After a 34-year career as EVP/CMO at Chick-fil-A, I’ve developed a heightened sensitivity to movements in marketing that either strengthen brands—or quietly undermine them.
When it comes to today’s surge of enthusiasm around AI, I sense both opportunity and risk.
AI is an extraordinary resource. But in marketing, it also introduces a growing temptation: to use AI primarily as a shortcut to data and analytics—then allow those insights to drive strategies that prioritize transactions over relationships. The result? Marketing investments increasingly pressured to meet immediate payout hurdles, often at the expense of long-term brand equity.
This is where brand builders must embrace the tension.
Great brands are not built on metrics alone. They are not sustained by short-term pricing advantages or product features that competitors can quickly replicate. Instead, enduring brands are built through emotional connection, genuine relationships, and meaningful experiences. They become part of people’s lives.
Long-term, profitable brand builders will use this new generation of customer insight tools to do three fundamental things better.
1. Deepen Emotional Connection
First, use insights to better understand how to emotionally connect with customers—in their language, their lifestyle, and at every point of contact.
People respond when they feel acknowledged, valued, and respected. Study brands that consistently do this well: Apple, Nordstrom, Ritz-Carlton, Singapore Airlines, Patagonia, Lululemon. You likely have your own list—and I’d bet those brands have earned your loyalty through emotional connection, not just efficiency.
This discipline requires clarity around your brand promise—one that transcends simply chasing transactions at the lowest possible cost.
2. Design Engagement That Feels Human
Second, engage customers in ways that reinforce they are more than a data point.
Every touchpoint should reflect something distinct about your brand—unexpected, recognizable, and authentic (yes, even cows promoting chicken). Genuine eye contact. Thoughtful interaction. A sincere desire to know your customer better.
Technology can help here. Used wisely, it enables more personalized engagement and delivers value that differentiates the customer experience rather than commoditizing it.
3. Build Brands That Endure
Third—and this is the ultimate litmus test—great brands become endearing, and therefore enduring.
Multigenerational brands are relentlessly consistent in their promise and in how they execute emotional, engaging relationships over time. They don’t waver. They understand that great brands drive:
- Loyalty (frequent, repeated use)
- Premium pricing
- Advocacy (customers who willingly tell others)
Put simply: people come more often, pay full price gladly, and recommend the brand enthusiastically. They can’t imagine life without it.
A “Good Name” Still Matters
Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A’s founder, often quoted Proverbs 22:1:
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
He called it his life verse—the north star that guided how he approached business. He believed that if we consistently did what was right for everyone who encountered Chick-fil-A, the company would prosper. He was right. That verse captures the very essence of a great brand name.
Informed Intuition, Not Analytics Alone
This is why I urge brand builders to strike a healthy balance between data-driven insight and the stewardship of a great name.
Strive for informed intuition, not analytics that dictate every decision. Great brands have personality. They reflect the soul of their leaders. And great leaders clearly define their brand promise—then empower their teams to engage emotionally and authentically with every customer.
They do not allow the efficiency of data-driven marketing to turn their brand into a commodity.
If you’d like to see how this philosophy played out at Chick-fil-A—during my tenure and still today—I share those lessons in my book:
Covert Cows & Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand