Brands owners must ditch the “lazy option” of turning to the latest tech wizardry to help their failing marketing strategies and campaigns and instead return to the basics of their processes – and, just as importantly, their people – or risk even worse outcomes.

That is one of the key findings of a new Cheetah Digital study, in association with Econsultancy, designed to reveal what consumers expect from the brands they do business with, the channels they want to connect on and the data they are prepared to share at every stage of the customer lifecycle, from acquisition through to loyalty.

Cheetah Digital says it has seen a stark rise in consumers expecting competitions and prize draws (+ 73% ), exclusive access and content (+58%), personalised product recommendations (+56% increase), brand recognition (+45% increase) and community (+33%).