flexistuff

The recent downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, combined with the stock market meltdown, the accumulation of consumer debt, and the hollowing of the manufacturing base of America due to offshoring, got me thinking about our consumption driven society and the pursuit of acquiring more stuff. The future, I think is one where we are going to buy less stuff. So, let me highlight some of the differences between mass production and mass customization:

• Mass production is about producing tons of the same products and hoping to fill customers needs, while mass customization produces products one at a time, catering to consumers tastes and fulfilling needs perfectly, at their request.

• Mass production is driven by a supply chain, focused on manufacturing output, whereas mass customization instead has a demand chain based on input, where consumers drive what is manufactured.

• Mass production guesses what consumer demand could be, which may result in overstock or stockouts whereas for mass customization, the exact quantities required are always produced.

It’s pretty obvious then, that in a mass customization model, resources are allocated to produce only what is required, therefore minimizing waste. As such, a mass customization strategy fits in perfectly with a "green" strategy and produces no more and no less than what is required in the marketplace. This is what economists call the perfect market equilibrium, where supply equals demand and scare resources are allocated efficiently.

I read an interesting research report about mass customization that is over 10 years old, but is nevertheless both prescient and still very relevant...

According to Bowker, the major provider of book information, an historic development occurred in 2008, in which “on demand and short-run books exceeded the number of traditional books entering the market”. A non-traditional title is defined as a photo books, backlist titles, out of print books, scanned books, self-published books and others. It is this category, reports printing and publishing industry expert Frank Romano that is “fueling the growth of printed books”.

Since then, observes Romano, “the market is now closing in on 10 times the output of traditional titles. What is more amazing is that this growth has been one book at a time! “ [The emphasis is MINE!]

Romano further reports that Bowker predicts that the non-traditional sector will continue its explosive growth, which increased 169% from 1,033,065 titles in 2009 to an astounding 2,776,260 titles in 2010. So in other words, millions of titles are printed, one at a time.

This “milestone” was certainly predicted by Chris Anderson, author of the 2006 book, “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More”. If you are not familiar with the concept, here it is explained from the book’s website:

“The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. The term refers specifically to the orange part of the sales chart above, which shows a standard demand curve that could apply to any industry, from entertainment to hard goods. The vertical axis is sales; the horizontal is products. The red part of the curve is the hits, which have dominated our markets and culture for most of the last century. The orange part is the non-hits, or niches, which is where the new growth is coming from now and in the future.”

So what does this have to do with mass customization?

Have you ever read a Dilbert comic strip and thought to yourself, hmm…that seems like something that happened in OUR office! I have. Well, now YOU have the chance to put yourself into the Dilbert comic strip becoming the Boss, Wally, Alice or Carol.

Here’s how it works…

Visit the site PixFusion where you are asked to pick from 3 Dilbert comic strip themes: “My Company Sucks”, “All in a Day’s Work”, or “My Boss is an Idiot”. Then, under each option, there are 8 different strips from which to choose. Upload your photo, adjust the image, then click on “preview” to view your animated comic strip. You can then go on purchase your custom strip for a very reasonable 99₵.

Here’s what’s missing, though…

Have you ever dreamed of being a Super Hero? Did you ever wish you could have special powers and have a cool costume?

Now is the time to unleash your alter ego. Now YOU can bring your creations to life, complete with bold costumes, weapons, powers, hair and body features with the Marvel Create Your Own Super Hero application. Share your awesome characters with the world!

Create your own superhero with Marvel's Superhero Avatar Creator! Name your superhero, mix and match costumes of all your favourite Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, Iron Man and Wolverine. Customize face, hair, and other features, and then post online or send to friends!

You start by selecting a “base” of 3 physical forms: two men and one woman. Funny how the form of the woman only offers the extra large breast size configuration. I mean, really!? I guess this application is meant to appeal to the pre-pubescent boys or geeks who are likely to be the heavy users of the site. By the way, no offense meant towards either demographic, ok!?

After you chose a form, you are offered “Hero Packs” – which, for the women are Elektra, Spider Girl or Ms Marvel, from where you can choose clothing, hair, weapons and body features – and there are LOTS of them.

Some of the more humorous options are “tail”, and “logo” which includes a dollar sign. When I tried out the application, I made myself look like a green, rapper hulk, blinged out with a tail. Although funny, this is probably not very intimidating or very super-hero like. In true social media style, users can send their completed super hero personas to a friend, save, download or print.

I had fun with this application, but this isn’t the first company that has provided tools to allow users to create and personalize their own avatars...

Last week I wrote about how Nestle’s Latte Yourself application on Facebook left me a little worried for my online privacy because the app requested access to my photos, wall and friends. Since I had a concern sharing this information, I decided not to interact with the application because I didn’t want to trade my privacy for the sake of having my photo swirled into latte art.

