The Digest: Andy Lark tells brands to "live as the customer does"

All the news that’s fit to click this week in the world of marketing, PR and communications:THE LARK GETS THE WORMXero CMO reveals why we need to automate to achieve greatness - Automation is at the heart of modern marketing, as radical shifts in e-commerce and mobile continue to disrupt and shape the customer experience. Are you a self-disruptor?MUM'S THE WORDMarketing must do more to accommodate mums - Marketing is the industry being shamed this week for being largely inflexible, unaccommodating and unawares when it comes to making mothers feel welcome in the workplace. Is your workplace at fault?FOLLOW ALONG25 digital marketing and social media experts to follow on Twitter - They're the Hollywood A-list of the digital marketing world, and if you haven't heard of them, then you should educate yourself.UNITED FRONTHow Greenstone is uniting IT/marketing in the name of audience management - Here's how integrated platforms are actually transforming business and streamlining functionality for the better. Perhaps there's something to be gained in this?BALANCING ACT Balancing the new-age sales and marketing relationship - There's no doubt that marketing technology has a long way to go, and it continues to rapidly expand into the traditional sales domain. Here's how to ensure that you're getting the most from sales and marketing, and that no one's feelings are hurt in the process.ON TRENDTop 10 marketing trends you need to know - As we near the end of 2015, it's time to reflect on what's trending and where marketers will be putting their money in the coming months: video, social and mobile. Content may still be king, but there's some other things you should be aware of...POWERFUL PLATFORMS What the new breed of Data Management Platforms mean for marketers - Data has been the simultaneous curse and blessing for modern marketers, giving them the power to unlock customer desires at the cost of the time (and sanity) it takes to interpret things. But a much-needed transformation has finally arrived.