Brand Loyalty in the Age of AgenticAI

Ms Chan

Hey everyone, welcome back to Loyalty Unlocked!

Ms Chan

For full disclosure, this podcast, including all voices, is AI generated based on posts on loyalty and marketing by my co-host, Mark Sage.

Ms Chan

So Mark, I gotta say, today’s topic is kind of blowing my mind. We’re talking about how AI is, like, not just changing the game—it’s rewriting the whole rulebook for brands and loyalty, right?

Mark Sage

Absolutely. And Google’s CEO actually mentioned this when he said recently that AI is a platform shift that's going to be bigger than the internet. Which, I mean, that’s a pretty bold statement.

Mark Sage

But if you look at what’s happening, it’s not far off. We’ve gone from those old Yahoo directories—remember those?—to keyword search, and now, suddenly, it’s all about conversational AI. The way people search is just... fundamentally different.

Ms Chan

Yeah, like, I remember when you’d just type in “best bubble tea Hong Kong” and hope for the best. But now, you can literally ask, “What’s a good bubble tea place near me that’s open late and not too sweet?” and the AI tries to figure out what you actually want, not just what you typed. It’s wild.

Mark Sage

Exactly. And here’s the kicker: you’re not persuading a human anymore. You’re informing an agent. That flips the whole marketing funnel on its head. Instead of trying to catch someone’s eye with a flashy ad, you’ve got to make sure the AI understands your brand and thinks you’re the right answer for the user’s intent. If you’re not in that agent’s shortlist, you’re invisible.

Ms Chan

That’s kind of scary, honestly. Like, all those years of building up brand awareness, and now it’s about whether an algorithm even notices you. I mean, I get why brands are freaking out a bit.

Mark Sage

Yeah, and it’s not just a UI change. It’s a structural shift. The agent is making the choice for the user, and it’s trying to be helpful, not promotional. So, if your brand isn’t relevant in that context, you’re just not going to show up. It’s not about who shouts the loudest anymore.

Ms Chan

So, let’s talk about what this means for brands trying to get seen. Like, SEO and keywords—are they just... dead?

Mark Sage

Not dead, but definitely not enough. The real-world tests in Hong Kong showed that specialist brands—like, niche retailers—were actually beating out the big mass brands in AI-driven search. It’s because they had stories embedded in their content, and their data was structured in a way that made sense to the AI. The big retailers? Sometimes they didn’t even show up by name. Just “supermarket.”

Ms Chan

Wait, so you’re saying if I’m a huge chain, I might just get lumped in as “some supermarket” and not even get mentioned? That’s brutal.

Mark Sage

Yeah, and it gets worse. There’s this thing called intent bias. So, if someone asks, “What’s the best swimming nappy for a one-year-old?” the AI might take “best” super literally and only show premium or specialty products, even if the person just wanted a basic, reliable option. The AI is reading between the lines, but sometimes it gets it wrong.

Ms Chan

Oh, I totally do that! I say “best” but I just mean, like, “good enough.” So, if the AI misreads me, I might never see the brands I actually want. That’s a huge missed opportunity for those brands.

Mark Sage

Exactly. And there are three big reasons brands aren’t showing up: poor content, weak context, and bad assumptions.

Mark Sage

If your product page is just a list of SKUs with no story, or you’re not explaining why your product matters, the AI just skips you. It’s looking for narrative, for context, for meaning. Not just keywords. And if you're assuming that your size matters - it doesn't. What matters is relevance to the ask.

Ms Chan

So, it’s not about being everywhere—it’s about being in the right story, in the right context. That’s a big shift for marketers, right?

Mark Sage

Absolutely. It’s about embedding your brand in the stories people—and now agents—are telling. If you’re not part of that, you’re not even in the race.

Ms Chan

Okay, so, if brand awareness isn’t enough anymore, what does brand building even mean now? Like, are we building brands for people or for machines?

Mark Sage

Honestly, it’s both. You still need humans to remember you, but now you also need AI to understand you. That means your brand has to be machine-readable. It’s not just about catchy slogans or cool logos. It’s about making sure your story is structured in a way that AI can pick up on. Narratives, semantics, use-cases—those are the things AI is actually looking for.

Ms Chan

So, like, if I’m a brand, I need to make sure my product pages aren’t just “Buy now!” but actually explain how to use the product, why it matters, maybe even include recipes or guides?

Mark Sage

Exactly. The new marketing trifecta is signal, context, and algorithm. Your brand equity is becoming data. Visibility is now algorithmic. If you’re not sending the right signals, in the right context, the algorithm just doesn’t see you. It’s not about how many people know your name—it’s about how well your story is embedded in the data the AI is using to make decisions.

Ms Chan

That’s so different from what I learned in school. Like, we always talked about top-of-mind awareness, but now it’s more like... top-of-algorithm awareness? Is that a thing?

