How AI Transforms Marketing: Insights from Starbucks to Domino’s

Dr Jennifer Algie

Artificial intelligence is now reshaping marketing in major ways. It uses vast amounts of data—far beyond what any human could process—to generate insights, automate decisions and make predictions. AI is powered by big data from customer interactions, devices, social media, environmental sensors and connected technologies. AI doesn’t just store data; it analyses it and becomes smarter the more information it processes.

Dr Jennifer Algie

Starbucks uses AI to customise experiences in its mobile app, offering personalised suggestions based on order history, location, even weather conditions. Ride share services like Lyft rely on chatbots that can locate your driver, show you the vehicle and update you on arrival times without any human involvement. IBM’s Watson helps businesses discover customer insights, refine targeting and design more personalised engagement strategies. AI enhances nearly every part of marketing—from segmentation and product development to customer service and advertising.

Dr Jennifer Algie

Think about how Domino’s could use artificial intelligence to completely transform the way it serves customers. Every day, the company collects a huge amount of data—past orders, delivery locations, in app browsing, weather conditions, traffic patterns and even social media chatter. AI doesn’t just store all this information; it analyses it constantly and gets better the more data it absorbs.

Dr Jennifer Algie

Now imagine a customer opening the Domino’s app on a cold evening. Instead of browsing aimlessly, they immediately see suggestions that match their preferences: perhaps the exact pizza they tend to order on weeknights or a warm garlic bread recommendation because the weather has turned chilly. The app can surface deals tailored to that customer’s suburb and highlight new menu items based on past behaviour—similar to how leading brands personalise experiences through order history, location and weather signals.

Dr Jennifer Algie

If the customer wants to know where their order is, they simply type a question into the app. There’s no need to call the store because an AI chatbot responds instantly, tracks the driver, identifies the vehicle and updates the estimated arrival time—just like the automated assistants used in modern rideshare apps.

Dr Jennifer Algie

Behind the scenes, AI is making the whole Domino’s system smarter. It predicts how much dough each store will need, which ingredients to prep, when staffing should increase and which promotions will perform best in different neighbourhoods. In other words, everything from inventory and scheduling to advertising becomes more precise because it’s guided by real data rather than guesswork.

Dr Jennifer Algie

AI platforms, including enterprise systems like Watson style analytics, can also help Domino’s dive deeper into customer behaviour. They reveal which customer segments are starting to order less frequently and why, suggest ways to refine targeting for future campaigns and point out new opportunities for personalised engagement. The insights become incredibly valuable for improving decision making and staying competitive.

Dr Jennifer Algie

When you pull it all together, Domino’s ends up with a marketing system that feels effortless from the customer’s perspective. Behind that simplicity is a powerful AI ecosystem constantly analysing data, learning, predicting and improving—enhancing segmentation, product development, customer service and advertising all at once.