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.

Real estate group, Dexus has launched its ‘Brainwaves’ art installation in North Sydney, featuring wearables technology to detect brainwave activity and create an artistic visualisation of the changes projected onto the 16-metre lobby screen. The aim is to showcase how workspaces have an impact on work productivity.

Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and speech recognition, are changing experiences. For better or worse, these technologies have arrived, and customer expectations are rising because of them.

Virtual reality (VR) has been in the market for around five years and, while it’s made an impact, we’re yet to see mass adoption on the consumer side. But on the business side, it’s maturing as companies embrace the possibilities of the immersive experience.

JCDecaux is the latest company to use virtual reality to promote its brand.​

Following the success of an interactive augmented reality (AR) experience for Volvo’s Italian world-wide presentation of its equal vehicles for all (EVA) initiative, Volvo plans to continue using virtual reality (VR) to market and create new and interactive consumer experiences, to appeal to a greater number of potential customers.

​Virtual reality (VR) is becoming a game changer in the events industry, pre and post event, said a leading events management company.

Virtual reality technology is being embraced by one Sydney hospital as a key way of allowing visitors and staff to better engage with redevelopment of the site.

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.

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).

As head of marketing during one of the biggest tech mergers in the history of IT, Dell EMC’s Helen Dean has had a pretty big and intense year. And while it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, she describes it as a surprisingly smooth transition thanks to a strategic approach to communication and culture.

The age of customer centricity is here, and as experience increasingly becomes the biggest driver of digital transformation and marketing strategy, 2018 will be about moving the customer relationship to an even deeper and more dynamic level of personalised engagement.

Augmented reality and virtual reality trends are in the spotlight this week as both Redbubble and Pfizer Australia announce new technology capabilities to enhance both customer and patience experience.

The CMO of realestate.com.au, says the property listing directory ​is taking serious leaps and bounds in its campaign and innovation strategies as part of its effort to boost customer engagement and stay ahead of its competitors.

A lack of expertise in programmatic video advertising, not just brand safety fears, is holding back an otherwise hungry pack of Australian brands keen to invest in new and innovative digital video advertising solutions.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to revolutionise our world, with a recent McKinsey report predicting almost 50 billion objects around us will be connected by 2020.

B2B and B2C marketers serious about remaining competitive in the future need to look out for a series of emerging tech in the next three to five years, new research from Forrester found.

The proliferation of disruptive and on-demand alcohol delivery methods is placing increasing pressure on traditional brewery companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev to rethink the ways they engage customers with their global beer brands.

Marketers may be ramping up for virtual reality, but a new study warns consumers aren’t quite ready for it.

The ‘age of the customer’ is here - the power of personalisation and customer context is now ensconced in every marketer’s lexicon. Certainly, the single biggest driver of digital transformation is customer experience.

Two major brands including Qantas and realestate.com have rolled out virtual reality apps that aim to lure customers by offering life-like immersive experiences, a move that signals the future of marketing and the growing demand for an interactive relationship with customers.