Experience design has moved from the margins to the center of brand strategy.

No longer a niche UX discipline, it has become a decisive lever for loyalty, differentiation, and economic success. At the same time, AI is speeding up what’s possible—while raising questions about where technology ends and human leadership must step in.

Here are a few things CMOs should know, based on five theses (and one antithesis) Ralf Gehrig, Global Chief Experience Officer at WongDoody, shared with German marketing publication W&V.

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1. The brand lives in the experience

Campaigns alone don’t define a brand anymore. What customers actually experience—across apps, platforms, and touchpoints—does. Real-time, context-sensitive interactions are now the true stage for brand value.

For CMOs: Experience management isn’t a support function, it’s the core of brand leadership.

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2. AI makes experience design faster and smarter

AI tools slash iteration cycles and accelerate testing. What used to take weeks can now be done in days. Prototypes become more data-driven, user-centered, and optimized on the fly.

For CMOs: AI delivers the speed and insight to make faster, evidence-based decisions.

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3. Leaders think in systems, not silos

The future of marketing requires orchestrating strategy, creation, tech, and design as one system. AI adds precision and scale, but it can’t replace context, culture, and values.

For CMOs: Be the orchestrator. Use AI responsibly, with clear guardrails and a focus on brand authenticity.

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Antithesis: experience design as a fig leaf?

AI brings efficiency, but it also risks sameness. Without human leadership, differentiation fades. Experience design must not become a fig leaf—it needs strategic direction to keep brands recognizable and tangible.

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The bottom line

Experience design isn’t a buzzword. It’s a management discipline that requires clear decisions, new role models, and strong partnerships. CMOs who continue to see it as secondary risk losing control of their brand.

The future of marketing is a dynamic interplay of technology, creativity, and leadership. CMOs aren’t just designing campaigns anymore—they’re designing the experiences that define the brand.

Read more in W&V below (German only).