flexistuff

This is the first in a series of interviews with executives and academics in the field of mass customization.

1. Can you please tell me who you are and what your company does?

Dave Sloan, CEO of Treehouse Logic. We make a product configurator platform that enables mass customization.

2. What would be a good example of a website you've enabled for mass customization. Please tell me a little bit about the project.

Rickshaw Bagworks wanted a next generation configurator that didn't have issues seen with classic Flash configurators (slow, no guidance, not mobile friendly, expensive, expensive to maintain, etc.) They needed an affordable solution within a tight timeframe, and they wanted to stay lean and not invest in hiring engineers to build something custom. We built the first version in 3 months, and that included a new ecommerce platform. Now that our platform is more mature we can add new product lines as fast as 2 weeks.

3. What do you see as being an emerging trend in mass customization?

More…

The authors of the book The Narcissism Epidemic define narcissism as an individual “having an inflated or grandiose sense of self” that manifests itself as self-promotion, and the desire for uniqueness. While the phenomenon had its roots in the 80’s, the authors contend that it is a full epidemic in the US and has now reached most groups in society.

We can certainly see examples all around us:

• It used to be that an individual stood for something. But as Tom Peters asserted in his 1997 article titled The Brand Called You, we now need to commoditize ourselves, just like a box of cereal.
• Egosurfing, also known as Googling yourself somehow becomes more palatable and less self-centered when it is referred to as online reputation management!
• With the internet as the platform, we are our own broadcasters, generating content as a means of self expression in a way that we’ve never been able to before.

I could go on and on. But how has narcissism manifested itself in marketing and commerce?

It’s the 1st of July here and we’re celebrating Canada Day. So, I decided to bake a cake - not a particularly Canadian cake though. It was banana cake with chocolate chips and pecans.

That got me thinking about the banana that I mashed up and put into my cake – you know, the one with the little yellow and blue sticker that is instantly recognizable as a Chiquita banana. You have to give the company credit for being able to brand a simple piece of fruit. After all, has any company been able replicate the same brand recognition with apples, pears, or grapes. Exactly my point!

I was quite intrigued then when I heard that Chiquita Brands is inviting consumers to visit www.EatAChiquita.com to put their own spin on the company’s iconic brand image as part of the Chiquita Banana Sticker Design Contest. Eighteen winners will in the end have their winning design featured on millions of Chiquita bananas.

Not a graphic designer you say? Not a problem. Because even those of us who are not artistically inclined can participate in the fun by creating our own sticker, then take it to the Zazzle store where we can create our own custom gear featuring our design.

Curious, I just had to check it out…

In my last post, I wrote about the tough times for the print industry, and how printers are trying to reposition themselves considering the new realities of the shifting marketplace. With this sector changing, printers can’t hold on to what “used to work”. They have to adapt, or die and perhaps look at opportunities in surprising places.

It may appear odd at first glance to group the topics of mass customization, personalization and one to one marketing. You may be wondering how they figure they all fit together. Here’s the common thread: they all cater to a market of ONE. The end customer, YOU!

As I wrote in a blog post over 2 years ago: "The day of mass marketing may be coming to a close. Instead of marketing to the averages, we will market to the differences – run lengths of one." In other words, mass customized communications will be the norm, rather than the exception that it is now, as the above chart taken from a Canon report shows. The projections show that in about 10 years, about 19% of print runs will be for a length of ONE. Smart printers will begin to make the shift, leaving the mega printers in the dust.

That’s just for print. Since I wrote that blog story, I’ve seen the rise of PURL (personalized URL) marketing, personalized videos, and now the rise of social media that combines elements of personalization too. The opportunities are vast.

Here are two other areas that traditional printers should be looking at:

It’s not a good time for the print industry. I know – because I am the former Director of Marketing of a giant North American printing company, having been laid of at the end of last summer along with hundreds of other fellow co-workers.

What has a major negative impact on the print sector is the confluence of a number of factors – all of which have created the perfect storm that has (and still will) change the industry forever. Consider the following as proof:

• the current economic recession
• the falling readership of newspapers/magazines along with declining advertising rates
• the increasing popularity and acceptance of eBooks (as a result of the Kindle/iPad launches)
• advertising dollars migrating to the internet
• changing patterns in consumer media preferences

In his Q1 economic webinar, print industry expert Dr. Joe Webb highlighted the fact that ad spending by media type is down in all sectors, except for the internet. On another slide, he showed that printing industry profits peaked in Q2 of 1999 and have been on a steady decline ever since. Yet, some of these companies continue to hang on to the hope that print sales will recover. The print sector will never recover to what it “used to be”! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE print: books, magazines, flyers and the like, but I'm willing to embrace all things digital too!

