1. Can AI systems read my mind?

Yes and no. Our AI software is the first cognitive analytics software of its type and generates greater meaning from customer feedback and interactions, continuously learning from structured and unstructured data. It really facilitates predictive analytics, which is often seen as “reading the customer’s mind”.

These insights allow businesses to make better decisions based on previous customer experiences and to provide proactive customer value.

2. What is the key change digital technology has brought to branding?

Moving customer interactions online has been a game changer for many brands, not only improving efficiency and the level and immediacy of reporting available, but also helping save money and improve productivity. Our Ipiphany™ analytic system has given our clients great insight in this area and the results we have seen aren’t always what you would expect.

When it comes to brand advocacy, for example, the data has shown us that often the biggest shifts towards brands and away from others come less from improved digital experiences and more from investing in fixing the fundamental processes — people and products that sit behind customer interactions are mostly the same regardless of channel.

This insight is important when an organisation needs to make decisions about potential investments and initiatives which will best achieve brand loyalty, and which will attract customers from competing brands.

3. If you get online marketing wrong, do you get a second chance?

With evolving technologies such as Ipiphany™ that learn, and help predict key success factors in future customer interactions, the idea of “getting it wrong” might become less of a risk. We are already seeing that by using this type of technology, engaging with your prospects and customers is becoming exponentially more intuitive, conversational and real-time.

In the future customers will become less aware of the analytics that manage the marketing interactions and experiences they have with brands and will simply grow to expect that marketing in all its forms will only ever be personal, relevant and timely to an individual consumer.

4. How do you differentiate your brand in the online space?

By using technology to give customers more of what they want and less of what they don’t.

AI software allows us to understand more about our customers than ever before and companies need to be using this to their advantage. Corporations are beginning to see the value in investing in AI technology to future-proof their company. Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to create simple AI by the end of the year while Google, Dropbox and Expedia Travel are just some of the companies that have admitted to bringing in experts to help them gain better insights from customer data.

Every customer wants to feel special, relevant and to be a part of the conversation with your business, so those organisations that actually practice what they preach and listen to their customers, then make business and process improvements with the customer at the centre of the conversation will differentiate themselves.

5. Is the future all about mobile phones?

It’s all about internet-connected devices. Mobile phones are where the most eyeballs are now but they will be taken over by wearables at some point and then there are the streaming services to think about.

Companies need not be worried about the device their customers will be interacting with them on, but be focused on the interaction itself. AI software helps companies understand what it is their customers want and how to give it to them in a way they will respond best — which is going to result in the best commercial outcomes.

This article was first published in the November 2016 issue of Acuity magazine.