Brilliant basics and connected customer services remain key to Mecca’s digital progress as it looks to keep engaging customers in an omni-channel way in 2021.

Unilever has partnered with Alibaba Cloud, the IaaS outfit behind the Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, to power its digital marketing initiatives. The multinational consumer goods company will be able to optimise its omni-channel, online and offline demand generation activities using Alibaba Cloud’s artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based technologies.

With more than 3000 people dying as a result of sleep-related issues each year, it’s clear Australia’s sleep health needs to be put in the spotlight. And that’s exactly what ResMed hopes to do with a rebrand, omni-channel investment plan and its largest marketing campaign to date.

Mastercard has followed up the decision to drop its name from its brand mark with a new sonic brand identity aimed at tapping into the growing audio-based nature of marketing and shopping.

With customer experience (CX) driving success even more moving into 2019, sensory experiences drive nine out of 10 shoppers back to stores, according to a Global Mood Media Study focusing on neuroscience, behavioural psychology and economics.

Krispy Kreme’s Australian business chalked up a 23 per cent increase in conversions in just one month after becoming the brand’s first team globally to rollout a cross-channel payments solution.

​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.

Opening a bricks-and-mortar store in an increasingly digitally-driven consumer culture seems counterintuitive. Yet Greenstone Financial Services are banking on its new store giving customers what they want.

Over the last 12 months, Caroline Patrick has created a new brand to take the Radio Rentals Group into the NSW market. She says it’s been one of the most important – and arguably the most challenging – decisions she’s made so far at the South Australian-based retailer and household goods financier.

When your company is credited with creating a product as enduring as blue jeans, it might be easy to rest on your laurels. But despite it being almost 150 years since Levi Strauss patented his iconic trousers, his eponymous company is continuing to innovate both in product and service.

​Customer experience is crucial for brands moving into the future, as consumers become less interested in products and more interested in experiences.

Far from it being a retail apocalypse, the proliferation of data and technology has pushed us into a retail renaissance, said Salesforce at Dreamforce this week.

It’s 70 years this year since Sportsgirl opened its doors in Australia. And in all that time, its core demographic – the 16-24 year-old transitioning from girlhood to womanhood – has remained constant, national marketing manager, Kate Rees, says.

​Myer has confirmed its executive GM of marketing and customer, Louise Pearson, is one of a number of executive and senior-level roles slashed from the department store giant this week.

Friction is costing Australian businesses $29 billion a year, according to Facebook head of global brand partnerships, Marco Corsi.

Temple & Webster will accelerate marketing spend beyond digital channels and is keen to invest in more technology innovation as it looks to drive commercial growth in the next year.

​AI-powered research, voice-based care instructions, ‘adjacent possible’ marketing principles, augmented reality on farms and eco-storytelling in immersive retail stores – they’re all in a day’s work for the innovation and digital team at The Woolmark Company.

Woolworths has reported a 9.5 per cent rise in group earnings and 3.4 per cent growth in sales off the back of its long-term customer-led turnaround efforts and strong supermarket performance.

Data-driven intelligence is key to the next-generation organisation, according to Sephora Asia’s head of business intelligence. But in order to get there, employees not only need to have access to data; they also need to be able to interrogate it effectively.

High shipping cost is causing more than half of Australian consumers to ditch their shopping carts before completing an online purchase, according to a new report.

Alibaba has a vision for the future of retail where there is no distinction between online and offline shopping, and the customer experience is enhanced by augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition.