Brain Driven Brands – "99% of Marketers Are Using AI Wrong (Including YOU)"

Host: Sarah Levinger
Date: November 6, 2025
Episode Summary

Main Theme

This episode dives deep into the pitfall most marketers fall into with AI: using it superficially rather than as a tool to challenge assumptions, drive real neuromarketing innovation, and supercharge experimentation. Sarah Levinger shares advanced neuromarketing tactics inspired by industry leaders such as True Classic, Spotify, and Plants vs. Zombies, with a core message: AI, when used to reimagine customer experience and behavioral psychology, can transform e-commerce brands—if you use it correctly.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Right vs. Wrong Way to Use AI in Marketing

• Superficial Uses Are Rampant: Most marketers use AI for basic tasks—writing headlines, simple copy, or automating routine to-dos—missing its transformative power.
  • “I want everybody to realize that there is a right way and a wrong way to use AI. … We can't stop talking about AI.” (01:07, Sarah)
• AI as a Thought Partner: Sarah advocates leveraging AI to break one's habitual ‘marketing truths’ and routines, and to explore what might be possible by challenging deep-seated beliefs.

2. The Power of ‘What Ifs’: Prompting Imagination (01:19–08:00)

• AI-Generated "What If" Scenarios:
  • Sarah demonstrates prompting AI (ChatGPT) to generate wild "what if" scenarios as thought experiments, both generally and specific to behavioral science.
  • These include:
    • "What if your memories were a subscription—you could pause, resume, or refund?" (02:10)
    • "What if gravity turned off for one random minute each day?" (02:16)
    • “What if emotions glowed as faint visible colors around people?” (02:24)
• Challenge Marketing Ruts:
  • These prompts help shake loose the biases and assumptions marketers accumulate, encouraging more innovative, science-backed CRO (conversion rate optimization) tests.
  • “I sometimes get stuck in this rut of thinking that everything I'm doing is true in marketing … I want to break my own processes often so I can get to things that would be fascinating…” (02:40, Sarah)

3. Translating "What Ifs" to Practical Brand Experiments (03:19–07:44)

Sarah runs through several actionable, AI-generated "what ifs" grounded in psychology and neuromarketing:

• Checkout Frictions & Motivation:
  • “What if checkout buttons had to start as a ‘no’ and only flipped to ‘yes’ after a micro reason was entered?” (03:45)
  • “What if every cart showed two clocks: one for time since you first wanted this, and one for time you'll spend replacing a bad choice?” (03:52)
  • Use of temporal discounting and regret aversion to drive conversions.
• Social Proof Reimagined:
  • “What if ratings were hidden until you wrote your own?” (04:03)
• Aligned Loyalty Incentives:
  • “What if loyalty programs gave you points for not buying when it’s off of your goal?” (05:12)
• Personal Behavioral Cues:
  • “What if product pages showed how often you return to similar items?” (07:06)

Notable Moment:

“If you can show [customers] what their own behaviors are, you have a much better chance to convert ..." (08:46, Sarah)

4. From Theory to Testing – Implementing Advanced Neuromarketing Tactics (07:44–13:31)

• Easy-to-Test Tactics:
  • Many ideas, like tracking individual revisit data or time-to-purchase, can be implemented with current e-commerce tools (e.g., Intelligems for Shopify).
• SaaS Inspiration:
  • “If you guys are thinking about making a software at any point, these what ifs are kind of fun questions to ask…” (07:52)

5. Notable "What If" Examples (08:57–11:47)

• Discounts Tied to Intent:
  • “What if discounts only unlocked after you explain how you would use the item?” (08:57)
  • Focuses on 'implementation intention'—helping customers articulate motivation, increasing commitment and conversion.
  • Quote: "You're basically sitting in a salesperson position and just being like, you tell me how to sell to you." (09:53, Sarah)
• Self-Referencing Calls-to-Action:
  • “What if CTA text always included the verb you chose earlier?” (10:33)
• Subscription Offramps and Reengagement:
  • “What if pause buttons asked, how should we greet you when you come back?” (11:12)
  • Leverages the 'Fresh Start Effect' for re-engagement in subscription models.

