By Deborah Malone, Founder of The Internationalist
Twelve pioneering campaigns from around the world in the inaugural Internationalist AI AWARDS FOR BETTER MARKETING showed that AI doesn’t replace human creativity—it supercharges it. From turning grocery data into joyful personal narratives to using generative AI to spark childhood wonder, the winners demonstrated how AI can make marketing smarter and more emotionally intelligent.
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how marketers deliver relevance, resonance, and results. Based on the 12 winning case studies, several powerful trends emerge, revealing how AI is transforming marketing into a more precise, human-centered, and results-driven discipline.
What This Means for the Future of Better Marketing
- AI is the new creative partner.
It’s not replacing creativity—it’s enabling more responsive, personalized, and effective storytelling. Expect more co-creation between AI tools and human teams. - Precision + Empathy = Performance.
AI’s value lies in its ability to merge precision with emotional relevance. Brands that use AI to listen, adapt, and serve people in meaningful ways will outperform. - AI enables sustainable, scalable results.
Several campaigns achieved ROI breakthroughs (+300% ROAS for Audi, +6.8x ROI for McDonald’s) without increasing spend—thanks to smarter allocation and timing. - Old channels, new life.
Traditional formats like newspaper (REWE) and outdoor (Dolomiti Superski) were supercharged by AI. The future isn’t about abandoning old tools, but upgrading them. - Localization and ethical AI matter.
Ethical filters (Telstra), algorithmic retraining (Dove), and GDPR-compliance (Dolomiti) show that trust, transparency, and relevance are just as crucial as innovation.
A Blueprint for the Future
The AI Awards were not just about recognizing excellence—they were about defining better marketing. “Better” means more effective, yes—but also more human. It means using AI not just to optimize performance, but to restore joy, relevance, and ethics to the marketing experience.
What emerged from these 12 cases is a new creative partnership: AI for precision, humans for meaning. That’s a future worth rewarding—and replicating.
SPECIFIC CASE STUDY TRENDS
See the 2025 AI FOR BETTER MARKETING Winners List Here.
The New AI Playbook: Precision Meets Empathy
A closer look at the winners reveals six emerging roles AI is now playing in breakthrough marketing:
- Real-Time Optimization
Brands like Magnum and Burgenland Tourismus used AI to dynamically shift media spend based on weather or travel forecasts—boosting efficiency and ROI without increasing budget. - Behavioral Targeting & Emotional Triggers
AI decoded stress, hesitation, and even subconscious desires to deliver emotionally timed nudges. Think ski getaways prompted during high-traffic commutes or Samsung’s “Doubt Decoder” easing purchase anxiety in e-commerce. - Generative Engagement
From Telstra’s AI-powered Santa hotline to Dove’s tool retraining beauty algorithms, generative AI helped brands create deeply personal, ethical, and scalable interactions. - Creative & Visual Consistency
Audi and REWE turned to AI to clean up cluttered digital listings and reinvent old-school print—proving AI isn’t just for digital; it’s for everywhere. - Data-Driven Storytelling
Continente in Portugal used AI to transform a year’s worth of grocery data into personalized “Recipes of the Year”—building emotional loyalty through playful, self-reflective storytelling. - Ethical Algorithm Shaping
Dove showed that AI can be a force for good—reshaping search algorithms to promote inclusive beauty ideals and counter harmful generative trends.
Key Trends in AI Usage
1. AI as a Real-Time Decision Engine
Many campaigns (Magnum, Burgenland Tourismus, REWE, Dolomiti Superski) used AI to dynamically adjust spend, creative, or strategy based on real-world signals like weather, occupancy, retail data, or consumer movement. AI wasn’t just used for targeting—it powered real-time optimization.
2. Emotionally Intelligent Personalization
AI was used not only to segment users but to connect with them emotionally:
- Continente’s “Recipe of the Year” created deeply personal grocery retrospectives.
- Vattenfall’s Fossil FreeDOME built emotional resonance via immersive, AI-personalized VR journeys.
- Telstra’s AI Santa blended tech with nostalgia to spark joy in children and families.
3. Human-AI Collaboration, Not Replacement
AI worked with human creativity:
- Dove used AI to challenge toxic beauty norms—retraining algorithms with user-submitted diverse images.
- Dolomiti Superski combined AI-generated copy (via ChatGPT) and visuals (via Midjourney) with creative strategy and behavioral science.
- REWE reinvented print with human-led creative adapted weekly by AI based on store-level data.
Geography & Sector: A Global Snapshot
European brands—especially in Germany, Sweden, and Austria—led the way in using AI for media agility and hyper-localization. Brands from Europe were especially pioneering in blending AI with traditional media (print, outdoor) and using it to localize and personalize at scale. Taiwan stood out for e-commerce and entrepreneurial innovation, while the U.S. and Australia contributed strong purpose-led and family-first use cases.
Geographic Trends
- Europe dominates: Germany (4), Sweden (2), Portugal, Austria, Italy.
- Asia-Pacific rising: Taiwan (2), Australia (1)
- North America has only 1 case: Dove (USA)
Business Category Trends
Retail, tourism, and telecom dominated, suggesting that AI’s most immediate value lies in high-frequency, high-variation environments where personalization, timing, and trust are critical.
- Retail (physical + e-commerce): 5 winners (Magnum, REWE, Samsung, Continente, IKEA)
- Travel/Tourism: 3 winners (Burgenland, Dolomiti Superski, Vattenfall)
- Telecom, Beauty, Auto, Food: 1 each (Telstra, Dove, Audi, McDonald’s)
Again, retail and tourism industries are leading in real-time, data-driven AI applications, while sectors like beauty and auto are leveraging AI to maintain brand trust and redefine perceptions.
