The marketing world is on the cusp of a revolution — one that will create entirely new business models, technologies and channels that will find brands interacting with their customers with new levels of relevance and immediacy. The advent of big data promises ever more insight into consumer behaviours, attitudes and aspirations. Couple this data explosion with a rapidly expanding array of communications channels, and we may herald the arrival of a new golden age of marketing. Or, if marketers chase short-term monetisation of data and exploit these new channels regardless of consumer preference and control, then we might find ourselves in a marketing dystopia. But how can we know that we’re on the right path?