AI Before It Was Trending: What Anthony Reeves Taught Us About Brand, Creativity & Leading Ahead of the Curve
Most people discovered AI in marketing sometime around 2022. Anthony Reeves was keynoting about it in 2017.
That single fact tells you everything you need to know about how this episode of the Brandinc PR Podcast went — and why this conversation is one every brand leader, marketer, and founder needs to hear right now.
Anthony is a brand and creative executive whose career has spanned the Australian Outback, the Cannes Lions stage, and the C-suites of LVMH, Amazon, WPP, and Kohler Co. He has run Super Bowl campaigns, scaled Airbnb’s media nearly 4x during a global pandemic, helped Nike rebuild its e-commerce strategy, and led a 153-year-old American brand through one of the boldest creative stances in the industry today. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation.
1. Being Early Is Only Valuable If You Can Communicate the Vision
Anthony didn’t just see the AI shift coming — he stood on the Cannes Lions stage in 2018 and made the case for it in a room full of people who weren’t ready to hear it. His takeaway? Being ahead of the curve means nothing if you can’t bring people along with you. Communication is the bridge between vision and execution, and that is just as true inside a boardroom as it is in a brand campaign.
2. Scaling a Brand Without Losing Its Soul Is the Hardest Job in Marketing
During his time at LVMH, Anthony was tasked with scaling acquired startup houses to compete alongside the world’s biggest luxury names — without stripping away the very thing that made them worth acquiring. His approach centered on protecting brand DNA while building operational infrastructure around it. The lesson for founders and brand leaders: growth should amplify what makes you distinct, not erase it.
3. The Kohler AI Decision Was About More Than Advertising
One of the most talked-about moments in this episode was Anthony’s explanation of Kohler’s decision to refuse AI-generated people in its advertising. At a time when most brands are racing toward AI-generated content, Kohler went the other direction — and built the global infrastructure to hold that line consistently. Anthony’s point was clear: a brand stance only means something if you can operationalize it. Values without systems are just words.
4. Brand Resilience Is Built Before the Crisis Hits
From helping Nike navigate its post-Amazon e-commerce realignment to scaling Airbnb’s media during the height of the pandemic, Anthony has led through multiple high-stakes inflection points. His consistent observation across all of them is that the brands that survive uncertainty are the ones that invested in clarity — about who they are, who they serve, and what they stand for — long before things got hard.
5. Legacy Brand Building Requires a Different Kind of Patience
In a media environment that rewards virality and short-term spikes, Anthony makes the case for something slower and more deliberate — building brands that earn trust over time, show up consistently in culture, and create the kind of relevance that doesn’t evaporate when the next trend hits. That requires brand leaders who are willing to play a longer game than most organizations are comfortable with.
About Anthony Reeves
Anthony Reeves is a global brand and creative executive with experience spanning LVMH, Amazon, WPP, and Kohler Co. He delivered his first AI keynote in 2017 and spoke at Cannes Lions in 2018 on AI and brand strategy in a conversation that is still widely referenced today.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