What’s a printer to do?

I know that you folks south of the border in the US have been strangely enamoured with Jersey Shore, a reality television series on MTV that follows eight housemates in real world-type style while they live, work and party at the New Jersey Shore. The show has generated a large amount of controversy regarding the use of the words "Guido/Guidette", and the portrayal of Italian-American stereotypes.

Unfortunately the series wasn’t able to be viewed in Canada - until now. So when MTV Canada aired a Jersey Shore marathon this past weekend, I was compelled to watch, to see what all the fuss was about it. Now I know! Love it, or hate it, Jersey Shore definitely lives up to its hype. The characters – oops, I mean real people - are outrageous, hilarious, funny, and pathetic at the same time.

If you’re a Jersey Shore wanna-be, you can Jersey Shore Yourself with a fun and silly application that will turn both guys and gals alike into a Guido/Guidette. (Hey, don’t shoot ME for saying that!)

Here’s how it works…

Ya, I knew that would get your attention! No, I’m not going to tell you how you can create your own man, with a rock hard six-pack. Instead, I’m going to tell you how Heiniken has jumped on the personalization band wagon to offer users a way to design their own six pack, with a custom label: Your bottle. Your Design. Your Heineken.

For the first step in the process you choose your bottle from one 8 categories which includes: party, sport, triumph, summer, celebration, just to say and colour. And under those categories you have sub-themes. For example when I picked party, additional options included: music, stag party, boys’ night, champion, housewarming, speakers. I chose “nightlife” because obviously that was the least testosterone inspired theme.

In step 2, of the process you can personalize both the front and back labels. For the front, you can add some text, so I added “Party with Anita”. For the back it gets a little more interesting because you can upload a photo and/or some text. When I tried it the first time and chose the “star” as a photo frame, I wanted to remove it. The interface was a little wonky and wouldn’t allow me to do it, so I had to start over. Aargh!

Before the final step was complete…

“Personalisation is the footprint of Daisy Jewellery” touts the website of a UK-based company where you can design your own ring. With their beautiful collection of rings designed to stack together you can mix and match rings to create a special one just for you.

I have reviewed probably one hundred website where you can create-your-own this, and design-your-own that, and I’d have to rate this easy-to-use interactive website as one of the best!

The online process starts with selecting from a number of categories: sterling-silver band rings, 18 ct gold plated band rings, flowers and animal rings, heart rings, stone set rings, fresh water pearl rings, and the urban spacers collection. From there you drag and drop the rings you like into the right hand side of the window. To remove a selected ring, it’s as easy as dragging and dropping the ring to the outside of the window.

To rearrange your stack ring you simply drag, hold and drop the ring into your desired position. By a click of a button you can view your creation as an expanded or closed view. At the bottom of the interface, the rings you have purchased are showed individually and you are provided a tally of the final price.

The next step in the process really provides the icing on the cake…

What could be more boring then getting a marketing piece from an insurance company, right? Year after year, I get the same old letter from Manulife Financial that entices me to sign up for life insurance through my alumni association’s group program. Ho-hum, boring!

But this year, it was different. What caught my eye was an oversized postcard that was personalized with my name on a theatre marquee on the front. The message on the back read, “Anita, You have the starring role in the newly enhanced Alumni Term Life Plan. You’re a star to us, and surely to your family.” (This copy and concept reminds me of a personalized piece I received from my cable company Rogers, but that’s another story.)

What was also made this mailing stand out was that it was only the second time I received a direct marketing piece with a PURL (personalized URL) on it – www.StarringRole.ca/anita [Note: I have intentionally not provided the correct URL.] As I have written about before, PURL marketing is the integration of personalization, direct mail, and the internet and is a hot trend in the US because these types of campaigns lift response rates. A recent study also reports that consumers want personalized and relevant advertising too. In Canada, marketers have been slow to pick up on this creative tactic. No surprise there!

Curious, I decided to visit my personalized web address…

Last week I wrote about an HP marketing campaign promoting the launch of the fashionable Vivienne Tam Edition digital clutch in conjunction with the release of the movie Sex and the City 2. In a booth set up at the Toronto Eaton Centre I was photographed against a green screen and was inserted into a scene with my 4 new best friends: Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda that you can see here.

