flexistuff

Earlier this year I wrote about what TransPromo means to personalized communication. In case you are not familiar with the term, here’s the explanation: take the word Transaction, then add it to the word Promotion to get TransPromo. Simply put, it’s about the convergence of statement printing and direct mail.

Although a relatively new marketing technique, it is gaining in popularity. At last month’s TransPromo Summit in New York City, keynote speaker Barb Pellow of InfoTrends highlighted data predicting a 68% compound annual growth rate for TransPromo over the next 4 years. In other words, consumers are willing to read marketing messages on their statements and bills.

That’s a truly an astonishing growth statistic, considering that Morgan Stanley’s Technology Trends showed that for plain old direct mail, year over year growth in the US was calculated to be 4%.

But, speakers at the TransPromo Summit cautioned that a successful campaign requires an integrated approach that brings together marketing personnel, the IT department, as well as the creative team.

Yes, it’s certainly more complex to execute such a campaign, but the results are worth it. According to Jeff Hayzlett, CMO of Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, “For every dollar put into this TransPromo implementation, you’ll see about $11 in return. This is a real revenue generator that can produce for marketers today.”

So, it this got me wondering. Am I getting any TransPromo documents in my mailbox?

I’ve written before about mass customization the cosmetics sector - being able to create your own custom blended lip gloss, or foundation.

Now you can create your own scent online. Launched in 2006, Scent Design, a US based company offers you 50 scents that you can configure into over 10 million fragrance combinations. It is one of the first online fragrance bars for designing one-of-a-kind custom fragrances.

Scent Design provides a list of 50 base fragrances to the consumer who then decides the variety and amount they would like to blend. The process is quick, creative and fun with 100% control in the hands of the user. There is no long and rambling "personality test" or ambiguous fragrance names that get in the way of the creative process and scare away a customer.

Just a few of the scent choices include almond, fern, dewberry, oak moss, sandalwood, vanilla and peppermint. A one ounce fragrance oil allowing you to blend 5 scents costs $20 US, while a third of an ounce fragrance oil using 3 scents costs $10 US, plus shipping.

Through their affiliate program, you can even create your own fragrance line, or join their affiliate program to earn a commission when you provide a sales referral.

Of course I do have one obvious question…

You’re on a mission to buy a great gift for a special someone - so you give it a lot of thought and purchase just the right item. But why not take your gift giving one step further by packaging it up in personalized wrapping paper.

Based out of California, iWrapped.com is the site where you can personalize wrapping paper for any occasion: Birthdays, Hallowe’en, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Weddings, and more. In addition, you can purchase based on theme: baby, kids, sports, music, and nature, just to name a few. And, if you don’t see design you like, they will create one for you.

The online process is pretty easy, you just pick a design and input a name. Too bad however, that unlike other personalization sites, you can’t see a preview of what your finished product will look like.

Each roll measures 30 inches by 8 inches, or enough to wrap two medium sized gifts. One roll costs $15.50 US each, two rolls are priced at $13.75 US each, while 3 or more go for $12 US each, plus shipping.

I do see a way to enhance this website’s offerings…

At MyTego you can create a customized skin for any portable electronic device such as a laptop computer, iPod, cell phone, or game system.

Tego skins are precision cut protective vinyl stick-ons that go on easy and come off clean. The fabulous online interface allows customers to upload an image from their own image library or create a unique design using the company’s online tool. MyTego then manufactures each skin individually, on-demand and ships it to their customers which they can easily apply to the outside of their device. Watch this short YouTube video to see how it’s done.

I’ve tested numerous online interfaces where you can design-your-own-this, or customize-your-own that, and I’d have to say that this application is one of the best! It ranks right up there with the My Kleenex Tissue interface, that I’ve written about before.

The cost for the front and back skin is $18.00 plus a reasonable $3.00 for shipping. So, that’s a pretty good price point for a personalized, made-to-order product. After going through the FAQs and the site, I’m still not sure whether that’s in US dollars, but I assume it is.

Here’s the design I created for my BlackBerry…

This is such a cute promotion that I just had to write about it…

Nestlé is offering your child free personalized baseball trading cards with the purchase of 2 Drumstick Ice Cream Cone packages. To get a pack of 16 personalized baseball cards, all you have to do is submit the 2 UPC codes online and pay $4.19 US for the shipping and handling charges.

Here’s how the online personalization process works:

1. You first start off by choosing from 1 of 3 official templates from Topps (a leading trading card company) and then customize the colours.
2. Next, you type in YOUR information: player's team, player's name, position, season, and coach's name.
3. Then you submit your payment online.

You get an instantly generated PDF proof that you can view online to make sure that you did everything right. Easy, huh?

But here’s what really surprised me….

I’ve written numerous articles about companies that offer mass customized consumer products such as lip gloss, running shoes, and toys. Now, the made-for-me concept has come full force to the food services industry - essentially mass customization for food.

According to the R&I (Restaurant & Institutions) 2008 New American Diner Study, 51% of food service operators report that consumers are more interested in create-your-own, and mix-and-match menus, than they were a year ago.

Just as co-creation has made its way into the word of consumer products, so too it is now embraced in food services. And, encouraging customers to be more active in determining their dining experiences creates a valuable dialogue between consumers and companies.

Here are a few examples cited in the study:

• Flat Top Grill has introduced an as-you-like-it approach at breakfast. On weekends, guests can get customized omlettes, scrambled, French toast and pancakes with a number of options.
• TGI Friday’s lets diners design multicourse dinners from selected appetizers, entrees and deserts for a fixed price.
• Chili’s Grill & Bar recently added create-your-own fajitas to their already extensive selection of customizable menu choices.

So, why are restaurants headed in this direction?

I’ve written before about being able to customize your M&Ms, Dove Chocolate wrappers, and Heinz Ketchup labels.

Now, General Mills offers customers the ability to customize their own fruit roll-ups. You know, it’s that fruit-flavoured ooey-gooey thin shoe leather type snack that is a thin spread of dried, puréed fruit. In fact, the generic term for this product is actually called fruit leather.

Choose from over 400 images and add a personal message on yours. A nice feature offered is the design suggestions page. If you’re pressed for time, or are lacking in creativity, you can choose one of their designs and personalize it with your own message. Each box holds 30 rolls and costs $29.99 US plus shipping, so in other words, it costs $1 per roll.

The online process is pretty smooth:

1. Add a picture.
2. Add a message, by typing it in.
3. Order your design.
4. Sign-up to you can come back later and view your design.

The order will be shipped to you in about 15 days, or less.

I do have a couple of issues with the website...

The cosmetics company, Prescriptives has always differentiated itself from its competitors by offering custom blended cosmetics. But, you’d have to visit a retail location and become colour printed in order to get custom foundation, powder, concealer, or a tinted moisturizer.

Now you can create the perfect Prescriptives lip gloss online using a number of base shades, colour extenders, pearls and finishes, and flavours! The site asks: Want a killer red? A twinkly pink? The coolest coral? Create the lip gloss of your dreams from start to finish.

The site’s interface is neat and uncluttered. The customization process is an easy 4 steps:

• Step 1: Choose a Base Shade: Berry to Fuchsia, Coral to Red, Beige to Brown, or Rose to Pink
• Step 2: Choose a Finish: Full Colour, Chrome, Luster, Glitter, Sheer Sparkle, or Jelly
• Step 3: Choose a Flavour: Tropical, Bellini, Latte, Melon, Icy Mint, or more…
• Step 4: Review

For the end result, you get a custom blended lip gloss that costs $26 US.

This is not the first mass customization initiative for cosmetics…

You’ve probably heard of the television show Pimp My Ride, where in each episode, they take a car and not only restore it, but customize it. Now there’s a version for kids!

