A look at how artificial intelligence can re-energize the consumer experience.

Over the past few years, major retailers globally have waged an increasingly cut-throat price war to protect and expand their market share. And while much of the media attention focuses on the retailer side of things, the reality is that consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are deeply involved too, with pressure to deliver sustained trade promotions that can help retailers attract consumers. Walk into any major grocery store today, whether in the U.S., UK, France, Australia or elsewhere, and chances are you'll be met with a blizzard of buy-one-get-one-free offers, direct discounts, rebates and other trade promotions.

Take all of your brand's shopper marketing and pin it to a wall. (Go ahead - I'll wait.) It probably takes up more space than you imagined, and you may be a little shell-shocked by how many elements you have. There are likely items for pre-store, in-store and post-store. Physical and digital media. Versions for different retailers. Activations that change across audiences, seasons or usage occasions.

New social networking sites are no longer launching daily as they were a few years ago, which is a relief. The slow-down is good for both marketers and consumers because it is increasingly difficult for anyone to keep up. Fragmentation in social media is one of the biggest concerns for brands as they vie for the consumers' attention. Marketers do not have the time or resources to manage dozens of platforms and consumers don't have the time to visit even a handful of social networking sites. With all this fragmentation from a resource and attention perspective, brands need ways to …

I had to smile upon seeing McDonald's announcement this week of its plans to add kale as a salad or smoothie ingredient to the menu. McDonald's also recently announced plans to serve chicken with "less antibiotics." And, of course, they also announced a 4% same store sales drop and named a new CEO.

Our world revolves around convenience, and that's not all bad. Before the introduction of the printing press, all books were hand-written. Not a small inconvenience and, as a result, only the very wealthy could afford a book. Likewise, before the arrival of the telephone, communication was largely done by messenger or postal letter. The telephone changed the way we view distance, and it made the world a much smaller place. Both were huge time-savers, and winners in the most convenient product contest.

Walmart recently launched its Sustainability Leaders online shop. While I commend their efforts over the past six years to elevate sustainability as an important attribute of products, and their manufacturers, I feel that this launch is a bit misplaced. I am sure that it will be successful in terms of awareness and conversions, and I hope that the intent is genuine, but the lack of transparency or oversight related to the index that is being used by Walmart to badge a product is concerning. And should Walmart even be the creator of the index? How about an independent organization such …

Social influence democratized the age-old "influencer status" by devaluing the idea of influence entirely. It turned everyone into an influencer, and in the process, it turned a strategy like influence into another media metric.