Stop the Hype: Taylor Swift's Loyalty Playbook, Zeta & Marigold Merger, and Braze's AI

Making Sense of Martech

"Don't be the Taylor Swift of Martech." - Jacqueline Freedman

Jacqueline and Juan break down three of the latest Martech moments: Braze's all-in AI decisioning push, Zeta Global's acquisition of Marigold, and what Taylor Swift's marketing playbook reveals about loyalty and fandom.

Drawing from recent Martech World Forum events in London and San Francisco, they cut through the hype around AI, vendor economics, and what real enterprise teams are actually doing to make Martech work.

Highlights

Discover how Taylor Swift's variant strategy rewrites loyalty and first-party data engagement.

Learn why most AI decisioning pilots stall—and how to tell if your org is ready.

Understand what the Zeta–Marigold deal says about Martech consolidation and the future of loyalty tech.

Explore how enterprise teams turn "global rollouts" into many small, scalable wins.

Hear why authenticity and data discipline still beat automation and hype.

This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our sponsor Hightouch.

This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our sponsor Hightouch. Looking for a smarter way to activate your customer data? See what Hightouch can do for you at hightouch.com/msom.

Timestamps3:25 — Lessons from HSBC & Tailored Brands (Men's Wearhouse) on rolling out AI at scale. 7:12 — Braze's AI Decisioning: Analyzing the early use cases and the hard truth about ROI. 10:28 — Vendor rush: CDPs, decisioning, and the hidden cost of data operations. 14:04 — The Real Cost of AI: Why governance and data readiness are the biggest factors in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). 16:34 — Zeta Global acquires Marigold: strategy, price, and implications. 21:01 — The Taylor Swift Effect: loyalty, data, fandom economics, and corporate greed. 28:37 — Office Hours Q&A: Do you think the real power of a show like this is in analyzing the companies—or in challenging how the industry itself thinks about using (or refusing) AI in daily work?

Connect & Subscribe:

Subscribe to Making Sense of Martech wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, share with your team, and send us your questions and confessions — we may feature you in an upcoming episode!