Index’25 Decodes: Rewriting the Consumer Playbook – How AI Search Redefines Discovery, Loyalty, and Brand Building

The consumer journey is undergoing a profound transformation as AI-driven search engines redefine how discovery, loyalty, and brand-building unfold. Where traditional marketing funnels once dominated, dynamic, real-time discovery experiences powered by AI now prioritize trust, personalization, and relevance. Leading consumer brands are rising to the challenge by shifting focus from storytelling alone to loyalty programs, adapting to the new AI-first reality. Pepper’s conference Index’25 had a powerpacked panel to discuss these pressing topics.

Panel

Anand Swaminathan: Senior partner at McKinsey, leading one of the top AI practices in the world with a solid set of experience across large enterprises. He is also the leader of Lilli, McKinsey’s GenAI platform

Eric Solomon: Eric is the former CMO at Instagram Business, with senior leadership roles at YouTube and Google. With a career spanning some of the world’s most influential consumer technology platforms, Eric brings a unique perspective on how storytelling, creativity, and trust intersect with AI to drive consumer engagement

Deepak Subramanian: Deepak leads Unilever’s Food Solutions business in North America, overseeing a multibillion-dollar portfolio. A seasoned global operator, he has built and scaled brands across Asia, Europe, and North America, bringing deep expertise in consumer trust, brand-building, and growth in fast-moving categories

Angelique Bellmer Krembs: Angelique is the former Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo and co-author of You Should Smile More, about building workplace culture that works for all. With decades of experience leading iconic consumer brands, she is one of the most respected voices on how CMOs must adapt to shifting consumer expectations and emerging technologies like AI.

Joe Lazer (moderator): Fractional CMO, Pepper Content. Joe is a seasoned marketing leader. With a track record of building go-to-market strategies for growth-stage companies and advising CMOs on navigating AI-led shifts, Joe brings sharp operator and consulting expertise to guide this conversation.

Key Insights and Takeaways:

• Human-Centered Future Proofing: Eric emphasized that future-proofing a brand is not just about evolving technology stacks but fundamentally about people understanding how humans decide what’s worth their time amidst AI-curated answers. Many companies overly focus on tech infrastructure rather than building genuine emotional connections that cut through AI-generated noise.
• Brand Presence in AI Search: Deepak highlighted that with AI assistants often disagreeing on recommendations, brands must be verifiable and clear. Vague or generic claims no longer suffice; scientific substantiation and precise, trustworthy messaging give brands competitive advantage in AI-driven discovery.
• Personalized AI Engagement: Brands must respond authentically to multiple personas as AI search queries become highly contextualized around individual needs – from dietary preferences to lifestyle choices. The challenge lies in hyper-personalizing content without losing the core brand voice and identity.
• Redefining Marketing Metrics and ROI: Angelique shared that traditional metrics such as clicks and page rankings are becoming less relevant in the AI search era. Instead, marketing leaders must focus on “semantic equity,” measuring brand trust, AI discoverability, and alignment across stakeholders in boardrooms.
• Brand and PR Renaissance: AI’s emphasis on authentic brand narratives and ecosystem influence revives the strategic importance of PR and thought leadership. Coordinated brand ecosystems foster the AI-generated content authority essential for visibility.
• Emerging Ecosystem Dynamics: AI-driven discovery expands beyond traditional platforms to include social communities, review sites, and niche forums. Brand strategies must encompass engagement across this wide ecosystem to shape AI answers.
• Global and Local Balance: Deepak spoke about the challenge of delivering both global brand consistency and local relevance, advocating for “freedom within a framework” supported by enterprise-scale technology ensuring security and verifiability.

Thought Leadership

The panel underscored that brands must approach AI as a strategic pivot, one that combines deep human insight and emotional connection with data-backed authenticity and next-gen workflows. Marketing transforms into an AI-native function rooted in experimentation, orchestration, and cross-functional collaboration. Success involves mastery of both the art of storytelling and the science of semantic and AI-driven discovery.

The future belongs to brands that can deliver personalized, credible, and consistent messages in AI-powered ecosystems while maintaining authentic human connections. Embracing AI’s rapid change with agility and creativity will enable brands to lead in this new era of discovery, loyalty, and engagement.

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