AI or die: The flight plan for AI-powered marketing in 2025

The digital world is moving at the speed of AI, and if you’re still operating like it’s 2019, you’re already falling behind.

V5 Digital’s aviation-inspired name is fitting because AI is the next great business journey, and marketers must board this flight or risk being grounded. Didn’t know that V5 Digital is named after Namibia’s V5 aircraft registration code? More about that here as V5 Digital founder Armin Wieland explains how the name is inspired by his family’s love of planes.

Raising a glass to the future of AI-powered marketing and automation!

Why now?

• AI is no longer just for tech companies, it’s reshaping marketing, sales, and customer experience at every level.

• Around 56% of business leaders report early or moderate AI adoption https://www.hostinger.co.uk/tutorials/ai-statistics.

• Businesses effectively adopting AI are seeing a 66% increase in efficiency https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-tools-productivity-gains/.

• V5 Digital, one of Namibia’s most innovative digital agencies, hosted AI or Die with Alexander Morad to bring global AI insights to African marketing teams. Morad is one of Europe’s leading AI strategists. You can soak up his thinking on various social platforms, such as this podcast where he discusses How to make money with AI, Can AI steal our jobs & Africa’s Future with AI.

Innovation runs in the family! Armin's late Grand Uncle, Dr. Ing. Gustav Wieland (second from the left), standing beside the revolutionary Dornier Do 31. Just as aviation pushed the boundaries of possibility, AI-powered marketing is transforming the digital landscape today.

AI as the ultimate shortcut: Why staying grounded is no longer an option

The printing press revolutionized communication in the 1400s.

Radio and TV ads reshaped consumer behaviour in the 20th century.

Now, AI-powered marketing is transforming digital strategies at an unprecedented pace.

Think about the brands that dismissed the internet as a “fad".

Today, those companies don’t exist. Blockbuster laughed off Netflix’s streaming model in the early 2000s. Today, Netflix is a $250+ billion powerhouse, while Blockbuster is a nostalgia meme. Kodak invented the digital camera, then ignored it, believing film would always dominate. By 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy, while Canon and Sony became digital photography leaders.

A relic of the past - just like video rental stores faded in the wake of streaming, traditional marketing is being replaced by AI-powered marketing and automation.

Now, AI adoption is the next survival test, and businesses in Southern Africa must move fast to stay competitive.

A growing number of African businesses are integrating AI to enhance digital marketing, customer experience, and content automation ¹. Research shows that AI is already reshaping industries such as e-commerce, financial services, and telecoms in Africa ².

Yet, many Southern African marketing agencies are lagging behind global competitors. Studies highlight that agencies failing to adopt AI risk losing market share as their services become outdated ³. Simply put, standing still is not an option.

Imagine marketing in 2025 as an international airport: some brands are already cruising at 35,000 feet, leveraging AI-powered marketing to scale content, automate workflows, and optimise customer interactions. Others remain stuck on the tarmac, weighed down by manual processes and inefficient workflows. If your business isn’t taking off with AI, your competitors will fly right past you.

• Fortunately, the rise of AI marketplaces – essentially app stores for AI tools – means that businesses can easily find and integrate AI solutions tailored to their needs. These platforms offer:

• AI-powered automation to eliminate bottlenecks and scale marketing at record speed.

• AI copywriting tools like ChatGPT and Jasper, which generate high-quality blog posts in seconds.

• AI-driven video editing with tools like Opus AI, which transforms long-form videos into viral clips effortlessly.

However, the real question isn’t just which AI tools you’ll use, but rather how you’ll develop a robust, AI-powered marketing strategy that ensures long-term success.

More on that later. First, let’s turn to our AI expert, Alexander Morad, and explore why his own flight path matters.

Alexander Morad’s journey: From burnout to AI-powered growth

AI or Die - Alexander Morad speaking at V5 Digital’s V5 Africa Keynote, explaining why AI-powered marketing isn’t a choice, but a necessity for businesses looking to stay ahead in the digital era.

Before the AI or Die Tour, before Bright Mind Agency became a million-dollar business, Alexander Morad was exactly where so many entrepreneurs find themselves: exhausted, burned out, and barely staying afloat. Running a marketing agency was supposed to be fulfilling, but instead, he was drowning in emails, project deadlines, and the constant demand for content.

Then AI changed everything.

Like many businesses today, Morad had hit the scalability ceiling, there were only so many hours in a day, and hiring more people wasn’t always the answer. That’s when he started experimenting with AI-powered marketing tools, not to replace creativity, but to enhance efficiency and free up time for higher-level strategy.

