At the May 2026 MarTech Conference, a panel of marketing leaders tackled the industry’s ongoing conflict: how brands can create personalized customer experiences without crossing the line into “creepy.”
In the session, “Gaining attention without losing trust: creating meaningful moments throughout the customer journey,” moderator Angela Vega, director of capabilities and operations at Expedia Group, led a discussion with Alec Haase, general manager of AI products at High Touch; Sean Nowlin, founder and CEO of Spotlight IQ; and Ed Poppe, founder and affiliate marketing leader at Poppe Marketing.
Navigating the line between “helpful” and “disruptive” is a constant obstacle in the marketing world. The panel focused on a key theme: personalization only works if customers feel there is a fair value exchange.
Haase argued that brands often misunderstand personalization as a one-time consent activity rather than an ongoing relationship.
“The real question,” he said, “is whether the customer feels they have a benefit every time they go and use that data.” He cited store loyalty programs as an example of personalization done right because shoppers receive instant rewards, discounts, or convenience for their experience.
Pope emphasized the importance of avoiding an experience that would make consumers uncomfortable if they were described out loud. Reflecting on early recall practices in the insurance industry, he recalled arguments about whether showing the exact car a buyer saw in advertisements would feel unnecessary.
“If you say it out loud, like, is the customer going to come in or be okay with that exchange?” Poppe said. “If the answer is no, personalization is not the way to go.”
Throughout the discussion, speakers challenged the conventional definition of personalization. Nowlin argued that marketers are ultimately pursuing better business results, not personalization for its own sake.
“The result we are aiming for is not personal,” he said. “The result is growing our individual businesses.”
Panelists agreed that the best personalization often feels abstract. Haase pointed to Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify as examples of companies that deliver highly tailored experiences without overtly demonstrating that they are doing so. “The best experience may not feel personal, even if it is,” he said.
It’s a common struggle: stuck between channel-specific goals and a unified customer experience. Poppe criticized siled channel optimization, noting that clients don’t differentiate between email, paid ads, and connected TV campaigns. “The most important thing is the customer and what they experience,” he said, referring to the common frustration of seeing the same ad over and over again after already making a purchase.
The discussion also explored the growing role of AI and automation in marketing orchestration. Haase explained how AI-driven decision systems can prioritize customer actions based on business value, such as store visits or loyalty retention. But the panels warned against overworking at peak times.
Poppe shared a recent experience with an AI-powered customer service line that failed to address a cheap programming problem, turning what should have been a simple interaction into a frustrating one. “It can go sideways quickly,” he warned.
At the end of the session, the panel reframed personalization as something broader than individual targeting. Instead, they defined it as compatibility, trust, and collaboration between brands and customers.
As Vega summed it up, customers don’t need brands to regurgitate information they already know. They need experiences that make decisions easier and interactions more meaningful.y is an ongoing process.
