#United States #San Diego #AI Marketing #Cordial #Consumer Engagement

Introduction

Cordial has recently launched a pivotal report titled "Brands Battle for Attention as AI Redefines the Funnel" that delves deep into the evolving landscape of marketing influenced by artificial intelligence (AI). This report provides critical insights sourced from a survey involving 1,000 U.S. consumers and 30 marketing executives conducted during the summer of 2025. As brands grapple with the necessity to engage consumers amid rising digital noise, this report lays bare the significant challenges and outlines a path forward for adaptive marketing strategies.

The Changing Marketing Landscape

For years, brands have embraced a "louder is better" mantra, believing that increased touch points and messages would enhance consumer engagement. However, this approach is becoming obsolete. In a rapidly evolving environment, higher volumes of communication often lead to consumer fatigue and diminished engagement levels. According to Rob Garf, Head of Strategy and Insights at Cordial, the marketing arena has shifted fundamentally in just a few months. He noted that consumers are more interconnected than ever, and their shopping behaviors are fragmented. With the introduction of personal AI agents guiding purchasing decisions, traditional marketing funnels are being challenged. Brands must learn to penetrate these "walled gardens" by optimizing their data, AI capabilities, and communication channels to provide seamless and personalized consumer experiences.

AI Adoption and Consumer Behavior

The report highlights that one-third of consumers are now using AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude throughout their shopping experiences, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, who are leading this trend with adoption rates 33% and 11% higher than the average respectively. However, the findings also reveal a worrying disconnect: nearly half of all brands—47%—have either low or nonexistent AI presence, with only 7% implementing comprehensive AI optimization strategies. This gap showcases a critical blind spot in brand readiness to adapt to changing consumer behavior driven by AI technology.

The Importance of Personalization

Despite the evident shift toward AI integration, marketing executives continue to see the importance of these tools. In an increasingly competitive attention economy, 90% of organizations plan to enhance their marketing channels over the next three years. Those brands that master the discoverability of AI agents are poised to gain a substantial competitive edge. Nevertheless, generic communication continues to proliferate, with executives estimating that only 22% of their messages are genuinely personalized.

This illustrates the widening performance gap across brands based on where they stand on the marketing maturity curve. The primary issues contributing to this challenge include technological fragmentation, with many organizations managing over five disparate marketing applications and 60% expressing low confidence in their customer data accuracy.

Opportunities Through Technological Integration

Cordial's findings show that only a mere 3% of brands can successfully predict customer desires using real-time behavioral data. While brands categorized as "Basic" and "Emerging" find themselves trapped in siloed operations with stagnant performance metrics, those identified as "Optimized" leverage full integration of their data, AI, and communication channels. This allows for real-time personalization at scale, resulting in consistent performance growth, while their more fragmented competitors struggle to achieve similar results.

As the report emphasizes, a significant number of organizations (33%) are planning for martech consolidation by 2028. The message is clear: in the battle for consumer attention, brands that harmonize their technological frameworks to create AI-driven, coherent customer experiences will not only enhance their relevance but also differentiate themselves from the cacophony of lesser-prepared competitors.

Conclusion

Cordial's report serves as a wake-up call for brands that have yet to adopt a proactive stance towards AI integration. It’s not just about keeping pace with technological advancements; it’s about understanding and acting on consumer expectations that are rapidly evolving. By embracing AI and refining their marketing strategies, brands stand a chance to thrive in this dynamic environment where technology shapes consumer interactions and decisions to an unprecedented extent. For more details and comprehensive insights, refer to the full report published by Cordial at their official site.

About Cordial

Cordial is a pioneering cross-channel marketing platform that empowers companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., Realtor.com®, and others to thrive in the competitive marketplace. By utilizing superior data capabilities, personalized engagement strategies, and expert guidance, Cordial transforms customer signals into timely and relevant messages that build lasting relationships and drive revenue. Recognized in 2024 by Gartner and included in the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies, Cordial continues to be at the forefront of AI-powered marketing innovations. For more information, visit cordial.com.