Building a platform to develop an AI brand strategy

The challenge was twofold:

• Understand how mid-sized businesses perceive AI, and what drives adoption decisions
• Identify why the end client was not always being selected, despite strong market presence
• Provide clear, evidence-based inputs to shape evolving brand strategy and the creative platform being developed by the strategy agency

Bryter designed a high-impact qualitative programme focused on uncovering deep, decision-level insight under tight timelines.

1. Targeting high-value decision makers

We recruited senior stakeholders across UK and US mid-market businesses, including:

• CEOs, CTOs, CIOs and Chief Data Officers
• Organisations across sectors including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Retail and Automotive

This ensured perspectives reflected real purchase dynamics, rather than abstract or theoretical views.

2. In-depth interviews to uncover decision dynamics

We conducted a series of 60-minute depth interviews, exploring:

• Strategic intent and attitudes toward AI adoption
• Internal decision-making structures and role evolution
• Key barriers, risks and unmet needs
• Language and mental models used to evaluate AI providers

3. Hypothesis-led exploration and testing

Working closely with the strategy agency, we reviewed and tested

• Embedded brand and positioning hypotheses into the discussions
• Tested these in a blind and open-ended format to avoid bias
• Evaluated how different framings resonated against real business priorities

This allowed us to move beyond exploration into practical validation of strategic directions.

4. Competitive benchmarking

We assessed perceptions of the end client against key competitors, including:

• AWS
• Microsoft
• Google

Providing critical context on where the end client's proposition was strong, and where it needed to evolve.

The Outcome

Bryter delivered a set of strategic outputs designed to directly inform the agency's creative and brand strategy:

Strategic Needs Map

A cross-sector synthesis of:

• AI adoption goals
• Key business challenges
• Priority opportunity areas

Decision Dynamics Framework

A clear view of:

• How AI decisions are made in mid-market organisations
• The roles, tensions and trade-offs influencing outcome

Positioning Validation

Evidence-based guidance on:

• Which framing and messaging territories resonate most strongly
• How the end client#s positioning should evolve to better align with business needs