Observed Signal · May 1, 2023 · Analysis · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Customer Loyalty in 2023: Personalization, Engagement, Brand Meaning
Marketers are focusing on personalization and engagement to achieve customer loyalty, while facing data availability challenges and reevaluating traditional metrics. The article discusses three approaches: personalization, engagement as a loyalty measure, and a composite metric called 'brand meaning' that correlates 90% with loyalty. It highlights Deloitte Digital's finding that brands personalize only 56% of experiences but only 38% of consumers agree, and that 69% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that get personalization right. Data challenges persist, especially for brick-and-mortar retailers due to cookie deprecation and privacy regulations. Experts suggest generative AI can scale personalization efforts.
Relevant to MarTech and customer experience, but not a breaking industry event; offers analytical insights on loyalty metrics and data challenges.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Deloitte Digital study found brands personalize on average 56% of customer experiences, but only 38% of consumers agree.
- 69% of consumers said they would be more likely to purchase from brands that get personalization right.
- Lippincott's analysis of 400+ brands across 73 metrics found that a brand's meaning score is 90% correlated with loyalty.
- Commerce Signals CMO Nick Mangiapane noted brick-and-mortar retailers often don't know who their customers are without loyalty programs.
- Generative AI is seen as a way to make personalized customer experiences more scalable and sustainable.
Connected Companies & Entities
4 Entities mapped“Leala Crawford is managing director in Deloitte's digital customer & marketing practice, and Deloitte Digital conducted the 'Personalizing G...”
“Nick Mangiapane is CMO and head of partnerships at Commerce Signals, a customer engagement measurement company....”
“Dani Mariano is president at Razorfish, discussing engagement as a loyalty measure....”
“The article mentions that location data has become harder to obtain since Apple users started turning off location tracking....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Delta Air Lines Hires Ex-Deloitte Exec to Build Ads Business
Delta Air Lines is planning to launch an advertising business, following in the footsteps of rival United Airlines. The airline has hired Keri Paison, formerly a senior manager of strategy, growth, and transformation at Deloitte Digital, to lead its media network. During her time at Deloitte, Paison helped develop retail media networks that generated over $600 million in projected revenue for clients. She also previously worked at Digitas North America as associate director of strategy and analysis. The move signals Delta's intention to monetize its first-party customer data and digital touchpoints through advertising, a strategy increasingly adopted by airlines and other travel companies.
Dave & Buster's Appoints Gut and Mediaplus as New Agencies
Dave & Buster's, the restaurant and entertainment chain, has appointed Gut as its creative agency of record and Mediaplus as its media agency of record following a pitch that included incumbents Deloitte Digital and Dentsu X. The move comes as the company seeks to reverse a 13-quarter sales decline. The CMO, Jeremy Tucker, stated that the brand awareness is around 90%, so the focus is not on a brand refresh but on driving foot traffic. The new agencies will work to make the 45-year-old brand relevant again, leveraging their expertise to attract more customers to locations.
LLMs Increasingly Cite YouTube in AI Search Results
YouTube has emerged as a leading citation source across major AI platforms, surpassing Reddit. Meltwater data shows YouTube was the most-cited platform by eight AI systems in August 2026. Tinuiti's Q2 2026 report indicates YouTube's citation share in Google AI Mode quadrupled and more than doubled in AI Overviews from January to April 2026. Long-form videos, particularly those lasting 10–20 minutes, dominate citations, while Shorts lag. However, Scrunch found that citations fade by 43% within a month, indicating short-lived visibility. This trend underscores YouTube's growing role in AI-driven discovery, prompting brands to structure content with clear markers for AI visibility.
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