When HubSpot unveiled its Loop Marketing framework at INBOUND 2025, I found myself nodding in appreciation, not just for their brilliant articulation of a much-needed playbook, but for their recognition of what many of us have been practising for years under different names.
Whilst HubSpot deserves enormous credit for codifying this approach and providing the technological infrastructure to scale it, I’ve been calling this methodology “pizza marketing” for the better part of a decade. Every slice, every touchpoint, every interaction, every piece of content, contributes to the whole. No single slice makes a pizza, but together, they create something far more satisfying and nourishing than any individual component could achieve alone.
The Pizza Principle: Why Ecosystem Thinking Isn’t New
Long before we had sophisticated AI tools and integrated platforms, astute marketers understood that successful campaigns required an ecosystem approach. I’ve been advocating for what I termed “pizza marketing” because, like a well-crafted pizza, every element must work harmoniously to create the complete experience.
The base, your brand foundation and core messaging, provides structure. The sauce, your value proposition, adds flavour and depth. The cheese, your customer relationships, holds everything together. And the toppings, your various channels, content formats, and touchpoints, provide variety, interest, and the ability to appeal to different tastes whilst maintaining the integrity of the whole.
HubSpot’s Loop Marketing brilliantly captures this same philosophy with its Express, Tailor, Amplify, and Evolve framework. Their recognition that “60% of Google searches end without a click” and that customer attention is “scattered across YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, podcasts, and platforms that didn’t exist five years ago” validates what many of us have been experiencing firsthand. The traditional funnel is indeed broken.
Technology Serves Strategy, Not the Other Way Around
Here’s where I wholeheartedly agree with HubSpot’s approach and why their Loop Marketing framework represents such a significant advancement: they’ve recognised that the methodology isn’t what’s new. It’s the technology that enables us to execute it at scale with unprecedented precision and scale.
As HubSpot notes, “Everyone has access to the same AI tools, but what’s different about the Loop playbook is you. AI needs the context and perspectives about your business that only you can give it.” This is precisely why technology alone will never be the differentiator. It’s the human insight, creativity, and strategic thinking that transform tools into competitive advantages.
I’ve always maintained that history teaches us a crucial lesson: it’s never about the technology. It’s about the people who wield it. The printing press didn’t make every publisher successful. The internet didn’t guarantee every website would thrive. And AI won’t automatically make every marketer more effective.
What makes the difference is understanding the fundamental principles of human psychology, brand building, and relationship cultivation. Principles that remain constant even as the tools evolve.
Embracing AI to Perfect the Pizza
What I’m genuinely excited about with HubSpot’s Loop Marketing framework is how it provides the technological scaffolding to perfect what I’ve been calling pizza marketing. The AI integration they’ve developed allows us to:
Express with unprecedented clarity: Their approach of using “AI to help you create a brand style guide and to give you a simulation of customer feedback” that would have been “totally out of reach for many businesses until very recently” transforms how we can define and refine our brand voice.
Tailor with surgical precision: Instead of demographic generalisations, we can now personalise at the individual level while maintaining brand consistency across all touchpoints – every slice of the pizza perfectly adapted to each customer’s preferences.
Amplify with intelligent distribution: The framework’s emphasis on meeting “customers everywhere they are” and using “AI to personalise each message at scale” allows us to ensure every piece of our marketing pizza reaches the right audience through the right channels.
Evolve with continuous learning: The Loop’s dynamic nature mirrors what I’ve always advocated, marketing as an iterative process where every interaction informs and improves the next.
The Human Element Remains Paramount
What I particularly appreciate about HubSpot’s approach is its emphasis on “hybrid teams of humans and AI working together. Each doing what they do best–with human creativity and AI efficiency.” This acknowledges something I’ve long believed: technology amplifies human capability but never replaces human judgment.
The most sophisticated AI can analyse customer behaviour patterns, optimise messaging, and automate distribution, but it cannot:
- Understand the nuanced emotional context of your brand
- Navigate the ethical implications of marketing decisions
- Build genuine relationships based on trust and shared values
- Adapt to unexpected cultural or social shifts with appropriate sensitivity
These remain uniquely human capabilities that no amount of technological advancement can replicate.
Moving Forward: Pizza Marketing Meets Loop Technology
As I integrate HubSpot’s Loop Marketing tools into my existing pizza marketing methodology, I’m not changing my fundamental approach; I’m supercharging it. The core principles remain the same: create a cohesive ecosystem where every element reinforces the others, maintain consistency while allowing for personalisation, and always prioritise genuine value creation over short-term metrics.
What’s changed is my ability to execute these principles with greater speed, precision, and scale. AI allows me to analyse customer sentiment more effectively, personalise content more granularly, and iterate more rapidly, but the strategic foundation remains grounded in the timeless principles of effective marketing.
The future belongs to marketers who understand that AI is not a replacement for strategic thinking but an accelerator for it. As HubSpot correctly identifies, “Teams using the Loop will turn AI into their competitive advantage”, but only if they combine that technology with solid strategic foundations and genuine human insight.
The pizza remains the same; we’ve simply found better ovens to bake it in.
ImageS credit: HubSpot