ARTIFICIAL intelligence and “zombie theories of the brain” are worth watching in the new age of digital marketing, according to experts speaking at a Southampton agency’s debut conference.

Neuroscience and psychology are set to share the agenda with more conventional promotional practices at Etch’s Summer Summit today on Friday.

More than 50 guests are expected to gather for “a beer and a bite to eat” in the company’s “new swanky office” in Town Quay.

Business leaders from firms including Carnival UK, B&Q, Google, IBM and Aviva are set to attend, with topics including personalised customer experience and pay-per-click ads.

Etch’s own ‘design psychologist’, Paul Davies, will give a talk explaining how bad science can get in the way of marketing.

The designer registered psychologist will outline five myths, or “zombie theories of the brain”, and promises that the way forward is to ignore them.

Etch developer Adam Burt will share exciting new technologies and trends from reality-warping sets to artificial intelligence.

And Tara West, Etch’s head of pay-per-click, will give a talk on the latest tactics to get the most from advertising spend.

The last guest speakers are James Beeson and Kristina Angelova, from Southampton-based Rika Digital, who will share tips on curating digital products for individual users.

Tom Frame, Etch’s managing director, said: “We look forward to opening our doors on Friday for our Summer Summit event.

“The agency model is changing rapidly and a large part of the shift is down to how we work with both clients and partners.

"At Etch, we take that a step further and believe we don’t have clients, we have partners.

“We recently unveiled our brand new office which blurs the boundaries of a normal working environment.

"On any given day, we have freelancers, clients, students and even start-ups working from our space.

“Summer Summit is an opportunity for our partners and other business people in the area to get together, share their opinions and find out more about digital services and their business value in our thriving region.”

For more information visit etchsummersummit.splashthat.com or etchuk.com.