In a service economy where the customer expects everything to be delivered and done quicker and more efficiently than by competitors, drones are an emerging and evolving technology that is carving a path to meet this goal. Defined as an unmanned aircraft that can be remotely controlled or fly autonomously through software-controlled flight plans, drones have been associated with the military, construction, aerial photography and film companies, and with public safety surveillance organisations to name a few.

With more brands adopting this innovative technology, drones are becoming commonplace in delivering everything from pizzas to medical supplies. In 2016, Domino's Pizza flew its peri-peri chicken and chicken and cranberry pizzas to the backyard of a New Zealand couple, who became the first people in the world to have a pizza delivered by drone. In Australia, Canberra's skies are sharing air space with 'roast chickens, hot coffee, milk, bread and screwdrivers' as Wing, owned by Alphabet, officially received the go-ahead from the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority (CASA) after trialling such items as burritos and coffee for 12 to 18 months, fending off competition from Amazon to win over Australian regulators. Setting its sights on Queensland next, the Google-linked company was also able to address community concerns of regulating drone noise by flying a quieter model and meeting certain conditions, such as not flying over crowds or scheduling deliveries before 7am on weekdays and 8am on weekends. Showcasing its new Australian drone service with a fleet of 'tens of drones', households registered with the Early Flyer program are able to order goods from groceries to hardware, with drone delivery set to be offered free of charge initially and goods delivered within minutes of ordering.

So who is coming on board? Wing Australia has signed a number of brands to deliver their products as part of the service, including Kickstart Espresso, Capital Chemist, Pure Gelato, Jasper + Myrtle, Bakers Delight, Guzman y Gomez and Drummond Golf. Nudging on board in a partnership is also THE ICONIC, whose Canberra-based customers can receive their orders in as little as 10 minutes. The fashion online retailer is planning to offer products from brands such as Calvin Klein, C&M (Camilla & Marc), Bonds, Daniel Wellington, G-SHOCK, Happy Socks, Le Specs, Local Supply, Quay, Ray-Ban and TIMEX for order and delivery.

And it's not only in logistics that drones can provide a competitive edge. Marketers can use drones to socially connect brands with their audience through video shares and by creating high-quality visual content on social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Using drones as mobile billboards, Camisaria Colombo utilised drone-based advertising to reach executives working late in their offices, informing them about special offers available at the Colombo shirt store.

Audio-visual marketing through streaming drones footage presents an opportunity to create a narrative with and for an audience, and uses real-time aerial views of events or the use of a product and services. The 2014 'Red Bull Gives You Wings' film, The Ridge, which featured Scottish cyclist Danny MacAskill conquering a perilous mountain ridge, accumulated over 43 million views on YouTube. Drones can also be used as a marketing research tool to collect market data identification, for example, through observation of a brand's target audience on-site.

With an estimated growth in the drone market from 2018's revenue of $14 billion to over $43 billion in 2024,63 who will continue to benefit? On the one hand, the capability of drones to assist, enhance, support and deliver across a number of industries is recognised; however, at the same time as drones continue to proliferate and penetrate further, privacy concerns will no doubt also rise at the same rate.

Q. Analyse and explain the type of data that a company can collect while offering drone merchandise delivery services.