Soon after I uploaded my post, Nestle’s interactive agency quickly responded via a comment online to explain the challenges creating an application on Facebook and the associated development issues that impact a user’s privacy. However they did go ahead to develop the app for Facebook as directed by Nestle because that’s where Nestle’s customers are - and as such they felt they had to be on that platform in order to reach them.

Fair enough, but by taking this route, I know that Nestle turned off visitors such as me who weren’t willing to allow an application to access their personal information. There is another route that Nestle could have taken - and KLM Airlines nailed it with their “Tile Yourself” application.

Here’s what they did…

Product personalization can be put on a spectrum. At one end, there is true mass customization, where users can configure their own products online from a pre-selected range of options and features - which in the end results in a large number of combinations and permutations. For example you can:

• create your own chocolate at Chocri
• configure a custom backpack or laptop bag at Rickshaw, or
• design a ladies’ shoe where you determine the leather, colour and heel height at Shoes of Prey.

At the other end of the personalization spectrum, there are products that are already defined. In that sense, no customization options are available – other than adding a photo. An example of this would be a personalized postage stamp from Zazzle.com

I mostly write about the former – mass customization - because these are truly game changing companies with business models that literally reshape their industry, such as the companies I mentioned above. Most mass customization initiatives are start-ups, so when a large corporation gets into the game, I take notice.

As I recently flipped through a women’s magazine, I came across an ad from Hallmark for a recordable “sing to me recordable plush”. The idea is that you can choose a stuffed animal such as a sheep or bear, record your voice to music and play it back at anytime. “So even if your child is with the babysitter”, says Hallmark, “you’re never far away”. Aww, cute! When I went to find the product on the Hallmark.com website, I couldn’t find it, but more about that later.

As I delved further in the site, I noticed that Hallmark offers other products that can be personalized…

“If there’s one lesson that social media has taught companies it’s that they can no longer broadcast their messages to customers. Over the past few years, brands have opened up the channels for two-way conversations that let customers engage with them.

Now, marketers are providing customers with the tools to co-create and place themselves in the brand, creating a truly immersive and personalized content experience. Co-creation marketing applications can work for a wide range of products and demographics. For brands, it’s a great way to engage customers and earn some buzz. For the rest of us, it’s just a whole lot of fun! In this session, you will be shown numerous examples of how brands are letting women into their story.”

That’s the outline for the talk I’ll be delivering at the upcoming conference Marketing to Digital Divas to be held in Toronto June 8 and 9. I’ll be drawing on a lot on the blog posts I’ve written and will be presenting the best of the best co-creation experiences – with a focus on those targeting women.

What’s my favourite?

I have written over 250 articles on mass customization, personalization, co-creation, and crowdsourcing. That means that I have interacted with, reviewed, and tried out over 100 websites, tools, features, and applications. As such, I have a lot of first hand knowledge about how customers can create or configure their own personalized products, services or co-created advertising. I’m always keen then, to check out the latest ways that customers can interact with a brand.

I was intrigued when the Nestle Dolce Gusto brand launched a recent Facebook application that allows us users to “Latte Yourself”. Marketers are increasingly providing customers with tools to co-create and place themselves in the brand, creating a truly immersive and personalized experience. This type of interactive experience is definitely a hot marketing trend.

Curious, I decided to check it out. But here’s the first message I was greeted with on Facebook:

With less than 24 hours to go - Royal Wedding Fever has spread! I can’t visit a website, listen to a radio broadcast or watch TV without a mention of the upcoming hyped up event. I gave some thought about what I would give the royal couple as a wedding gift and came up with a perfect, yet “cheeky” gift.

I’ll be sending over a package of Wrigley’s Extra sugar-free gum that has been personalized with Carole Middleton’s photo. Yes, a personalized package of gum featuring the mother of the bride-to-be, Kate Middleton. Why?

As you may recall, Mrs. Middleton sat beside her daughter at the "passing out" parade of Prince William at Sandhurst, the military college from which he graduated. She was captured on film chewing gum non-stop. Since the elder Middleton was in the presence of the Queen, Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales, a hoarde of photographers caught every “unladylike chomp” – this confirming her “commoner” status and lack of good manners.

So, to remind the mother-in-law of the future King of proper decorum, I created a personalized package with a message that reads “I MUST NOT chew gum in public”! After all, if she’s going to be in the public spotlight, she has to know how to behave. Obviously I want the happy couple to give this to Mrs. Middleton!

So how did I create this fabulous personalized package of gum?

Arcade Fire’s surprise Grammy win on Sunday for Album of the Year may have left a number of people shaking their heads, but I admire the band for a completely different reason - having nothing to do with their music.

Last summer, Arcade Fire teamed up with Google to create a custom interactive video of their song “We Used to Wait”, from their album - now a Grammy winner - The Suburbs. This musical experiment called “The Wilderness Downtown” was made specifically to showcase the latest web technology using Chrome, Google’s browser.

When you visit the website, you are asked to type in the address of the home where you grew up. From there the song begins to play. Then, using a combination of HTML5, Google Maps, an integrated drawing tool, and multiple browser windows that move around the screen, a personalized video is created just for you. Not only that, but there is a place in the middle of the song where you can write a note to your former self, using the drawing tool.

