Brands Will Deploy Consumer Experience Technology in 2018 to “Cozy Up” to Current and Prospective Users, States Adweek

Forrester predicts that marketing technology budgets will “grow by double digits” in 2018 as brands deploy consumer experience technology designed to cozy up to current and prospective users, states Adweek, which added that if brands  “don’t take this step, digitally adept firms like Amazon and Apple will continue to serve as gatekeepers between brands and audiences, providing the connectivity, stimulation and emotional experience that customers crave.

“Forward-thinking CMOs who “blend tech savviness, an insights-driven mindset and deep emotional empathy with their consumers” will turn their brands into platforms, according to a report released today. They will become obsessed with understanding consumer emotion, measuring it and tapping into it with precision.

“In a related trend, more brands will fold the responsibilities of CMOs into the newly created role of chief growth officer: an executive who can blend marketing and tech to drive growth.

“Some great brand marketers are already taking advantage of technology that measures unconscious, emotion-based decision-making, said Keith Johnston, Forrester vp, research director and author of the report. “We are seeing strong growth of consumer neuroscience to measure not only communication (ads) but also experience (digital plus physical),” he wrote. “We know that emotion is everywhere, embedded in every customer action.””