Basis’s Katie McAdams: AI’s Data Obsession Risks Emphasis on Short-Term Performance Versus Long-Term Growth
CANNES, France — Artificial intelligence’s appetite for data creates a natural gravitational pull toward performance marketing metrics, but brands that follow that pull risk sacrificing the long-game brand building that creates lasting competitive advantage.
“AI loves mass amounts of data, loves to crunch that data, come back with suggestions and recommendations. For that reason, it’s very tempting to say, I’m going to focus on what I would call more of the short-term performance metrics,” Katie McAdams, CMO and head of commercial enablement at Basis, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “The risk that that poses for brand building is that brand building is the long game. A new campaign in-market this month is going to take potentially up to three years for us to really build that brand visibility and brand recognition that we’re looking for.”
This tension shapes how brands must think about deploying AI — capturing its efficiency benefits without letting data abundance distort strategic priorities.
AI reveals hidden audience segments
Beyond generative content creation, AI’s most significant brand marketing opportunity lies in uncovering previously unknown audience segments and behavioral signals that enable more precise, meaningful targeting.
“The less obvious methods that we’re looking at are more around how we’re using AI to better understand who our audience is. Are there new segments of our audience that we didn’t actually know existed before?” McAdams said. “Now because of the data that we have access to, we’re able to actually have more intelligence about who those different segments might be, those emerging new customers that we didn’t realize we had before.”
Authenticity becomes competitive differentiator
As AI democratizes content creation, volume loses its strategic value while authenticity becomes the distinguishing factor that separates brands building genuine connections from those simply generating noise.
“Just because you can create more ads, more content doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. It’s more about quality over quantity,” McAdams said. “The brands who choose to lean into authenticity versus creating more content just because they can are the ones who are going to end up standing out in the long run.”
Meaningful experiences resist automation
CMOs must distinguish between processes that benefit from automation and human connection moments that technology cannot replicate, investing in events and experiences that create genuine community and learning opportunities.
“Automate the things that can be automated, but let’s focus on how we actually create meaningful connections and meaningful experiences,” McAdams said. “The brands who are going to focus on that, on connection, on creating meaningful experiences, are going to be the ones who stand out from the rest of the pack.”
Impact over noise defines long-term brand strength
Five years from now, brand strength will depend on the ability to create meaningful impact rather than maximum content output, as universal AI access eliminates production volume as a differentiating factor.
“There’s a difference between creating noise and creating impact. It’s less about let’s put out as much as we can because we now have the tools to do that and let’s focus on how we can actually do better with what we are putting out,” McAdams said. “Don’t create noise. There’s enough noise in this industry. How do I actually use tools to my advantage so that we can create things that are more meaningful and more impactful?”
You’re watching Beet Talks at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by Basis. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
CANNES, France — Artificial intelligence’s appetite for data creates a natural gravitational pull toward performance marketing metrics, but brands that follow that pull risk sacrificing the long-game brand building that creates lasting competitive advantage.
“AI loves mass amounts of data, loves to crunch that data, come back with suggestions and recommendations. For that reason, it’s very tempting to say, I’m going to focus on what I would call more of the short-term performance metrics,” Katie McAdams, CMO and head of commercial enablement at Basis, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “The risk that that poses for brand building is that brand building is the long game. A new campaign in-market this month is going to take potentially up to three years for us to really build that brand visibility and brand recognition that we’re looking for.”
This tension shapes how brands must think about deploying AI — capturing its efficiency benefits without letting data abundance distort strategic priorities.
AI reveals hidden audience segments
Beyond generative content creation, AI’s most significant brand marketing opportunity lies in uncovering previously unknown audience segments and behavioral signals that enable more precise, meaningful targeting.
“The less obvious methods that we’re looking at are more around how we’re using AI to better understand who our audience is. Are there new segments of our audience that we didn’t actually know existed before?” McAdams said. “Now because of the data that we have access to, we’re able to actually have more intelligence about who those different segments might be, those emerging new customers that we didn’t realize we had before.”
Authenticity becomes competitive differentiator
As AI democratizes content creation, volume loses its strategic value while authenticity becomes the distinguishing factor that separates brands building genuine connections from those simply generating noise.
“Just because you can create more ads, more content doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. It’s more about quality over quantity,” McAdams said. “The brands who choose to lean into authenticity versus creating more content just because they can are the ones who are going to end up standing out in the long run.”
Meaningful experiences resist automation
CMOs must distinguish between processes that benefit from automation and human connection moments that technology cannot replicate, investing in events and experiences that create genuine community and learning opportunities.
“Automate the things that can be automated, but let’s focus on how we actually create meaningful connections and meaningful experiences,” McAdams said. “The brands who are going to focus on that, on connection, on creating meaningful experiences, are going to be the ones who stand out from the rest of the pack.”
Impact over noise defines long-term brand strength
Five years from now, brand strength will depend on the ability to create meaningful impact rather than maximum content output, as universal AI access eliminates production volume as a differentiating factor.
“There’s a difference between creating noise and creating impact. It’s less about let’s put out as much as we can because we now have the tools to do that and let’s focus on how we can actually do better with what we are putting out,” McAdams said. “Don’t create noise. There’s enough noise in this industry. How do I actually use tools to my advantage so that we can create things that are more meaningful and more impactful?”
You’re watching Beet Talks at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by Basis. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
