Consumers are on a quest for the ad-free life. They’re tuning out brands that broadcast and instead are looking for ones that enhance their lives through services and experiences. 58 percent of chief marketing officers believe companies will have to compete within the AI space.

That’s bad news for banner farms, but great news for smart marketers who understand the value of relationship building. But how do you make that connection with jaded consumers? The answers is just like real life: by being personal, relevant and interesting.

Brands need to invest in technology that gives people the connections they actually want. To achieve this, brands should stop talking at people and start talking with them. Building relationships through personalisation and messaging is the way forward.

That’s where voice assistants come in - with smart speaker usage doubling from 50 million  to 100 million in the last year, the opportunity to talk with your audience has never been greater. It’s why 58% of CMOs believe they need to compete in the AI space.

Businesses are starting to realise that responding to what consumers are genuinely interested in, rather than simply pumping out a generalised brand message is key.

So, as technology advances – with the gradual introduction of computer vision and augmented reality to assist with shopping like with ASOS – brands are more frequently asking questions around what consumers expect and equally what they want from a conversation with a brand.

To get the most from the technology, brands need to make sure they understand every touchpoint in the consumer journey - making sure each one is tailored to give a personal experience free of friction and frustration.

Our work already with Estée Lauder and Nike shows this in action. We helped create personalised experiences to help people achieve a goal without the need to own or have purchased one of the branded products, whilst still promoting the brand ethos.

Through AI-based voice skill applications, the Estée Lauder Nighttime Expert, assists individuals in improving their night time skincare routine. Similar in its approach, Nike Coach offers consumers advice on how to improve their run, train smarter and find the right shoes for their needs.

Both assistants prove that when you create a useful experience that people want to interact with, you receive better data for your brand. Sequentially developing an increase in loyal relationships, awareness, repeat business and an entirely new outlook on advertising and relationship marketing.

Introducing AI, machine learning and voice assistants into your brand’s offering is not about overruling your entire marketing plan and starting from scratch – it’s about integrating voice and messaging into your existing ecosystem to create on-to-one relationships between the consumer and your brand.

Remember this though - to be truly successful, your experience needs to be a product people will both love and need. Concentrating on what people need and not just selling a product that helps make a headline or hit a short-term metric.

Think about Uber or Monzo - they answered a consumer need and became viral hits when satisfied users spread the word. As their offering evolved, they were able to add more products and monetise their service. A win for consumers, and a win for the business.

To create the the best consumer experiences, we start with a user problem, generate hypotheses about how to solve it and then iterate through short, sharp sprints to find and implement the right solution.

The secret is to prototype, test and validate your product as an MVP before rolling it out as a full market version. If you succeed in creating an experience that provides value to your users, you will gain live, rich data, meaning you can sell increasingly relevant products to the right people.

Brands need to ensure they do not employ traditional advertising mindsets for this new medium. As this technology matures, it’ll be early adopters like Nike, Estée Lauder, KLM and ASOS who emerge as winners.

Their relationship architectures will be established way ahead of their competitors - giving them the chance to entertain, delight and educate consumers while others are scrambling to catch up. The future of marketing's here. Time to start talking about it seriously.

Rob Bennett is CEO of rehab.