The AI Flyer Trend and how it is hurting your brand

The views expressed herein are solely those of the writer.

By Candice Sealey.

Over the past couple of weeks, I kept seeing the same conversation popping up. People talking about the: AI flyers. You can’t help but notice these flyers. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it.

Scroll through social media and you begin to realize how many Easter flyers, barbecues, restaurant specials, school events, fundraisers and promotions look almost identical. The layouts feel familiar, the images feel similar and even the overall look starts blending into one.

AI tools have made it incredibly easy to produce graphics in seconds. You type what you want, click a button and just like that, you have something ready to post. For many people, especially when time or budget is tight, that feels like the perfect solution. However, this is where a serious issue arises.  When everyone uses the same tools in the same way, the results look the same and when everything looks the same, nothing stands out. This then becomes a branding problem.

Marketing scholar Philip Kotler describes branding as “the art of creating a distinct image in the mind of the consumer” in Marketing Management (Kotler and Keller, Pearson Education). That word distinct is not optional. If your visuals are blending into everything else people are seeing, then your brand is not making an impression. This is not just happening at the small business level but I have seen the same trend across medium sized businesses and even bigger organizations and nonprofits. These are organizations and businesses that I would strongly recommend invest in a professional graphic designer to ensure a consistent and recognizable visual brand identity.

Take something as simple as a fundraiser. You might decide to use AI to create the flyer because it saves money. It seems like a smart, practical choice. However, the visual impression still matters. A well thought out design can communicate trust, credibility and purpose. Those things are critical, especially for a nonprofit. A generic design cannot carry that weight.  This is why I continue to advocate that the human side of branding still matters. A good designer is not just arranging text and images. He/she is thinking about the audience, shaping tone, mood and context. The designer understands how colour, typography and layout influence how people feel about what they are seeing.

Martin Lindstrom, global brand strategist and New York Times bestselling author, explains in Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy (Free Press, 2005) that strong brands build recognition through consistent sensory and emotional cues, not visuals alone. A flyer may seem small, but it is often the first impression. It tells people what to expect. A barbecue flyer should not feel like a corporate seminar. A school bake sale should not feel like a luxury campaign. Every event has a tone and that tone needs to come through visually.

In that sense, the flyer or the social media post becomes a preview of the experience. There is another matter many people may not thinking about: Attention. When someone is scrolling through social media, their brain is constantly filtering what deserves attention. If your flyer looks like something they have already seen several times before, they keep scrolling. They may see it, but it does not register. It is the same way you can have the radio playing in the background and later realize you do not remember a single song. It’s the same reason why businesses should not have the same radio ad running for an extended period of time.  The sound it there, but your mind tunes it out.

Similarly, online, if your design does not capture attention, it becomes background noise. Saving money on design may feel like the smart move in the moment, but branding is not just about cost. It is about perception. A flyer is not just information. It is often the first signal people receive about your event, your initiative or your brand.

AI itself is not the problem. It can be a powerful tool in the creative process.  Many designers are already using it to explore ideas, generate references and work more efficiently but that is why prompt engineering is becoming a skill.  In those cases, the tool supports the thinking i.e.  AI supports the work. The real issue is when the tool replaces the thinking.

In a digital space filled with instant graphics, the brands that will stand out are not the ones producing the fastest flyer but the ones producing the most recognizable one.

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About the Author:

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the right people at the right time through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions.  She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voiceover talent, media personality.  Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Phone:784-432-2223. Email:  igniteresults@gmail.com

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