Editor's Note: The following is a guest post from Iain Ellwood, chief growth officer at WPP's Group XP. If you've noticed a seamless feel when interacting with Tesla, from its vehicles to its customer service, or enjoyed similar approaches from Amazon or Ikea, you know that meaningful, connected brand experiences have become the lifeblood of today's most successful companies. The more we study the nature of these experiences, the more their benefits are becoming measurable and a key tool for growth. In fact, backed by 4.6 billion data points, our Group XP Experience Index ranked the world's biggest brands according to the quality of their experience, finally proving what we all knew to be true: Brands that invest in experience outperform the market by over 50%. As more of the world's top brands invest in experience strategy and design, the writing's on the wall for product-driven CEOs -- it's time to take these brand experiences seriously or die.

Within the next five years, scalable artificial intelligence in the cloud – Brand AI – could potentially transform how retailers use personalisation to make every store visit a memorable, exclusive customer experience distinct from anything a competing digital disruptor could offer. Arguably the success of this engagement approach is contingent upon a retailer's ability to combine a range of data sources (such as social media behaviour, loyalty card history, product feedback) with its analytics capabilities to create personalised moments of delight in-store dynamically for an individual customer that drives their decision to purchase. But could the truly disruptive approach be one where a customer is continually teaching the Brand AI directly about their wants or needs as part of their long-term personal relationship with a retailer? Could this deliver new forms of customer intimacy online competitors can't imitate? This ongoing relationship can be changed any time by the customer and be pro-active or reactive – the customer may set the preference that the Brand AI only engages them when they are located within a mile of a retailer's store or one week before a family member's birthday, for example.

So how could scalable retail artificial intelligence in the cloud – Brand AI – potentially turn these challenges into unique opportunities for competitive advantage during the next five years? But unlike today's arguably bland, soulless smartphone versions that focus on delivering simple functionality, Brand AI would have a unique, human character that reflects the retailer's values to inform its interactions and maturing relationship with an individual customer. Intended to be more than another'digital novelty', this disruptive form of customer engagement builds on and enhances a B&M's traditional brand as a trusted long-term friend throughout the entire customer journey by offering compelling, timely presale insights, instant payment processing and effective after sales support and care. A customer is empowered to select what personal data they choose to share (or keep private) with the Brand AI to enrich their relationship. Social, location, wearable or browsing and buying behaviour data from complementary or even competing retailers could, potentially, be shared via its cloud platform.

So how could a scalable retail artificial intelligence in the cloud – Brand AI – turn these challenges into unique opportunities for competitive advantage? But unlike today's arguably bland, soulless smartphone versions that focus on delivering simple functionality; Brand AI would have a unique, human character that reflects the retailer's values to inform its interactions and maturing relationship with an individual customer. Intended to be more than another'digital novelty', this disruptive form of customer engagement builds on and enhances a B&M's traditional brand as a trusted long term friend throughout the entire customer journey by offering compelling, timely presale insights, instant payment processing and effective after sales support and care. A customer is empowered to select what personal data they choose to share (or keep private) with the Brand AI to enrich their relationship. Social, location, wearable or browsing and buying behaviour data from complementary or even competing retailers could potentially be shared via its cloud platform.