When I went to see the movie this past weekend with my gal pals, we came across a Dove booth inside the movie theatre where whey were promoting the “New reinvented Dove” hair care product line. We were given samples and coupons but wondered how this tied in with the movie. Bottom line – it doesn’t – other than the fact that SATC2 and Dove both targeting women.

Curious, I wanted to find out more about the Dove campaign especially since I am a loyal Dove customer. I have used Dove soap from the age of 4 and I also use Dove shampoo. I was given a card that told me I could “Star in your own Dove Hair Commercial”. To that end, they took a photo of me against a lighted Dove background – but with my own camera. Huh?! Strike one. But wait – it gets worse…

Unless you’ve been living in a bat cave the last year, you already know that after being on television for 25 years, Oprah Winfrey will air her last episode on September 9, 2011 so that the popular TV host can start her own cable television network. In partnership with Discovery Communications, the network named OWN – the Oprah Winfrey Network is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives.

And while it’s still awhile before the network launches on 1/1/11, efforts are well underway with a dedicated website already set up to promote the new network. What’s OWN all about? A fun and funky video declares, “It’s your life…own it. Welcome to OWN, the new network from Oprah Winfrey…because it’s not just about what’s next on TV….it’s what’s next for YOU!”

But it goes one step further. With YOU being the focus, the visitor is enticed to sign-up to become an OWN TV insider so that we can get our own personal welcome video from Oprah.

Curious I decided to give it a try…

Sex and the City 2 officially opened in theatres on Thursday to great hype. As a fan of the TV show and the first movie I’m looking forward to seeing SATC2 this coming weekend with the gals!

It was a surprise then, as I was walking through the Toronto Eaton Centre last Thursday I came across an HP display with a bit of a line-up. Curious, I decided to check it out. Turns out HP had a photo booth set up where they were taking digital photos of SATC fans against a green screen and then super-imposing us with the female stars of the show.

Do I fit in with the rest of the gals? Thankfully, I was wearing a dress on that hot summer day, so it looked like I was part of the clan. See that orange clutch I’m holding? The gal in the booth offered me that “prop” – which added a splash of colour to my photo shoot. Nice!

We not only received a printout of a photo on the spot, but were also given a card with a web address that lead to a Facebook page, and code where we could download a high resolution image of our photo.

This is a great example of a company utilizing their technology to offer a personalized and immersive experience. It’s called experiental marketing.

But what’s the real tie-in?

A few weeks ago, I wrote how email marketers are moving towards personalization in order to make their messages stand out from that of their competitors.

It comes as no surprise then to find out that the word “you” and “your” are among the top 10 subject line terms used by US marketers, as reported by eMarketer.

In Experian’s 2010 Digital Marketer report, the statistics show that in 2008, the words you/your held a very slight lead over the word free which was the second most used term. However, one year later, you/your were clearly in the lead as the top terms, followed by the word free.

This trend does make sense. Why…

Last year I wrote an article explaining how Burger King is considered a pioneer in mass customization. Back in 1954 they came up with the idea to allow customers to customize their hamburger.

McDonald’s celebrates sameness and uniformity with their jingle – two all beef patties, special sauce lettuce cheese, pickles onions on a sesame seed bun. In contrast, Burger King’s value proposition dating back to 1973, is Have it Your Way and has also been immortalized in a catchy song. Remember these lyrics: Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, Special orders don’t upset us, All we ask is that you let us serve it your way.

Burger King in Brazil has taken personalization to the next level. While customers were placing their orders, a hidden camera took a picture of their face, which was then instantly printed on a wrapper, and then served to them. Your Whopper, Your Face, Whopper Face. You’ll have to watch the video to see delighted and stunned reactions of the recipients!

Burger King offers a fabulous example of mass customization brought to food packaging. However, I have written about other custom packaging initiatives...

I love seeing creative examples of personalization used in marketing efforts - which is proven by the dozens of articles I’ve written on the subject of personalization in print, video or online applications.

But sometimes personalization can go awry and get a little bit invasive, such as when a company uses your private information in an unexpected way. I was more than a little creeped out – and then peeved - when I saw this personalized Facebok ad. It read:

“Thank you Anita. Thanks to you, many of your friends are now on Facebook. Find your [my personal email provider’s domain] friends with your [my personal email account] and start connecting.”

Note that I’ve removed my personal email address for obvious reasons. So, the first thing I did was go to my privacy settings to see if there was a way I could disable such ads, which sucked information from my personal settings. I couldn’t. If anyone knows how to do it, please let me know.

This reminds me of the other creepy personalized ad campaign that I wrote about before...