ABOUT THIS EPISODE
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In this episode of The Array by Jacquard, Toby and Jasper chat with Rachel Kamel, Director of CRM at Zwift and a growth marketing leader with experience across B2B, gaming, entertainment, and fitness. Together, they explore what it really takes to keep customers engaged when marketers have more tools, more data, and increasingly powerful AI at their disposal.
Rachel explains how different industries have shaped her approach to retention, from the annual cycles of B2B to the constant engagement demanded by gaming and fitness. This conversation then turns to AI and CRM. Rachel sees the biggest opportunity in automating repetitive work and giving marketers more time for strategy, analysis, and creative thinking. But she warns against assuming that because teams can produce twice as many campaigns, they should. More messages can create customer fatigue, and AI can make it easier to automate the wrong things at scale.
Rachel also shares a smarter approach to experimentation: instead of testing isolated creative variations, marketers should look for repeatable insights that can influence future campaigns. Finally, she explains why the numbers behind funnels, retention, and performance ultimately connect back to something more human: creating a better customer experience. For her, the most rewarding marketing work is work that makes people's lives better.
What You’ll Learn:
How CRM strategies differ across B2B, gaming, entertainment, and fitness
How AI can remove repetitive work without removing human judgment
Why scaling campaigns doesn't necessarily mean scaling value
How customer fatigue can change the way you approach automation
How to build experiments that generate reusable marketing insights
Why audience context should shape your messaging and creative
When humor and insider language can strengthen or hurt engagement
How to personalize CRM strategies around customer behavior and motivation
Why better funnels and retention ultimately start with better customer experiences
Rachel Kamel is Director of CRM at Zwift, where she leads customer relationship marketing for a fitness platform built at the intersection of sport, technology, and gaming.
A growth marketing leader with experience across B2B, gaming, entertainment, and fitness, Rachel specializes in building and refining customer journeys across acquisition, onboarding, retention, churn prevention, and winback. She is also passionate about making cycling more accessible and using marketing to help people have better experiences with the products they use.
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