In a marketing world increasingly optimized by AI, personalization engines and predictive systems, it’s tempting to believe that relevance can be developed entirely through data.
But the brands people use by default, the brands they don’t search for, compare, or ask AI to recommend, are built through small, generous brand actions. The kind that are classified as nice-to-haves on a spreadsheet because they don’t generate an immediate conversion. But what’s overlooked is how they quietly eliminate second thoughts by locking in brand choice.
AI can ensure that brands are found, but not that they are remembered.
The cookie that survived the campaign
Nearly twenty years ago, I once stayed at a DoubleTree hotel. Of all the details of that trip, I remember only one thing with surprising clarity: I was handed a warm, truly delicious chocolate chip cookie when I checked in.
That cookie was not part of a loyalty program. No discount was unlocked. It was not personalized or tracked. It was just an unexpected welcome gesture.
From a financial perspective, it’s easy to imagine the cookie budget being cut. Unit costs apply and are not reflected in attribution reports. There is no quantifiable ROI. Eliminating the cookie would prove Oscar Wilde’s famous quote: knowing the “cost of everything and the value of nothing.”
Because decades later, that cookie still brings that brand back to me in a meaningful way. Not because it was smart. It’s because it gave me the feeling that it was taken into account, right at the moment I became a customer. Today, no algorithm would justify this. That would be tragic for brand value.
Dig Deeper: How to Prove the Value of Brand Marketing Without Sacrificing ROI
Generosity that lives with you
If the DoubleTree cookie proves that small gestures create lasting emotional memories, a ButcherBox example shows something equally important: generosity doesn’t have to be sentimental to be meaningful.
After placing an order with ButcherBox, I received a nice card from the CEO. Included was a 5-by-7-inch refrigerator magnet detailing the recommended doneness temperatures for every type of meat you would ever cook. It was lightly branded. No call-to-action or QR code. Just a handy, thoughtfully designed reference. It’s on my refrigerator now.
Every time I cook meat, ButcherBox quietly comes back into my life, not through an ad or retargeting, but through utility. From a performance perspective, this seems almost absurd. It doesn’t scale by impressions or optimize click-through rates. It lives beyond the feed, the inbox and the dashboard.
But that’s exactly why it works. It is present at the moment of use, reduces uncertainty and makes me better at something that I find important. Doing this creates a simple, powerful thought: “I will use these guys again.”
AI excels at helping customers make decisions. Appreciated generosity removes the need to decide again.
Dig deeper: Brand trust is the most valuable asset your company possesses
Show up when it matters most
The strongest examples of brand generosity tend to appear where the metrics are weakest and the meaning is strongest.
Chewy is known for sending handwritten condolence cards, flowers or small gifts to customers after learning of the death of a beloved pet. These gestures are human responses to grief.
From an ROI perspective, this is indefensible. There is no conversion event associated with loss, no sensible attribution window, and no optimization loop that makes this make sense. Yet customers never forget it.
AI can detect sentiment, highlight a life event and recommend a next best action. What it can’t do is decide to care. Customers are sensitive to that difference.
Chewy doesn’t just sell pet supplies. Moments like these prove what kind of company it is. That evidence will survive any promotional, recommendation or reminder email.
Dig deeper: Loyalty hasn’t disappeared. Brands traded it away.
What CMOs are doing wrong when it comes to generosity
Most CMOs misclassify generosity. Generous acts are labeled as improvements in the customer experience. When budgets tighten or AI promises efficiency, those moments become easy to cut. In this way, generosity is forced to compete with performance marketing and martech investments. It rarely wins.
To correct this misconception, don’t build up an emotional defense. Think about it from a different strategic framework.
- Stop treating generosity like a campaign. Campaigns are designed to get noticed. Generosity is designed to be remembered.
- Change the evaluation question. Instead of asking, “What does this change?” question: “Will this help eliminate a future decision against us?” The most valuable brand acts quietly to discount competitors the next time the need arises.
- Design generosity for presence, not scale. The most effective acts of generosity tend to take place in the customer’s routine or environment, not in his or her feed. They earn their value over time.
- Resist optimizing generosity too early. AI is excellent at measuring performance. It is terrible at predicting memory. If a generous act has to prove itself immediately, it will by definition fail. These moments should be treated as foundational brand infrastructure, not performance tools.
For CMOs looking to operationalize this thinking, start here:
- What moment in our customer journey would a finance team most likely leave out, but a customer would remember for years to come?
- Does this action reduce anxiety, effort, or uncertainty at a meaningful moment, even if it does not lead to immediate conversion?
- If this went away tomorrow, would customers appreciate it or just our CFOs?
If you can’t answer these questions, AI won’t solve the problem.
Dig deeper: Acquisition gets the attention, but loyalty drives the results
The real risk in the AI era
The real risk for brands in the AI era is how easily AI makes it possible to remove anything that can’t be quickly justified, easily quantified or optimized. This kind of efficiency takes away from the moments that create trust, memory and meaning.
The most resilient brands will use AI where it excels, while fiercely protecting the small, generous acts that make them human. If those moments are good, customers don’t need help making a decision. They already know who they are coming back to.
Energize yourself with free marketing insights.
Contributing authors are invited to create content for MarTech and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the martech community. Our contributors work under the supervision of the editors and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. MarTech is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of it Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.
#brand #moments #algorithms #understand #MarTech