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As AI assistants become more deeply involved in discovery and purchasing, brand loyalty is no longer just about repeat buying, and CMOs must shift from campaign operations to choosing the right signals in an “AI everywhere” environment. For Vietnamese marketers, this means that building a brand in July 2026 must both win over people and create clear enough credibility signals for AI systems to recognize and prioritize.
Brand loyalty in the AI era: no longer just a human matter
MarTech’s first article raises a very interesting question: if AI is increasingly involved in discovery and shopping, how is brand loyalty created? According to the article, familiar indicators such as repeat purchases, points accumulation, or tier upgrades were built for a time when consumers moved through each step of the buying journey on their own.
But when AI assistants begin filtering options on behalf of users, loyalty is no longer just a customer feeling, but also the way a system interprets a brand. In other words, a brand may not have had time to “convince” the buyer before AI has already judged it as trustworthy, relevant, and worth recommending.
The key point here is the role of signals. The article emphasizes that factors such as trustworthiness, relevance, and consistency are increasingly affecting whether a brand is surfaced, considered, or recommended by AI. For marketers, this expands the concept of loyalty from customer relationships to the system’s ability to “read” the brand.
Instead of only optimizing loyalty programs to encourage repeat purchases, brands also need to think about how to build credibility signals across every digital touchpoint. That could mean consistency in product information, service experience, useful content, and signals that AI can more easily recognize.
The CMO in the age of AI excess: the challenge is not doing more, but choosing the right signals
MarTech’s second piece takes a different but closely related angle: AI is becoming “excessive” in the enterprise. Instead of appearing only in a data department or a centralized platform, AI now exists in off-the-shelf software, tools adopted independently by each department, HR processes rolled out on their own, and even unstructured data sources that companies have not fully tapped.
The article describes this as an “AI everywhere” environment, where opportunity comes with the risk of technology accumulation and creates more noise for the organization. When everyone has AI, the CMO’s challenge is no longer accessing a new tool, but knowing which signals are trustworthy and which should be used to guide growth.
The key shift here is from “marketing operator” to “signal architect.” That means the CMO does not just run campaigns, but must design how the business identifies, validates, and prioritizes signals. In a context where AI can generate too much content, too much automation, and too much data, the ability to distinguish real signals from noise becomes a competitive advantage.
The article’s message is quite clear: speed is no longer an advantage if it creates chaos. Businesses need clarity around data, decision-making criteria, and how AI is deployed across the organization. Otherwise, “AI excess” can make productivity rise on paper while real value declines due to a lack of direction.
A perspective for the Vietnamese market
For the Vietnamese market, both stories are especially noteworthy as AI is being adopted more quickly by businesses, from customer service and content creation to ad optimization and omnichannel sales. The issue is not just keeping up with new tools, but ensuring the brand is still recognized consistently in an environment where customers may ask AI before they ask a sales representative.
Vietnamese businesses should start with very basic but high-impact actions: standardizing brand and product information across digital platforms, maintaining consistent content quality, strengthening after-sales service credibility, and building clean data so AI can “read” it correctly. At the same time, marketing teams need to work more closely with sales, customer service, and technology to identify which signals truly reflect brand value.
In short, AI does not eliminate the role of the brand, but it is changing how brands are perceived and chosen. Marketers who quickly understand that they must both win over people and create signals for systems will have a clear advantage in the next phase.
References
- When AI is choosing, how is brand loyalty earned?
- How CMOs can create clarity in an AI-excess enterprise
