Marketing was B2C. Somewhere along the way, it became B2A

Marketing was always about persuasion. For most of its history, brands persuaded consumers directly. But the first audience for brands is no longer the consumer. An intermediary has crept in and become the gatekeeper. Today brands must first persuade this intermediary – the almighty algorithm that decides what consumers see.

This shift has not been sudden. It has been building over time. From the early days of Google’s SEO algorithm deciding which web pages appeared in the search results and machine-learning based audience targeting, to now AI controlling consumer attention across every digital touchpoint and platform. The consumer-brand relationship is no more direct. Brands have been structurally forced to cede control of consumer attention inch by inch.

The hard truth today, that most marketers don’t want to acknowledge is that the old marketing model Brand → Media → Consumer is dying in a predominantly digital ecosystem. Brand → Algorithm → Consumer aka B2A (Business to Algorithm) is the new reality. Consumers still matter, of course, but algorithms now control access to them. They mostly see what the algorithm chooses to show them. So, marketing increasingly involves designing signals that algorithms favour.

The algorithm, however, is not acting in isolation. It is constantly reading human behaviour and responding to it. Content that triggers engagement gets amplified. What emerges is a feedback loop that drives amplification and visibility based on engagement. Brands are no longer just persuading consumers; they are trying to trigger the signals that persuade the system to show them to more consumers.

With this shift in marketing control, many of the traditional marketing concepts and frameworks have collapsed or transformed. For example: Sequential marketing funnels are now dynamic given how algorithms design exposure. Carefully planned target segments are a thing of the past. Platform AI now discovers audiences rather than advertisers defining them. The algorithms have upended these concepts and now control the entire chain from discovery to delivery. Here’s how:

Discovery — Algorithms control what brands consumers even encounter in the discovery process. With Google’s Search Generative Experience and assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI, consumers don’t browse results anymore. They get algorithmically synthesised answers. And, AI algorithms don’t work like erstwhile SEO. They value POV, authority, and consistency.

So, brands must build authority signals that algorithms trust to be included or quoted when consumers are looking for answers.

Distribution — Platform algos now decide what content gets amplified, to whom, when. Platforms like TikTok or Meta decide whether the content created by a brand spread or not depending on the signals that indicate potential engagement.

Therefore, marketers now design content with hooks, watch-time loops, engagement triggers. All in the hope that the algorithm chooses to propagate their content.

Delivery — AI-powered ad systems like Performance Max and Advantage+ along with dynamic creative optimization control how the message itself is assembled, delivered and optimised. Systems now choose the audience and placement. Media plans and target segments are no longer as defined by brands as before.

Advertisers can only influence outcomes by designing creative relevance and conversion signals.

As mentioned earlier, it is not that algorithms are new. What is new is that the old algorithm problem was partial. You could lose on Google but win elsewhere. Now the entire funnel is algorithmically mediated. There are no off-ramps anymore. The only way to play is to play by the algorithm rules.

Where does that leave brands?

What is the implication beyond loss of control?

When every touchpoint is algorithmically mediated, brands stop communicating with the consumers and start performing for systems. The algorithm does not care what a brand stands for. It doesn't reward distinctiveness. It cares for triggers of engagement. The brands quickly learn and comply, albeit unconsciously, by building in hooks and provocation that systems rewards.

 When everyone plays by identical rules, everyone starts to look the same. Which means over time, brands start sounding similar. The identity erosion is gradual, invisible, and by the time it's visible it's already done. That's the real loss. Not just control, but loss of distinctiveness.

But loss of control is only half the problem. There is an even bigger question that brands may have to grapple with.

If algorithms decide what gets seen, and brands design for algorithms, then who is actually building the brand?

The marketer or the machine?

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com.