Marketers talk a lot about emotional resonance and personalisation. But the reality is: most of us are still figuring out how to do it without crossing a line.

In this conversation, Joe speaks with James Manderson from Braze about the tension many marketers feel between relevance, respect, and privacy.

They explore:

• Why 95% of marketers say crafting emotionally resonant messaging is hard

• The difference between “Hi {First Name}” and genuinely thoughtful personalisation

• How to use first-party data in a way that feels human, not extractive

• What trust looks like in practice — not theory

• Examples of brands who walk this line well

This isn’t about sentimentality. It’s about treating people like people, at scale.