I'm making a prediction, and I want it on the record.
The next big shift in marketing isn't another AI tool, and it's not a new social platform, and it's not a repackaged strategy from 2019.
It's hand-drawn ads.
Actual, human-made, imperfect, drawn-with-a-pencil-by-a-real-person marketing.
I'm calling it now 📣
A few weeks ago, I saw the recap of a brand dinner Rhode hosted for a group of influencers, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
The setup was genius 🎨 The tablecloth was a giant blank coloring book featuring their products, every plate had the guest's name hand-painted above it, and each seat came with a set of crayons.
The whole activation was built to feel human -made by people, for people, on purpose (and a little imperfect).
In a marketing landscape that's drowning in AI-generated flyers, glossy synthetic product shots, and beige content that all looks the same, Rhode showed up with crayons.
And it worked. Perfectly.
Puresport just launched their new electrolyte campaign with a series of hand-painted oil still-life paintings, commissioned from four different artists. They openly framed it as going against the AI grain.
Merit, J. Crew, and a growing list of premium brands are hiring illustrators and artists for social content and product launches, when they could easily prompt the same thing out of an AI tool in seconds.
They're choosing the human touch, on purpose.
And we're going to see a lot more of this.
Nearly three in four Gen Z consumers have taken direct action against a brand after realizing its marketing was AI-generated - unfollowing, unsubscribing, complaining publicly, walking away from purchases they'd otherwise make.
And on the flip side, the majority of Gen Z say they're more likely to trust brands committed to human-made content.
Gen Z isn't passively tolerating AI anymore, they're actively pushing back.
That's not a trend. That's a market correction in real time. Human-made is quietly becoming a value proposition, and the brands paying attention have the advantage.
We're watching a full-circle moment.
For two years, brands have been racing to see who could produce the fastest, cheapest, most "efficient" AI content. Now, the market is turning around and saying: we don't want more of that. We want something a person actually touched.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying AI is done. I still use it almost every day and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.
But there's a difference between using AI to speed up the boring parts of your workflow and outsourcing your brand's face to spit out the same beige creative as everyone else.
When the market is flooded with the same thing, the differentiator becomes the thing nobody else is willing to do.
Right now, that's paying a real artist to draw your ad. Hiring an illustrator to hand-letter your campaign. Commissioning a painter for a product launch. Making something that looks like a person made it, because a person actually did.
Commissioned art is about to be a serious competitive advantage.
If you're a small or mid-size brand watching this from the outside, here's how to play it -
Start small. You don't need a full oil-painting campaign. Think: a hand-lettered menu, a commissioned illustration for a launch or a doodle in your newsletter.
Hire real artists - local illustrators, freelance designers, art students, etc. And say it out loud. Visibility is critical for local artists, so make sure to credit them accordingly.
Keep AI where it belongs, as behind-the-scenes efficiency, not front-facing creative. That's the split I've been living with, and it works.
This is my prediction - the brands that invest in visibly human, imperfect, hand-made creative right now are going to look very smart in about 18 months.
The AI-slop backlash isn't just coming. It's already here, and I'm putting my name on it.
Consumers are voting with their unfollows, their unsubscribes, and their wallets. You'll want to keep an eye on this one.
And in the meantime, what do you think?
Would you trust a brand more if you knew a real human drew the ad? Would you walk away from one if you found out their entire creative direction was a prompt?
I know my answer.
Until next time, Nina
📚 Currently reading: Threshing Day (obviously!)
🎧 Currently listening to: A lo-fi playlist that a real human made
🍷 Currently sipping: A homemade latte, that I made from scratch
P.S. Credit where it's due: @thebrandblueprint_ has been surfacing examples of this shift in one place, and it helped confirm what I was already noticing in my own scroll.