For Scott Edington, CEO at San Francisco-based AI startup, Deep Labs, techniques used to steer people away from their better judgement are what he refers to as dark patterns. And they have become something he and his team are keen to protect people from.

There’s a new normal in emerging technology every week, driven by rapid convergence of everything from smart devices to the virtual and physical in the metaverse. It’s ushering in the age of Industry 5.0, an exciting and frightening scenario for marketers.

“Quitline is always looking for new and innovative ways to engage and communicate with people who want to quit smoking or vaping,” Quitline manager, Lindsay Whelan, told CMO about its decision to adopt a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool.

With the desire to deliver personalised experiences crashing headlong into consumer privacy concerns, marketers are having to walk a fine line between extracting value from customer data while keeping them onside. But Australian independent speciality photographic store, digiDirect, has found a way to increase basket size by focusing personalisation initiatives onto something it already has complete knowledge of – its products.

All the latest martech and adtech news from Medallia, Thunderhead, Precisely, PlaceIQ, StackCommerce, BrandCycle, Audience Serve, Emailbidding, Thoughtleaders, Livewire, Anzu, Capacity and Taboola.

A desire to work for a fast-growth business with the potential to reshape people hiring processes for the better has led Toby McKinnon to sign-up as inaugural chief marketing officer at PredictiveHire.

Fast-growing, independent telco, Mate, has signed up with SourseAI to synthesise Mate’s customer data and combine it with market data. The results include defined audience segments, characterised personas and customer and market behaviour insights as the basis for a brand refresh, customer engagement strategies and product development.

US-based artificial intelligence startup, Sanas, has been working to unpick the nuances of accents to make communication easier for people from different backgrounds. That could have huge implications for any marketer who wants to improve customer experience through voice channels by helping both customers and staff be better understood.

Kmart has released its latest Online Exclusives products, part of a move to broaden this product range which debuted last year. And it's tapping AI and chatbot functionality to drive consumer demand.

All the latest martech and adtech news this week from Verint, Wirewax, TechTarget, Cisco, adtech outfits, ArthurAI, Truera and Amanda AI.

While 2020 might have been the year of accelerated digital transformation, marketers will have a host of other technologies on their radar in 2021. From artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT to mixed reality (MR) and robotic process automation, marketing leaders will increasingly tap technology to make informed, responsive decisions with tightened budgets and changing consumer behaviour.

Kmart has launched an Australian-developed augmented reality (AR) tool, the KBot, with its latest home decor catalogue.

Bega Cheese has expanded its product line-up and now moved into the honey aisle with the arrival of B honey, its 100 per cent Australian honey sourced directly from local beehives. And in the process, developed a high-tech bee hive to protect local honey bees.

Managing stakeholder expectations around the artificial intelligence (AI) journey, embracing an iterative approach and building internal capability are key lessons David Jones has learnt after transforming its customer service approach.

​There is a concerning lack of readiness for technological change within Australian organisations, according to KPMG Digital Delta.

Quantium has debuted a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform that scales and automates its shopping and FMCG insights work.

These days, most marketers recognise customer experience (CX) is vital for a healthy, profitable brand. But while most marketers want to offer good CX, how best to go about it seems to be the sticking point.

UBank is embracing the industry shift to Open Data through a partnership with Australian fintech, Basiq, leveraging machine learning (ML) to give customers a more complete picture of their finances.

“If there are two sources of truth, there is no truth.” It’s a comment that screams common sense. Yet when you look at the state of the relationship between marketing and sales teams, it’s still not often the case, agrees Salesforce SVP and GM of Pardot, Michael Kostow.

Technology is changing faster than marketers can keep up, offering up a never ending land of promises. Increasingly, hard decisions need to be made regarding which technology to implement and whether it can be tied back to measurable marketing objectives. Technology for technology’s sake can wind up being a costly exercise with no point.

For most women, a bra is a very personal and rarely spoken about thing. So to use artificial intelligence (AI) for not only determining a better bra fit for women, but for personalising the marketing journey, could easily have flipped over the line from helpful to creepy.