Mark Sage

It should be! I mean, it’s a bit of a mouthful, but yeah, that’s the idea. You want to be the brand that the agent picks, not just the one people remember from an ad - although thats still important! And that means structuring your content, your data, your stories, so they’re easy for AI to find and use.

Ms Chan

So, brands need to be useful, not just memorable. That’s a big mindset shift.

Mark Sage

It is a big mindshift many - but it really shouldn't be. Context has always mattered for marketing, and even within ad placement - context based ads typically perform better. It's kinda common sense really that advertising in areas associated with what people are looking for is going to give your brand more relevance. The shift to AI is just making this even more important.

Ms Chan

We’ve talked a lot about how agents interpret intent and the role of context for visibility — but there’s a deeper problem most brands aren’t prepared for. When I say “best swim nappy,” what do I really mean? Probably just “Give me a good option, I don’t want to overthink it.”

Mark Sage

Exactly. But the AI takes “best” literally — it assumes you want top-rated, reusable, specialty products. There’s a mismatch between how people talk and how machines interpret it. And that’s where loyalty data comes in — not just to track purchase frequency, but to help the AI disambiguate intent. It gives the model the extra context it’s missing — what kind of buyer you are, what you tend to prefer, and what matters to you.

Ms Chan

So in a world of vague prompts, loyalty data becomes the most precise input.

Mark Sage

Yes - loyalty data is like a super fuel for AI!

Mark Sage

Historically, we used loyalty programs for CRM—segmentation, offers, that sort of thing. But now, loyalty data is the context engine for AI. It’s what gives the agent behavioral relevance.

Ms Chan

So, loyalty isn’t just about points and rewards anymore. It’s about making sure the AI knows who your customers are and what they care about. That’s kind of cool. But also, like, a bit creepy?

Mark Sage

Yeah, there’s always that balance. But if you do it right, you’re not just pushing offers—you’re actually helping the AI understand when “best” means “affordable” or “familiar” or “trusted,” not just “most expensive.” That’s how you surface in the response, even if the user isn’t the one asking directly. The agent is making the decision, but your data is what gets you in the conversation.

Ms Chan

It's kinda like the AI knows me...

Mark Sage

It does know you. Loyalty data is like your digital twin — a behavioural profile that travels with the customer across agents and platforms. It doesn’t just say what you bought. It tells the agent how often you buy. What brands you’re loyal to. Your price sensitivity. Your mission frequency, such as whether you shop for weekday meals vs. celebration dinners.

Ms Chan

So instead of segmenting after the fact, the AI can use that data up front — to choose what to recommend, and what to ignore. Almost as if it's you doing the thinking.

Mark Sage

Right. It’s a shift from personalisation as targeting to personalisation as decision architecture.

Ms Chan

This starts to sound like a defensive strategy too. If you’re a retailer or platform with loyalty data — you’ve got an edge.

Mark Sage

It’s not just an edge. It’s a moat. Because AI is hungry for context. And loyalty data is the cleanest, richest, most personal context there is. It’s also permissioned. You’re not scraping third-party behaviour — the customer gave it to you.

Ms Chan

So what does that mean for monetisation?

Mark Sage

It means loyalty becomes more than just retention. It becomes a data asset you can use to power better agentic recommendations. Data you can monetise through brand partnerships and data that can enable intelligent retail media that actually fits the moment.

Ms Chan

And ultimately — it means your loyalty programme isn’t just a points engine. It’s the context engine that keeps your brand visible in an invisible world.

Ms Chan

So, bring this all together - the big question for brands seems to be, “Are you even in the response?” Like, if the agent is picking, are you showing up at all?

Mark Sage

Exactly. And I think that’s the debate now—how do brands future-proof their visibility as AI agents become the gatekeepers?

Mark Sage

I think it comes down to three core things. Firstly, it's about embedding your brand in context - not just brand awareness, but a focus on the why and building brand stories - both within your own assets and also with other content creators.

Mark Sage

Second, it's making sure your story is structured for both humans and machines. So you're technically discoverable and not just relying on your size and performance marketing budget for traffic. If you’re not doing that, you’re at risk of just fading away digitally.

Mark Sage

Finally - for those brands than can - owning your data so that you can use this to help personalise AI context for your customers and ensuring you have a seat at the table. This means building marketing programmes that create reasons for customers to share their data and identity with you.

Ms Chan

Yeah, and I guess it’s not about abandoning creativity or emotion, but evolving it so it works for both people and algorithms. That’s a lot to think about. Mark, thanks for, like, breaking it all down. I feel like I need to go rewrite my whole marketing playbook now.

Mark Sage

You and me both. But that’s what makes this space so exciting. There’s always something new to learn. And hey, we’ll be back next time to dig even deeper, right?

Ms Chan

Absolutely! Thanks for tuning in, everyone.

Ms Chan

We’ll be back soon to unlock even more insights on the future of loyalty, AI, and what it means to stay seen in a world where visibility is no longer guaranteed.

Ms Chan

This is Loyalty Unlocked. Until next time.