Today’s brands are too uptight and need to ‘unbrand’ if they’re to have a hope of meeting dynamic and changing consumer expectations, a leading Gartner analyst says.

Customer trust is not only vital in an environment where customer expectations are increasing daily and competition is fierce, it is a brand differentiator that could make or break a business. You only have to look at the recent scandals around Facebook or the Australian Banks to see this happening.

​The importance of building brands and customer experience has never been more vital for the bottom line and shareholder value. This is just one of the findings from the WPP BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2018 report.

NAB has followed the lead of Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, KFC UK and other high-profile brands looking to gain back customer trust and used a full-page print ad to apologise for a weekend server failure that left customers without access to bank accounts for five hours.

Brands must transform the way they plan their communications across media and up the ante on mobile, as a recent report shows media consumption on mobile devices is set to rapidly rise by 2020.

Five years ago in May, IDG tasked me with launching CMO as a brand in Australia. It was a decision driven by two factors: One, the exponential growth of technology in the marketing sphere; and two, the rising role of the marketer as an executive leader of influence.

Lego is a brand synonymous with play. Indeed, its name is derived from the Danish words for ‘play well’ – leg godt. So it is perhaps not surprising to hear senior global director at Lego Group, Lars Silberbauer, uses similar language when referring to his own job.

​It is often said smell is the most evocative senses, readily resurfacing memories and feelings. But with marketers generally limited in their ability to reach the olfactory organs of most consumers, other senses can still be used to great effect.

​American Express has taken the Australian wrappers off its first united global brand platform, ‘Powerful Backing: Don’t do business / Don’t live life without it’, a program of activity that includes a $1 million investment into Australia’s music scene.

Westfield A/NZ’s new visual identity and digital platform relaunch represents a small part of a much wider change in strategy at the Scentre Group business aimed at becoming a more customer-led organisation, its customer experience leader says.

Notable agency and media leader, John Sintras, has re-emerged in Australia as chief audience and content officer for SBS.

Janine Allis never set out to become one of the most recognised faces in Australian business. It was more just a matter of necessity.

Teresa Sperti has had a busy year. As the first ever CMO of World Vision Australia, she has hit the ground running, focusing on bringing a consumer customer experience perspective to the global charity through a combination of martech, data and analytics and marketing smarts.

The ‘expectation gap’ between companies and consumers has widened, with marketers rating themselves more than twice as high (106 per cent) as consumers in delivering great customer experiences (CX).

​Diageo Australia has launched its biggest brand campaign in a decade with Johnnie Walker ‘The Next Step’. The $15 million campaign will be activated over the next 18 months across multiple channels including TV, out of home, and digital media in the Australian market.

Australian café chain, Michel’s, is claiming an Australian first for franchise café brands after launching an online home delivery service for cakes.

Stanford Peace Innovation Lab co-director, Mark Nelson, is calling on CMOs to use technology, and particularly 'peace data', in order to bolster brand purpose while also making inroads and a positive impact towards achieving global peace.

​Much has been written about consumers’ desires for better experiences from the brands they interact with. But what do you do when being a product company is hardwired into your corporate DNA?

​Following the acquisition of two IT companies to expand its business offerings, Canon has launched a new brand concept after applying consumer marketing techniques to the world of B2B.

Medibank is publicly challenging what better health means for all Australians, even if better health means not taking out health insurance, with the launch of its new brand platform that aims to offer more transparency in health insurance.

​Officeworks launched a new tagline and a wider channel strategy in February in an effort to better connect with its customers. The launch preceded the release of strong first half results to December 2017 for the company.