How Can AI Benefit a Premium Business?

There are mixed feelings and concerns about AI, and understandably so. We’re already seeing how AI is used in mass marketing, production, media, etc and some premium businesses are starting to incorporate it too.

Questions around ethics, the loss of human creativity and the taking away of roles that have been traditionally performed by people are an ongoing debate. Even questions around how a brand can continue to show up authentically with the use of AI is also an ongoing discussion.

Our take on it is that AI is a really powerful tool that’s going to push the boundaries of what humans can do. When used and engineered correctly, it will help a premium brand stand out from the mass market businesses and provide greater value to its internal teams and customers.

However, there is a balance to strike. AI shouldn’t be used to replace, it should be used to elevate. AI can enhance a premium brand without compromising its identity. It’s going to require businesses to invest in the best AI engineers (people) to calibrate and tailor AI-designed systems, programmes and marketing collateral to make a business distinguishable from competitors. To the untrained user, AI produces very generic results – It’s very obvious when they’ve used AI. What AI can’t do well (yet) is come up with original ideas and output – this is where human intervention is still needed, just in a different capacity.

Incorporating AI in your strategy shouldn't be a gimmicky tech adoption. Instead it should focus on purposeful innovation to elevate your brand. Here are some examples: 

1.⁠ ⁠Hyper-Personalisation at Scale (Without Losing the Human Touch): AI can analyse customer data and tailor recommendations, styling tips, content or even design elements based at a much deeper level. With AI you can really get to know more about your customers’ tastes, preferences and lifestyles. An AI-powered CRM tool can support staff to personalise each customer’s experience and anticipate their needs before they even ask.

2.⁠ ⁠Predictive Service That Feels Psychic: Premium brands should make customers feel like they’re always one step ahead of them. AI can be used to predict needs such as a reminder that a special event is coming up, a suggestion for a matching piece to your last purchase or an instant notification when a limited item becomes available.

3.⁠ ⁠Elevated Design & Product Development: AI can analyse market trends, emerging materials, and historical brand activities to inspire (not replace) designers. It’s not about automation, it’s about amplifying creativity and innovation. Fashion powerhouses use AI to suggest fabric and design directions based on cultural and historical data, but still have human designers interpret them, modify and bring them to live

4.⁠ ⁠Operational Excellence: AI improves supply chain precision and stock levels and reduces overproduction which is crucial for sustainability and growing expectations for premium businesses. 

5.⁠ ⁠Conversational Luxury: AI-driven chat assistants can evolve into refined digital concierges able to chat like a well-trained butler, not a clunky bot. They can serve customers “out of hours” and attend immediately to their needs or at least provide adequate support until a human is required to take over.

6.⁠ ⁠Immersive Digital Experiences: AI can power virtual try-ons and renders of a product and immersive brand journeys that still feel exclusive and high-end. For premium businesses, it’s important  that these shouldn’t feel like clunky tech demos. They must feel like artful, elevated experiences. 

7.⁠ ⁠Protecting the Brand: AI tools can scan the web to detect counterfeits, impersonators or brand misuse to ensure safeguarding the rarity and integrity of premium products.

If your business offers premium products and services, the goal is not efficiency or just using robots just for the sake of it but rather making customer and employee experience more meaningful, enjoyable and effortless.

Also, even though AI is really cool and can be extremely useful, people still crave human connection and creativity. What AI is going to do is push the boundaries of what humans can do and offer to a business.

We believe that the human element and how it’s incorporated in the customer experience is what’s going to distinguish one premium business from another.

So yes, don’t hesitate to invest in AI but also remember to invest in star people too to compliment the process and create a well-rounded experience.