What’s my verdict?

I’ve written about a lot about the online interfaces and user experience of websites offering customized products and services. So when I came across Charmed by Ingrid Anne on Facebook I was intrigued. Why?

Because this is the first time I’ve seen a customizer embedded within a tab on a Facebook fan page – allowing you to create, then purchase a necklace.

Founded in April of 2010 by Ingrid Anne Hergert, the company is a small urban jewelry business based out of San Francisco, California founded. All of Charmed by Ingrid Anne's jewelry is custom made and hand crafted from the most precious stones, silk fabrics and unique charms. When you visit her Facebook page, just click on the “Customize” tab where you start the jewelry customization process. Curious, I had to test drive it.

Here’s what I experienced…

I thought I was quite aware of what’s hot on TV— apparently not! So when the television show The Big Bang Theory reached the number one spot in Canada last fall – making it the largest TV audience for a sitcom since the finale of Friends — I had to take notice.

For others of you who may not be familiar with the show, it’s set in Pasadena, California and centers around four male geniuses: a theoretical physicist and experimental physicist both roommates, as well as an aerospace engineer, and particle physicist – all of whom work at Caltech. This bunch may be brilliant, but because of their geekiness, they tend to be very socially awkward – which makes the show funny. It’s their attractive blonde female neighbour, who is both an under achiever and under educated that often shows these super-intelligent guys that sometimes they are not so smart after all!

The show is funny and smart - and the dialogue is peppered liberally with scientific jargon so I literally laugh out loud. I had to grin smugly to myself when I knew what the characters were talking about when these PhDs mentioned Schrödinger's cat, Shor’s algorithm, and string theory. But, I do have to admit that I drew a blank when they referred to the beta function of quantum chromodynamics. Given the somewhat niche premise, I’m surprised then, that this show has such a wide following.

So what does all of this have to do with personalization?

Although it’s the start of a new year, I just had to write this blog post that ties up a loose end from 2010.

This was an event I couldn’t miss....

Bob Young, Founder and CEO of Lulu.com the company that provides a publishing platform and marketplace for authors was presenting the keynote address at Print World 2010 in Toronto last November with his talk “How To Make Print Valuable in a Digital Age”.

Bob is a relative newcomer to the world of print, having his roots in technology. In 1993, Young co-founded Red Hat, the open-source software company that gives hardware and software vendors a standard platform on which to certify their technology. In his opening remarks of the day he said he said he’s used to dealing with tech geeks with three times the IQ of everyone else, so it was a relief for him to be talking to printers. (Ohhh….harsh, Bob!)

Right off the bat, Young admitted that with the ever increasing rate of technology innovation, this is something he struggles with at Lulu.com. For a company that started off as a print on demand self publishing tool - he now he has to rethink what Lulu.com is doing. Why? Because after being in business eight years, and with other competitors in the space, he declared that his business was obsolete!

So there I was, sitting in the second row of the keynote address, and could hardly believe his public admission. Young went on to explain that there are two options: fear tech or love it. “Change will happen anyway, so companies must embrace it - because that is where all of the opportunities in the future lie” he said.

If Lulu.com is now obsolete – what does Bob Young have in store for it going forward?

When I write about companies that provide customizable products, I not only focus on the product and the options available for personalization. I also comment on the user experience, and the online interface. The best online interfaces allow the end user to see colours, textures, flavours, and other options. They also typically display the number of steps required to complete the configuration and then show the end result in true WYSIWYG (what you see if what you get) format before the user clicks on the “buy” button. The reasons for doing so are obvious - because they set the user expectations and provide the customer with a sense of how the end product is going to look, thus maximizing consumer satisfaction.

Of all the interfaces I’ve reviewed of literally dozens of sites, the user takes an active part in the online configuration process, and has to click and choose options. However, when I came across a company that provides a headset that “reads your mind” and then serves up personalized content to suit your liking, I was intrigued…

I can tell you that for me, it happened last week when I received my very fabulous hardcover printed book that I created on Blurb! At a size of 11 inches by 13 inches, in full colour, with photographic images and text throughout, my book PassionKnit About Barbie: Outfits Handmade with Love by My Mother Mary Windisman – turned out even better than I ever could have imagined.

The project was a labour of love, a tribute to my mother who created wonderful knitted and crocheted outfits for my Barbie doll – making her the best dressed gal on the block. The box of precious creations sat in an attic, until two years ago when my parents sold the family home that my brothers and I had grown up in. Before the move to their new condo, we helped to clear out the treasure trove of toys, paper and memorabilia stashed away in their attic. I was thrilled to come across a red-chequered box that was filled with outfits – and there came the inspiration to write the book. It starts off with a mini-biography of my mother that includes old photos and stories of her and then transitions to describing every single outfit she made for my dolls.

What does this story have to do with the topic of personalization?