6. Overarching Principle: Make Marketing More Human, Not Less

• Personalization Over Automation:
  • “Most of you are using AI to be less personal and less human. … Think about your customers like a friend or a spouse.” (11:58, Co-host)
  • Sarah: “If you're only using chat to write headlines, you're doing it wrong. … It's very, very good at pattern recognition. It recognizes things that I haven’t seen yet.” (12:20)
• AI as a Lens for Empathy:
  • AI serves to expand human thinking, not replace it, driving honest, more trusting, and authentic messaging.

7. Trust Calibration & Authenticity in the AI Era (13:02–14:09)

• Imperfect Product Images:
  • “What if product images had to have one realistic flaw by default?” (13:02)
  • Promotes trust by showing authenticity and 'anti-AI' polish.
  • Quote: "People are already starting to be very distrusting of AI because it’s just, it's way too creepy." (13:20, Sarah)
• Emerging Platform Solutions:
  • Pinterest and YouTube are rolling out more robust controls to allow users to filter AI-generated content (13:47).

8. Initiation & Customer Qualification as Neuromarketing

• Creating a sense of "earning" the right to buy—turning shopping into a club or accomplishment.
  • “I'm super fascinated by like making people prove that they're worthy of product.” (14:09, Co-host)
  • Example: Requiring customers to demonstrate knowledge or intent before unlocking exclusive product access (whiskey club example, 14:36).

9. Final Takeaways: The Real Power of AI Is Unlocking HUMAN Brilliance

• AI is a thinking partner, not a shortcut:
  • “Please stop asking chat to think for you and start using it as a thinking partner to make you think more like you. Human intelligence, I think, is still underrated and underappreciated.” (15:43, Co-host)
  • “We need more humans in marketing... this is just a tool to get you to think more broadly.” (15:59, Sarah)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On breaking assumptions:
  • “I want to break my own processes a lot, and I want to do it pretty often so that I can get to things that would be like, wouldn't that be so fascinating…” (02:40, Sarah)
• On discounts unlocking through justification:
  • “We really only want to give good deals to people that align with our ethos… Can you just write us a sentence or two that shows us you're that?” (09:30, Co-host)
• On AI as a brainstorming partner:
  • "If you’re only using chat to write headlines, you’re doing it wrong. … Let’s expand your thinking! It’s very, very good at pattern recognition." (12:20, Sarah)
• On authenticity in the AI age:
  • “We need a feed with all verified human content… People are starting to be very distrusting of AI.” (13:20, 13:39)
• On making customers earn access:
  • "I’m super fascinated by making people prove that they're worthy of product." (14:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• AI ‘What If’ exercise & breaking assumptions: [01:07–03:18]
• Behavioral Science–based ‘What Ifs’ for Brands: [03:19–08:00]
• Implementation examples for e-commerce and SaaS: [07:44–08:57]
• Discounts tied to justification and commitment: [08:57–09:53]
• Self-referencing CTAs & subscription reengagement: [10:33–11:47]
• Authenticity and trust in the AI era: [13:02–14:09]
• Making the customer ‘earn’ the product: [14:09–15:28]
• Final call to use AI for expanded, not diminished, humanity in marketing: [15:43–15:59]

Tone & Style

Conversational, energetic, idea-packed, and direct—with a healthy dose of tough love for marketers stuck in the AI rut. The episode is loaded with humor, tangents, and dozens of creative marketing test ideas, all with practical, emotionally intelligent explanations anchored in neuromarketing science.

Actionable Takeaways

• Use AI to break your habitual thinking and uncover hidden assumptions in your marketing approach.
• Challenge yourself and your team to run "what if" experiments informed by psychology and behavioral science.
• Prioritize authentic, personalized, and humanized marketing—AI should augment, not replace, your empathy and curiosity.
• Test unconventional CRO and loyalty tactics grounded in real psychological triggers, not just standard playbooks.

Get the full list of "What Ifs" in the show notes and start experimenting!