This blog was co-written with AI. That’s the point.
Because how we use AI is the story and the strategy.
At Horizon Commerce, AI doesn’t replace our strategic thinking. It enhances it. It’s embedded in how we explore ideas, build experience strategy, and communicate with clarity. From accelerating customer research and refining messaging to creative versioning and performance iteration, this post offers a look into our approach to crafting better end experiences.
Why It Matters
AI is reshaping how brands and agency partners develop experiences, from ads and emails to websites and product pages. Every week, a new tool claims to write, build, or generate faster. But the real value lies in how it’s applied.
Used well, AI brings stronger ideas to market, accelerates alignment, and sharpens multi-channel output. It tracks creative impact, compares against competitors, and enables real-time personalization. The result? Better briefs, smarter creative, shorter timelines, and experiences that flex to meet audience needs.
That’s why 71% of organizations now use AI in at least one function—up from 65% earlier this year. According to Forrester, 51% of decision-makers report revenue gains from generative AI, and 49% say it’s improved efficiency.³
Where Creative Gets Smarter
AI hasn’t replaced creatives; it’s rewired the process.
What used to be a linear path — research, brainstorm, mockup, revise — is now a dynamic loop. Tools like Horizon’s Blu, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, and ChatGPT allow us to spin up audience insights, creative briefs, and early design ideas aligned to personas, then iterate in real time.
Large language models (LLMs) accelerate early-stage planning, helping analyze trends, simulate audience reactions, and pressure-test messaging frameworks. We explore themes rooted in persona needs, emotional triggers, and journey stages — grounding ideas in behavioral signals, market intel, and past performance.
That intelligence leads to stronger concepts and prototypes from day one. Generative AI lets us test tone, emotional resonance, and creative cues early, front-loading curiosity, not skipping steps.
Then we can iterate faster and reduce the rework that slows teams down. Adobe Firefly, for instance, enables us to stay on brand and produce creative variations across channels without reinventing the wheel. Integrated with Adobe Experience Manager, we can dynamically tag assets, automate content at scale, and version based on audience needs powered by Adobe Target and Real-Time CDP.
This changes not just how we start campaigns, but how we adapt them mid-flight. Like Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO), AI enables creative adjustments on the fly without sacrificing compliance or control.
Faster Insights to Action
Why wait for campaigns to end before learning what works?
AI accelerates how we transform performance data into creative action. With Blu., we can connect behavioral signals across campaigns to pinpoint friction, performance gaps, and messaging impacts.
In one campaign, we used AI to assess creative performance across email, web, social, and display. A muted lifestyle visual resonated on Instagram but flopped in display ads. AI showed why: low contrast and soft messaging failed in placements where speed matters most. With that clarity, we quickly built tailored versions by channel, audience mindset, and design need.
And the payoff? Personalized, AI-generated messages can boost conversion rates by up to 40%.²
Maximizing ROI
AI delivers real business value. Generative AI can increase marketing productivity by 5–15%, unlocking up to $463 billion annually.⁴ That translates to faster launches, smarter investments, and better experience outcomes.
But speed without strategy is dangerous. More content doesn’t mean better content. Overproduction leads to misaligned creative, poor QA, and tone that misses the mark. Without a human in the loop, trust erodes.
We don’t use AI to do more. We use it to do better.
People still drive our strategy. And just like people, AI needs guidance. That’s why we empower AI “wranglers” to shape prompts, evaluate outputs, and refine results with each iteration. With strategic oversight and creative QA, AI becomes a powerful partner not a risk.
This Isn’t a Gimmick. It’s Our Playbook.
AI didn’t write this post, but it helped shape it. Just like it shapes how we concept, create, and optimize with our clients.
AI isn’t a shortcut. It’s a multiplier. When wielded by the right people, it transforms how we build better, smarter, and faster without compromising strategy.
Citations
McKinsey, “The Economic Potential of Generative AI”
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier
McKinsey, “Next in Personalization”
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-future-of-personalization-and-how-to-get-ready-for-it
McKinsey, “The State of AI in 2024”
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/artificial-intelligence/the-state-of-ai-in-2024
Forrester Research, “Unlocking Generative AI’s Potential to Drive Business Growth”
https://www.forrester.com/technology/generative-ai/