When Google first demonstrated its Duplex service in mid-2018, it stunned the world by making relatively complex bookings over the telephone using a system that sounded very close to how a human might sound. It also breathed new interest into a technology that has become both increasingly prevalent in consumer devices, and an increasing source of frustration – the voice-based user interface.

The digitisation and transformation of marketing, power of the personal, building and retaining customer trust, and striving for online retail relevancy are just some of the big themes to dominate the news this year.

Fragmented audio and ineffective targeting led National Australia Bank (NAB) to implement one of the first and largest programmatic digital audio campaigns in Australia.

Bringing email marketing in-house is not only helping Flight Centre improve its speed to market, it’s also the trigger for a more insights-led approach to customer communications.

All the latest martech and adtech news this week from HubSpot, AppNexus, Adform, Verint, LivePerson, Flamingo Ai, BigCommerce, and Animoca Brands.

If there's one thing about marketing that can be said to be constant, it's that it always changes. With new technologies, such as voice, AI, machine learning, virtual reality, augmented reality, natural language processing and facial recognition, about to become mainstream, it can feel as marketers, that we are always chasing our tails.

​Many companies across the marketing ecosystem, including private equity players, have been sold the dream marketing is now a science, Rakuten Marketing’s global CEO, Stuart Simms, says. But it’s not exactly true.

The ACCC’s preliminary Digital Platforms Inquiry report has scored a big thumbs up from the marketing and media industry, with several praising the watchdog’s extensive investigation and “engaging” recommendations.

Category innovation and progressive thinking lie at the heart of the Mondelez International business model, its director of marketing for chocolate, Paul Chatfield, says. But at a time when consumers seek emotional brand connections more than ever, no brand can afford to abandon its heritage or roots.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called for more regulatory authority to investigate, monitor and report on how Facebook and Google are dominating news content and advertising services as well as capturing data about consumers in the digital age.

Australia’s ad spend is expected to grow by 4.4 per cent to $17.2 billion in 2019 off the back of strong display advertising investments and as TV records its first growth in six years.

Whether your brand is responsive and entrepreneurial in market, engages in strategic brand building or invests in digital or traditional media channels, consumers are going to increasingly want to “talk at you”, UM’s CEO, Fiona Johnston, believes.

Going from zero to 99 per cent digital advertising spend in just a few short years is an excellent illustration of how the marketing and advertising climate has changed significantly in such a short period of time.

Slack’s inaugural Australian out-of-home brand campaign is just one step in a wider multi-channel, hyper-local strategy aimed at taking the collaboration platform to the masses, its global VP of marketing has told CMO.

Verizon media and ad tech subsidiary, Oath, has officially launched in Australia and New Zealand, a move the parent company says reflects the potential it sees in the local market.

Attracting prospects to your website should be a simple matter of buying the right search terms and waiting for the traffic to roll in.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose the merger between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, even as it admits the deal is likely to reduce media competition.

If you ask a brand what their visual brand assets are, there is no doubt they could rattle off a list as long as your arm, down to the colours, sizes of logos and even their offices.

It was four years ago when Nav Salimian overheard the conversation that would reset the direction of his working life, and thrust a small independent fashion label into the digital spotlight.

The makers behind a new addressable TV solution bringing owned and third-party data to TVC media buying say the tool will finally give marketers the ability to target broadcast audiences as granularly as they do in other digital channels.

Challenges remain for content providers, marketers, advertisers, and media, according to the Deloitte Annual Media Consumer Survey, as consumer attention spans wane, trust is eroded, and content choice increases. ​