Everyone’s Using AI, but Few Are Winning With It
In 2025, about 88% of marketers say they use AI in their daily work (All About AI, 2025) for things like writing copy, generating images, analyzing data, and testing creative. Yet roughly 40% of organizations have fully integrated AI into their operations (SurveyMonkey, 2025). Most are still experimenting, not transforming. That means the vast majority of marketers are leaving massive potential on the table, stuck between trying new tools and actually using them to drive results.
A 2025 MIT/BCG report found that only around 5% of companies worldwide are seeing measurable value from AI investments (MLQ.ai, 2025). That’s the number that matters. It’s not about who’s using AI—it’s about who’s making it work.
This article skips the fluff and looks at what separates the small group of high-performing marketers from everyone else.
1. The AI Adoption Mirage
AI is everywhere, but most teams are still stuck in the shallow end. Research from HubSpot and MarketingProfs shows that marketers use AI mostly for creating content, repurposing visuals, or analyzing data (HubSpot, 2025). The issue? They stop there.
A 2025 BCG study found only one in twenty companies—around 5%—are getting measurable ROI from AI (MLQ.ai, 2025). The rest are stuck in endless “pilot programs” that never scale. It’s just like the early internet era: everyone had a website, but very few had a plan.
The takeaway: Using AI isn’t the same as evolving with it. Real success comes from building systems that turn insights into creative action.
2. The Creativity Crisis: When Automation Breeds Sameness
AI has made creating content effortless—maybe too effortless. As more brands rely on the same prompts and tools, campaigns start blending together. A recent WARC study found that brand distinctiveness across major ad platforms has dropped noticeably since 2021 (WARC, 2025).
AI doesn’t destroy creativity—it mirrors it. If your input is generic, your output will be too. The best marketers treat AI like a creative partner, not a shortcut.
Bottom line: AI doesn’t erase creativity—it shows who’s still got it.
3. Data-Driven Creativity: The 5% Who Are Winning
While most brands are dabbling, the top few percent are building real systems around data and AI. According to SQMagazine, brands using AI in multiple core marketing functions tend to see over 30% higher ROI year over year (SQMagazine, 2025).
Spotify Wrapped, Netflix’s artwork testing, and Nike’s personalization engines are great examples. They’re not guessing. They use analytics to shape stories, not replace them.
At Rhycom, we see this balance as the new creative edge: art guided by intelligence, not limited by it.
4. Why Most Brands Are Still Stuck
If AI and data are so powerful, why are most teams struggling to make progress? It’s not the technology—it’s how people approach it.
- Silos: Data teams and creative teams rarely talk.
- Fear: Some leaders see AI as risky instead of resourceful.
- Over-optimization: Chasing metrics can kill originality.
- Lack of ownership: Many treat AI like a feature, not a core strategy.
Gartner predicts that a large majority of creative roles will use generative AI daily by 2026 (Gartner, 2025). Without collaboration, most of that effort will stay surface-level.
5. The Human Layer: Turning Data Into Emotion
Data can tell you what people do. Creativity tells you why it matters.
- Personalization pays: McKinsey reports that smart personalization drives a 10–15% revenue lift, with leaders seeing up to 25% (McKinsey, 2024).
- Trust wins: About 70% of consumers say they only engage with brands they trust to use their data responsibly (Salesforce, 2025).
- Community converts: Around 80% of consumers buy more from brands that build genuine, human-centered communities (Edelman Trust Barometer, 2024).
Data helps you understand your audience. Humanity helps you move them.
6. The Coming Wave: Predictive and Prescriptive Creativity
We’re shifting from reacting to predicting. Machine learning already identifies which visuals, headlines, and tones resonate best. The next step—prescriptive AI—will go further, suggesting creative actions before a campaign even starts.
Gartner expects that by 2026, roughly half of all creative concepts at enterprise brands will originate from AI systems (Gartner, 2025). Meta projects that by 2026, ad creation will be largely automated, where marketers input a goal and AI handles the rest (Reuters, 2025).
That future is closer than most think. But even then, creativity decides the outcome.
7. Closing the Gap: How to Become a Data-Driven Creative Leader
- Integrate, don’t isolate: Bring creative and data teams together early.
- Build systems, not experiments: Turn small wins into scalable workflows.
- Use AI to explore: Let it open new ideas, not narrow them.
- Measure what matters: Focus on originality, emotion, and brand impact—not just clicks.
- Stay human: Lead with ethics, transparency, and empathy.
Conclusion: Creativity Supercharged, Not Replaced
AI isn’t the story. What we do with it is. The future belongs to the brands that combine human intuition with machine intelligence and use both to create work that truly connects.
Everyone’s using AI. Few are mastering it.
At Rhycom Advertising, we help brands close that gap—turning data into insight, insight into story, and story into growth.
Sources
- All About AI (2025). AI Marketing Statistics. Link
- SurveyMonkey (2025). AI in Marketing Statistics. Link
- MLQ.ai (2025). State of AI in Business Report. Link
- HubSpot (2025). AI Marketing Statistics. Link
- WARC (2025). Brand Distinctiveness Declines as AI Creative Usage Surges. Link
- SQMagazine (2025). AI in Marketing Statistics. Link
- Gartner (2025). Generative AI to Transform Creative Marketing Roles. Link
- McKinsey (2024). The Value of Getting Personalization Right. Link
- Salesforce (2025). Customer Trust and Data Privacy. Link
- Edelman (2024). Trust Barometer. Link
- Reuters (2025). Meta to Fully Automate Advertising by 2026. Link