{"id":1682,"date":"2026-04-10T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samy.com\/?p=1682"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:28:28","slug":"staying-relevant-in-the-ai-and-social-first-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/staying-relevant-in-the-ai-and-social-first-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Relevant in the AI (and Social-first) Era"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>An article by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/meredith-smith-london\/\">Meredith Smith<\/a>, Global Head of Future Strategies<\/h4>\n<h2><strong>The way to build brand relevance and true discoverability is evolving. Brand gravity can no longer be declared; it must be earned continuously across a fragmented landscape of platforms, touchpoints and moments.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The funnel and customer journey have fragmented<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gone are the days of a linear funnel. The funnel and the customer journey have fragmented across a social and digital universe with countless micro-journeys happening across multiple platforms, formats and technologies, often nearly simultaneously.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paths are no longer linear, as audiences move fluidly across platforms, spending an average of 18 hours each week (GWI, 2025) discovering, validating, and even purchasing in non-linear ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even \u2018search\u2019 is no longer an isolated behaviour. Rather than searching for brands, consumers search across platforms, assisted by AI, not to find links, but instead to find answers to their needs with nuanced advice in context.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search and true discovery are increasingly\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social-first and community-led<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversational with LLMs and AI Assistants<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multimodal: spanning text, voice, image, and video<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this landscape \u2018Awareness\u2019 is not enough. Brands must build both deeper cultural relevance and organic discoverability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The result is a complex digital universe, where every touchpoint has meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An \u2018Interplanetary\u2019 Model for Modern Marketing<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this AI-empowered, social-first Universe, audiences regularly engage with a vast constellation of \u2018planets\u2019 with different impacts on the customer journey\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each channel like Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, ChatGPT, even billboards and earned media is a \u2018planet\u2019 in the consumer\u2019s universe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each planet has its own \u2018rules\u2019 (its algorithm, its native content language, its user trust dynamics and its impact on discoverability) and unique role in the consumer journey:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4><b> The Cultural + Desire Trigger Nebula<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Highly visual, algorithmic platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook that drivecultural relevance, discovery and desire creation. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018I didn\u2019t know I wanted this\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1684\" src=\"https:\/\/samy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Staying-Relevant-in-the-AI-and-Social-first-Era-1-300x168.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"894\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/samy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Staying-Relevant-in-the-AI-and-Social-first-Era-1-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/samy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Staying-Relevant-in-the-AI-and-Social-first-Era-1-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/samy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Staying-Relevant-in-the-AI-and-Social-first-Era-1-768x431.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px\" \/><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b>The Answer + Evaluation System<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deep information and interest-based sources like Reddit, YouTube (long-form), Google Search, LinkedIn and Wikipedia &#8211; PLUS the large language models and AI Assistants that scan them (Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.), where people seek, verify claims, make comparisons and reduce risk. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018I\u2019ve got specific needs, and need to understand, verify and de-risk my choice\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b> The Intent + Conversion Planets<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">E-commerce platforms, messaging tools, and transactional interfaces like Amazon and Google Maps reviews, Shopify notifications, e-commerce chatbots, even Google Lens image searches, are where intent becomes action. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Where should I buy\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b> Our \u2018Outer Orbit\u2019 Traditional Channels<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Traditional comms channels across TV, radio, owned websites, OOH and retail that still matter &#8211; but in different ways when triggering consumer relevance and triggering \/ resurfacing discoverability. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018I remember seeing this brand! I should dive deeper digitally\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because each planet has its own rules and unique role to play in how consumers <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">y<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> LLMs explore the digital universe, the brand comms that work on one planet rarely work on another. Brands MUST design the right message for the right planets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Serving Two Audiences: Humans and Machines<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this complex, infinitely expanding universe of social, digital and AI-empowered channels, touchpoints and moments, this means brands now have two crucial audiences:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Humans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Seeking meaning, connection, cultural sparks and \u2018for me\u2019 relevance.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Machines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Evaluating authority, credibility, and gatekeeping organic discoverability..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As T&amp;P\u2019s Oliver Fenwick told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.warc.com\/en\/article\/the-two-audience-problem-rand-building-in-the-age-of-ai-0a36789362c14555864daa413aba9e32\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WARC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last month, this is a \u2018Two-Audience Problem\u2019 for brands. While consumers still need to feel a deeper connection and affinity with your brand, these audiences are now being assisted by LLMs and AI Assistants that compress your beautiful, living, breathing brand into a \u2018data object\u2019 within a mathematical knowledge graph. Brand building is no longer just storytelling; it\u2019s also about being legible, credible, and discoverable by machines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This shift means\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have to focus both on creating meaningful connection and relevance with humans\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also must design some comms for GEO (generative engine optimisation) to ensure we are discoverable and recommended by LLMs\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spreading <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">campaign<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> across the universe will not drive either deep relevance or organic discoverability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brand relevance and discoverability necessitates the right signal, in the right place, for the right reason to make a true impact on the customer journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building a Universe Strategy<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do brands navigate this complex and vast universe? Stop just building campaigns. Start building a Universe Strategy for relevance and discoverability:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4><b> Choose the right constellation of planets<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your brand does not need to be on every planet! Choose the right mix of planets that together will influence discovery, validation and conversion.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b> Create platform-specific signals<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content must be native to each platform, not repurposed. Ensure each planet &#8211; and its signals &#8211; will have a unique and last impact on the customer journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b> Balance culture and conversion<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build cultural relevance in discovery spaces<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide credible information in evaluation spaces<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliver clear pathways to purchase in intent spaces<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>\n<h4><b> Optimise for discoverability everywhere<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visibility isn\u2019t just awareness. It\u2019s being present where algorithms recommend, communities discuss, and AI tools source answers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><b> Design for humans and machines<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content must inspire people and be legible and trustworthy to AI systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Future of Brand Growth and Relevancy<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this vast, social-first, AI-empowered world can feel like a complex minefield, we believe it opens up whole new ways for brands to drive &#8211; and measure &#8211; deep relevance and organic discoverability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AI hasn\u2019t totally compressed the brand; it has expanded the landscape. Consumers engage with more touchpoints, discover faster, compare more, and expect better answers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brands that stick to campaigns risk being <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">invisible<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Brands that think in connected, adaptive ecosystems, where signals flow across platforms and audience needs will earn relevance, influence, gravity and commercial growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today\u2019s social-first era, success isn\u2019t about broadcasting at our loudest. It\u2019s about showing up in the places and spaces that matter, in the right way, at the right time for humans <\/span><b>y<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> machines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Ready to earn real brand relevance? <a href=\"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/contact\/\">Contact us<\/a> to see how your brand can thrive in today\u2019s AI-driven world.<\/h4>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meredith Smith, Global Head of Future Strategies, explores how brand relevance is no longer declared but earned, sharing insights on navigating today\u2019s fragmented, AI-driven marketing universe and what it means for brands to truly be discovered.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[29],"thought-leadership":[44],"class_list":["post-1682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategy","tag-blog","thought-leadership-creator-economy-and-social-universe"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682"},{"taxonomy":"thought-leadership","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samy.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thought-leadership?post=1682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}