: BLUEPRINT for 10% off your order.
Rhode Eyepatches: this is a little basic, but of all the eye patches out there these feel the best under my eyes.
POV Beauty Light Weight Moisturizer: If you are looking for the perfect hydrating lightweight moisturizer for summer, this will be the one.
Sofie Pavitt Face Sunscreen: If you are looking for an acne safe SPF, this is my new favorite.
Reale Actives Makeup Remover: I have been using this makeup remover for over a week and it has changed my life. It removes my makeup the best and doesn’t irritate my eyes.
Etoile Makeup Bags: If you are looking for the perfect makeup bag or the perfect gift, I highly recommend checking out this brand.
the brands winning this aren’t avoiding AI. they’re the ones with a point of view AI can’t fake. specificity is the new moat.
I think a great way of fighting the AI-slop is through true authenticity. Because no one can ever be like you, not even the most sophisticated AI.