In 2025, the marketing landscape is being reshaped by a new wave of artificial intelligence: multimodal AI. This technology, which can process and generate content across text, images, audio, and video, is unlocking unprecedented creative possibilities for brands. Ashton Coates, a prominent voice in AI-driven marketing, believes that multimodal AI is the key to delivering richer, more engaging, and highly relevant customer experiences.
What Is Multimodal AI?
Multimodal AI refers to artificial intelligence systems capable of understanding and generating multiple types of data simultaneously. Unlike traditional AI models that focus on a single mode—such as text or images—multimodal AI can seamlessly integrate and interpret information from various sources. This means it can, for example, analyse a video’s visuals and dialogue, understand the context of an image within an article, or generate social posts that combine text, graphics, and sound.
Why Is Multimodal AI Transforming Marketing?
Unified Brand Storytelling
Brands are no longer limited to one-dimensional campaigns. Multimodal AI enables marketers to craft stories that flow across formats—combining video, audio, imagery, and written content into cohesive, immersive experiences. This unified approach resonates more deeply with audiences, who increasingly consume content in a variety of ways.
Hyper-Personalisation Across Channels
By analysing customer data from multiple sources—such as browsing behaviour, voice searches, and social media interactions—multimodal AI can deliver personalised content in the format each user prefers. Whether it’s a visually stunning Instagram story, a podcast snippet, or a dynamic email, the message is tailored not just in content, but in medium.
Enhanced Accessibility and Inclusion
Multimodal AI makes content more accessible by automatically generating subtitles, audio descriptions, or alternative text for images. This ensures that marketing materials reach a broader audience, including those with disabilities or different language preferences.
Real-Time Content Adaptation
With the ability to interpret context across formats, multimodal AI can adjust content on the fly. For example, it might swap out images in an email based on the recipient’s location, or change the language and tone of a chatbot response depending on the user’s mood and device.
Real-World Examples in 2025
- Retailers use multimodal AI to create interactive lookbooks, blending product images, video demonstrations, and customer reviews in a single experience.
- Automotive brands generate immersive virtual showrooms where users can explore vehicles through 3D models, video tours, and AI-powered voice guides.
- Media companies deploy AI to summarise video interviews into text highlights, generate social media posts with matching visuals, and even create audio recaps for on-the-go audiences.
- Travel platforms offer destination previews that combine panoramic images, narrated guides, and dynamic travel tips, all tailored to the user’s interests.
Ashton Coates’ Perspective: Creativity Meets Intelligence
Ashton Coates emphasises that the real power of multimodal AI lies in its ability to amplify human creativity. “Marketers can now tell stories that engage all the senses, breaking down barriers between formats and channels,” Coates explains. “The brands that thrive will be those that use AI not just to automate, but to inspire and connect in new ways.”
Challenges and Considerations
- Consistency across formats: Maintaining a unified brand voice and message when content is generated across multiple modes.
- Data privacy: Collecting and integrating data from various sources requires robust privacy practices and transparent communication with consumers.
- Ethical use of AI: Ensuring that AI-generated content is accurate, inclusive, and free from bias.
The Future: Integrated Experiences as the New Standard
Multimodal AI is setting a new benchmark for what’s possible in marketing. As these systems become more sophisticated, expect to see campaigns that are not only more creative, but also more responsive and inclusive.
Ashton Coates predicts that in the coming years, the most successful brands will be those that embrace multimodal AI to deliver seamless, cross-channel experiences—meeting customers wherever they are, in whatever format they prefer.
In 2025, marketing is no longer about choosing between text, image, or video. With multimodal AI, brands can do it all—creating richer, more engaging experiences that captivate and convert. As Ashton Coates demonstrates, the future of marketing is integrated, intelligent, and truly limitless.