Now is the time of the year when every marketer should well reflect on the achievements of 2016 and holistically examine what the New Year is going to mean for marketing, branding, and business. With this article I proceed with a good tradition by following-up on my previous and related articles for 2016, 2015, and 2014. As we all know, paying attention to what's on the horizon does offer valuable insights. Knowing the below-listed 16 marketing trends which I consider as highly relevant for 2017, should help you to build, expand, and keep strong brands. Although this should have been ingrained in every marketer s DNA for years, however, with all the data, tech, and buzzwords flying around, one of the biggest marketing challenges of 2017 will be to stay calm, focused, and to be obsessed with the only one that matters: Your customer! How to identify her, to reach her, to engage her, to make her purchase, to have her stay loyal, to make her to recommend you, and to have her even re-purchase more of your products in the future? There is a certain risk that (marketing) managers – more than ever – get confused and fall into the trap of mixing up data-driven insights with a real customer-centric business philosophy. Therefore successful companies and brands don t worship the data gods for the sake of it; instead they have a comprehensive and deeply rooted digital transformation strategy in place which is flanked by a crystal clear marketing action plan. Enhanced and lived by every employee of the organization and not only by a chief digital officer who very often is floating around the company in search for a home base.

It is sad to report that, as a people, we have become less trusting in the world around us and the institutions we engage with on a daily basis. According to Gallup, confidence in institutions such as banks, government, and the police (to name a few) have decreased over the past 10 years. When it comes to media, trust in television news and newspapers has decreased by 10 percent since 2006. Both are now trusted by less than 21 percent of the U.S. population, per the same study. From a consumer perspective, instead of relying on salespeople or brand advertising and other traditional sources of media, we now inherently seek answers online.

Deep learning promises to do more than just reshape city streets, thanks to autonomous vehicles. It can help put expensive infrastructure where it's needed most. It can automate the generation of zoning laws that ensure more liveable, walkable cities. And it poses new challenges, too. In Episode 5 of our AI Podcast, we spoke to two leading advocates for smarter, more liveable cities -- Lynn Richards, head of the Congress for New Urbanism, and Charles Marohn, head of Strong Towns -- to learn more about what AI will mean for the places where we live and work. To hear the whole conversation, tune into this week's AI Podcast.

With 20 years of experience in animation at Pixar and Dreamworks under his belt, Apurva Shah, founder and CEO of creative studio and technology lab Whamix, is the ultimate creative geek, creating interactive, visual content in diverse applications ranging from financial services to entertainment. Needless to say, when I recently sat down with him, I couldn't wait to ask him about what he's "nerding out" on these days. Artificial intelligence is one of the most exciting advancements in technology, so naturally it was at the top of Shah's list. As he points out, "Context is increasingly playing a bigger and bigger part in products." Consumers are demanding more from AI products, and a seamless experience--that doesn't interrupt our lifestyle, but simply improves it--is paramount.

Science is moving faster than light at times and technology is only going to provide more wonders in the days to come. However, since technology is more and more becoming a matter of expertise, mainstream media coverage has been few and far between as general public would hardly understand the implications and intricacies of a revolutionary development. However, if you pay attention to the growth of technology even if you are not an engineer, then you will realize that some of the developments can even defy the science fiction stories of the 90s. Such has been the growth of technology that science fiction is fast becoming an impossible genre. From weapons that could remind you of Star Wars to robots that could only be possible in Blade Runner- science fiction is now palpable reality to an extent.

There are apps that let users keep tabs on smartphone use, especially for parents wanting keep an eye on their kids. Q: I am really worried about my teenage daughter. She is on her phone all the time. Is there a free app to see what she is doing? A: Cell phones are a blessing and a curse.

What could be learnt about the world if you could read the news from over 100 local newspapers for a period of 150 years? This is what a team of Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers from the University of Bristol have done, together with a social scientist and a historian, who had access to 150 years of British regional newspapers. The patterns that emerged from the automated analysis of 35 million articles ranged from the detection of major events, to the subtle variations in gender bias across the decades. The study has investigated transitions such as the uptake of new technologies and even new political ideas, in a new way that is more like genomic studies than traditional historical investigation. The team of academics, led by Professor Nello Cristianini, collaborated closely with the company findmypast, who is digitising historical newspapers from the British Library as part of their British Newspaper Archive project.

On December 6 and 7, academics, medical professionals, even professional humorists, among others shared their expertise and vision for how technology is changing the world, and how we live in that world, at the Future Today Summit. Founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute Amy Webb, who is an adjunct professor on futures forecasting at the New York University Stern School of Business, spoke to IBM (a sponsor of the Future Today Summit) about what it means to be a futurist, how futurists predicted fake news, and skills we all need in the future. When and why did you decide to call yourself a futurist? Amy Webb: Fifteen years ago, I was a journalist based in Tokyo, reporting and writing about the future of technology, the economy and digital culture. I'd had grown restless, though – my reporting was inherently a reflection on the past.

According to BBC boss Tony Hall, the iPlayer needs to be reinvented with new technology such as voice recognition and artificial intelligence to stay ahead of "rapid growth by our competitors". He didn't name them, but those competitors are Netflix and Amazon which have in a relatively short space of time, elbowed their way into the TV market. From Stranger Things and The Crown on Netflix to The Grand Tour and Transparent on Amazon Prime, online only shows have become core components of what we watch. But while both Netflix and Amazon have invested heavily in content, it was the quality and simplicity of their technology that provided the foundation of their success. The iPlayer may have led the online TV revolution, but it has since fallen behind in features and usability. Hall is obviously aware of this, but for all his ambition, there are a host of reasons why the BBC will find it difficult, if not impossible, to make the iPlayer as good.

Viki, an artificial intelligence assistant is allegedly under development to strengthen smartphone giant Nokia. While it is unclear where did Nokia got the name Viki, but suspicions point to 1989 TV character VICI who is a child android. According to GSM Info, Nokia just requested European Union for trademark protection of Viki and its product description suggests that this software will combine all data sources into a single chat and voice-based interface. Nokia Viki will therefore become the new interface similar to Siri and the likes. Question now is how will Viki fare in contrast to Apple Siri AI assistant or other support that competitors feature.