His breakthrough? AI didn’t just make things faster: it made them better.

He automated tedious processes like reporting, content creation, and social media scheduling. He used AI-driven insights to fine-tune targeting and optimise ad performance in ways manual analysis never could. His agency grew exponentially, not because of more hours worked, but because of smarter AI-driven workflows.

With Bright Mind Agency’s success, Morad became convinced that AI wasn’t just a competitive edge, it was in fact, the future of marketing. That’s when he launched AI or Die, a global tour designed to help businesses future-proof their strategies by adopting AI-powered marketing.

The key takeaway from Morad’s story that reflects the broader narrative: AI is not about replacing marketers, it’s about giving them the tools to do more, better, and faster.

At V5 Digital’s V5 Africa AI or Die Keynote, he shared a clear roadmap for businesses looking to leverage AI without losing the human touch.

Alexander Morad with workshop participants at V5 Digital’s V5 Africa AI or Die Keynote, where businesses are learning to embrace AI-driven digital transformation.

The AI Flight Plan: The B.R.I.G.H.T. Prompt and V5 Digital’s AI Strategy

Alexander Morad made it clear – AI isn’t just a tool; it’s a co-pilot for marketing success. But just like a pilot needs an accurate flight plan, marketers need a structured approach to AI adoption.

Enter The B.R.I.G.H.T. Prompt, a clear, actionable framework that ensures AI delivers relevant, high-quality results rather than generic automation. The B.R.I.G.H.T. Prompt provides a structured way to maximize AI efficiency:

• Brand – define the company’s core identity.

• Role – establish what you need from AI.

• Instructions – be precise – AI thrives on clear prompts.

• Goal – set a measurable outcome.

• How – choose the format for the AI’s response.

• Target – align results with your audience’s expectations.

While The B.R.I.G.H.T. Prompt helps marketers navigate AI interactions effectively, a truly comprehensive AI strategy requires a broader framework: one that ensures AI isn’t just automating tasks but actively enhancing creativity, optimizing workflows, and delivering hyper-personalised experiences.

That’s why V5 Digital’s AI-powered strategy is built on the foundational principles of Huang & Rust’s Strategic AI Framework, which categorises AI’s role in marketing into three key areas:

• Mechanical AI (automation) – eliminates repetitive tasks, freeing up time for strategic thinking.

• Thinking AI (insights) – extracts and interprets data, enabling smarter, real-time decision-making.

• Feeling AI (engagement) – powers AI-driven personalization, ensuring meaningful customer interactions at scale.

By drawing from this framework, V5 Digital ensures that AI isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about transformation. Marketing leaders who integrate mechanical, thinking, and feeling AI don’t just keep up with industry trends; they create entirely new customer experiences that are data-driven, dynamic, and deeply engaging.

AI-generated perspectives - how AI and digital tools, like wide-angle photography, can reshape content creation and personalization in AI-powered marketing.

V5 Digital’s AI-powered Marketing Strategy Pilot Project

To bridge the gap between AI-powered marketing theory and real-world application, V5 Digital is launching its AI-powered Marketing Strategy Pilot Project. This is a structured initiative designed to help businesses test, refine, and integrate AI-driven marketing strategies into their workflows. This project isn’t about adopting AI tools, it’s about developing a comprehensive AI roadmap that aligns AI adoption with business objectives, resource constraints, and market opportunities.

This initiative is led in collaboration with Steven van Wyk, V5 Digital's customer success strategist and marketing strategy consultant.

Steven is currently pursuing an MBA at Maastricht School of Management, where his thesis, Designing AI-Powered Digital Marketing Services: A Design Science Approach, focuses on helping marketing teams effectively integrate AI. With extensive experience in brand strategy, creative marketing, and marketing leadership, Steven brings a practical, research-backed approach to AI adoption that bridges academic insights with real-world business needs.

The pilot programme will guide participants through AI-driven transformation, covering everything from identifying high-impact AI applications to measuring real-world performance improvements. Through hands-on workshops, collaborative strategy sessions, and iterative testing, participants will gain practical experience in crafting AI-powered marketing strategies.

Want to future-proof your marketing? Join V5 Digital’s AI pilot programme and be part of the transformation. Apply here.

References
1. Beliefs and adoption of AI in content marketing: Insights from South African marketing agencies
2. Abanga & Dotse (2024). AI and digital economies: A comparative analysis of South and Southeast Asia and Africa. Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science.
3. Mdladla et al. (2024). Navigating the AI revolution: A review of the transformative strategies for economic development in Africa’s emerging economies. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development.