After five years away from the spotlight, New York Times bestselling author and digital persuasion pioneer Bryan Eisenberg returned to the international keynote stage at the Global Marketing Summit in Istanbul with a message businesses around the world needed to hear: How do you persuade humans when AI has taken over the conversation? Eisenberg helped shape the online strategies of brands like Google, Disney, JPMorgan Chase, Orvis, HPE, and Travelocity by focusing on what truly moves people to act. Now, as AI-generated content floods every channel, he sees the same challenge businesses faced during the early days of the internet, only now it's louder, faster, and even more disconnected from what humans actually care about.
In his keynote "Legendary Story Types That Sell in an AI World," Bryan Eisenberg pulled back the curtain on what artificial intelligence still cannot deliver: real alignment, human authenticity, and the spark that creates lasting trust. He explored how the most successful brands utilize timeless story types to create emotional relevance and minimize friction throughout the customer experience. The talk drew inspiration from his most recent book available at https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/book, where Bryan describes how many organizations operate like the six blind men and the elephant, with each department seeing part of the picture but missing the whole, leaving customers feeling the disconnect.
Eisenberg's challenge to leaders was clear: If your teams don't align around a single, shared story, no amount of technology will make your marketing work. He has spent the past year advising clients on how to respond to the rise of AI tools and shifting customer behavior. The symptoms may seem new—robotic messaging, misaligned funnels, automation without emotion—but the underlying issue is familiar. As he told the Istanbul audience: "If your story is broken, AI just helps more people ignore you faster." The answer is not to out-AI your competitors but to tell a story worth amplifying.
This keynote emerged from years of direct work with companies trying to adapt to fast-moving technology without losing their identity. It was only after this talk that Bryan wrote the post now gaining traction in marketing circles, available at https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/blog/ai-cant-fix-a-broken-story. The flood of AI content has created more confusion than clarity, and Eisenberg is helping leaders fix the root issue—the lack of a clear, believable story. The key takeaway for brands is that your story is your strategy; AI can scale it, but only you can shape it, using frameworks like the Buyer Legends Framework detailed at https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/buyer-legends.
