TWICM 211: Jellyfish's Natasha Wallace On How Marketers Win with Humans & AI Without Flattening Their Brands
That's What I Call MarketingShow Notes
Natasha Wallace, Chief Solutions Officer for Strategy, Planning and AI at Jellyfish, joins That’s What I Call Marketing to discuss how brands can become more visible and understandable to AI without sacrificing creativity, emotion or distinctiveness.
This episode explains how marketers should approach the growing challenge of serving two audiences at once: humans, who respond to stories, feelings and ideas, and AI models, which rely on clear signals, context, trust and specificity.
In this episode, we cover: – Why Jellyfish’s research found almost no correlation between how humans and AI models judge creative work – What “brand flattening” means and why marketers should resist making everything rational and functional – How to make a brand legible to large language models without weakening its creativity – Why brand trust, distinctive assets and consumer consensus still influence AI recommendations – The role of YouTube, Reddit, creators, ecommerce and digital PR in shaping model perception – Why paid, owned and earned media need to work together in an AI-led discovery environment
Natasha also explains Jellyfish’s concept of the “brand echo”: the conversation, reaction and community created around a brand, even when the original activity is not directly visible to an AI model.
The practical message is not that marketers need to abandon the fundamentals. It is that audience strategy, brand positioning, content, media and measurement need to work together more closely. The brands most likely to succeed will be clear enough for machines to understand and interesting enough for people to care about.
A useful listen for marketers interested in AI in marketing, GEO, brand strategy, creativity, content strategy, advertising effectiveness and the future of search and discovery.
That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession.
Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners.
Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com
**Timestamps**
00:00 Why marketers must not flatten their brands for AI 00:39 Introducing Natasha Wallace of Jellyfish 02:04 Natasha’s career across digital, media and emerging technology 03:35 Why AI feels different from previous industry shifts 05:23 Working globally with Heineken and major sports properties 07:05 Why Natasha joined Jellyfish 09:00 Bringing media, content, creative and AI strategy together 12:32 What humans and AI models see in award-winning advertising 15:31 The danger of brand flattening 16:36 How the “brand echo” influences AI models 17:35 Why brand trust and distinctive assets still matter 20:21 Why YouTube is frequently cited by large language models 22:28 How marketers should prioritise their AI and GEO activity 24:46 Leading and lagging indicators for AI visibility 26:01 The platforms and voices that shape model perception 27:27 Borrowed credibility, belonging and long-term brand associations 30:05 Testing creative work without making it formulaic 32:25 Why AI should strengthen human thinking, not replace it
That’s What I Call Marketing is the podcast for marketers who care about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession. Follow the show for more conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, professors, authors, thinkers and practitioners. Find more episodes at: https://www.thatswhaticallmarketing.com This Cannes Sessions episode is produced in partnership with The Digital Voice. That’s What I Call Marketing is where marketers come for real conversations about brand, B2B, creativity, effectiveness and the future of the profession. Hosted by Conor Byrne, the show features conversations with CMOs, marketing leaders, agency leaders, authors, thinkers and practitioners about what good marketing looks like in practice.
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