How Mastercard, Newell and Uber Use AI for Brand Growth

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes · Last updated: 8 September 2026

At a live Brandweek session led by Mark Stenberg, Cheryl Guerin of Mastercard, Nick Hammitt of Newell Brands and Edwin Wong of Uber Advertising described how AI, measurement and emotional storytelling are being combined to accelerate brand growth. They said AI can shorten content production timelines while keeping strategic choices with human teams, and they emphasized attention metrics and brand lift alongside traditional performance measures. The session also credited Guerin's efforts with boosting Mastercard's brand value by more than 25%. This summary is drawn from Brandweek coverage first reported by ADWEEK.

Use AI to compress content timelines without surrendering control

The panel made a practical distinction between fast production and brand stewardship: they argued that generative tools should accelerate routine creative work but not replace human strategic judgment. In practice this means designers and brand managers keep final say over voice, placement and legal review while AI helps iterate scripts, cut edits and produce variations for testing.

Panelists described workflows where teams set constraints — tone, brand rules, approved imagery — and use models to generate multiple options for human review. This approach reduces time-to-market for campaigns and raises the number of ideas that can be validated quickly, while keeping a single person or team accountable for brand consistency.

Key to adoption is explicitly defined guardrails and a feedback loop that feeds human edits back into the creative brief and model prompts. That process preserves institutional knowledge and prevents the slow brand drift that happens when automation runs without clear constraints.

Measurement moving beyond clicks to attention and brand lift

The panel warned that last-click metrics alone no longer justify high-touch brand investments. Edwin Wong emphasised metrics that link exposure to outcomes such as ad-driven consideration, and said measurement must make a case for brand spend in the language of business results.

Attention metrics and brand-lift studies were presented as complementary to direct-response indicators: attention shows whether creative captures a moment, while brand lift ties exposure to shifts in awareness or intent. Bringing those measures into campaign reporting helps marketers defend investments in premium formats or multisensory executions.

Speakers argued measurement teams must combine experimental approaches with observational data to show causation where possible, and to present results in clear business terms so finance and procurement can see the returns on brand-oriented media.

AI-powered consumer personas and contextual timing, not just targeting

Rather than rely only on demographic segments, the panel recommended building proprietary AI consumer personas that model motivations and creative resonance. These personas are used to simulate responses, refine concepts and prioritise which executions to test in market.

Contextual signals and temporal relevance were elevated above narrow behavioral targeting: messages aligned to a person’s current situation or moment in the day can outperform traditional audience lists. The speakers said this approach reduces wasted impressions and improves relevance without depending on persistent identifiers.

Creating personas requires first-party data governance and clear privacy steps so the simulated profiles do not replicate sensitive attributes. The payoff is faster validation of creative ideas and more efficient media allocation when teams pair personas with moment-based triggers.

Multisensory branding: blending performance tactics with emotional storytelling

The panel argued that performance marketing metrics must sit alongside efforts to build emotional connection. They described a multisensory framework that coordinates audio, visual and experiential cues across channels to create consistent brand memory.

That framework supports high-touch activations that are expensive per impression but deliver richer brand outcomes, which measurement teams can justify with brand-lift data. Panelists recommended sequencing tactics so short-term promotions feed into longer-term storytelling rather than displacing it.

Executives cautioned that emotional work requires different KPIs and longer windows for evaluation; brands should set those expectations with stakeholders up front and use mixed-method measurement to capture both immediate and latent effects.

How this approach could play out

The bottom line

The Brandweek discussion shows how leading marketers are making AI a productivity engine while preserving the human role that guards brand identity. Measurement is widening to include attention and brand lift so that expensive, emotionally driven formats can be justified alongside direct-response tactics. Building proprietary personas and using contextual timing reduce wasted impressions, but both require strong privacy and governance practices. For marketing leaders, the immediate task is to set guardrails, align metrics to business outcomes and budget for longer evaluation windows when the aim is durable brand growth.

What to watch

• Attend Brandweek in Atlanta, September 15–17, 2026, where these themes will be discussed in sessions and panels.
• Watch ADWEEK’s Adspeak follow-up episodes and Leadership Voices series; no date has been set for specific callbacks.