RIDEMAKERZ provides your young one (or the young at heart), the opportunity to design and build their own toy cars. But, it’s not only an online venture, it’s a retail concept with 13 locations in the United States. Think of it as mass customization for kids.

Their website says it best:

The RIDEMAKERZ experience invites guests, or “Customizers," into the ultimate car-customizing shop where they can chooze, sonicize, motorize, mobilize, customize, personalize and cruise one-of-a-kind RIDEZ. Between the body styles and colors, tires and wheels, lights and sounds, accessories and decals, RIDEMAKERZ estimates there are more than 649,000,000 possible combinations, not including individual decal placement. Simply put, RIDEMAKERZ is about the joy and fun of creating something great, something artistic, something unique and original.

If this build-a-car approach sounds similar to the Build-A-Bear concept that I wrote about there’s a reason for it…

Keds, the brand that’s been around since 1916 has just launched Keds Studio, the site that lets you design your own shoe from the soles up.

The site offers 5 different Keds shoe styles from women to kids. Proprietary technology provided by Zazzle allows customers to create a shoe - unique as you are - by uploading a photo, design or adding text. Your custom shoe will be delivered to you in one to two weeks, depending on shipping method. The price is between $50 to $60 US, depending on the style chosen.

This is truly a great example of mass customization in action. But, the idea of customizing shoes is not a new one. I’ve written before about being able to personalize your own golf shoes at My Joys. Vans allows you to personalize your own slip-on shoes. And over at at NikeiD, you can personalize yourself from head to toe by choosing such items as shoes, shirts or a backpack.

But there is one big difference between any of those examples and the Keds initiative…

As every parent knows, the first day of day care or school is a source of anxiety for most every child. And although the start of school is over a month away, it’s never too early to start to plan for that important day. So how about giving your child a mini-you to put into his or her knapsack, so that they can feel close to you.

Here’s how you do it...

A company based in Sweden, Tiny Pocket People, creates tiny soft body dolls based on customers’ uploaded pictures. Everything from shoe color to clothes can be customized. And at only 8 inches long, these dolls are so small that the easily fit into a pocket. The cost of the doll is $48.

The founder of Tiny Pocket People, David Miranda, created his very first doll for his 5 year old daughter so that she could have a ”mini” mom and dad with her at daycare. He soon realized that these tiny personalized dolls could fill the need of having a loved one always with you. And with that thought Tiny Pocket People was born.

But I’ve come up with other uses:

This year, Ford Motor Company is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the car credited with putting the world on wheels, the Model T - Henry Ford's iconic vehicle, which officially brought the world into the age of the horseless carriage.

The Ford website also touts 10 important ways in which the Model T changed the world. Number one on the list is that Ford is the king of the assembly line. With their pioneering moving assembly line process, they brought efficiencies to the production line that made their car affordable to the average consumer. It was Ford that was credited with creating and defining the industrial age through mass customization.

What surprised me was the number three item on the list which declares that the Model T started the customization trend. How can that be? It seems to be a contradiction, right?

Well, the site explains that over the years, thousands of Model T accessories have been sold. Because of this, the car spurred the aftermarket supplier industry, which is now a $38 billion industry annually. So, anytime you see a car with anything from a bumper sticker to chrome wheels, you know that Model T started the customization trend.

It’s sort of surprising, isn’t it - especially since we’ve all heard the phrase any color as long as it’s black, which refers to the Model T.

But that’s also a myth that needs to be debunked. Here’s the real story:

I’ve already written about being able paint your own Fendi Purse and also being able to build your own purse at Hermes. Not to be left out of the running, Coach now invites you to design a tote.

Here are the details:

"Coach is searching for one truly inspired and unique design to adorn their classic chic tote. Start from scratch, one of your favorite sketches, or incorporate some of Coach’s iconic design elements. Just download the provided silhouette, create and submit a graphic, and enter to win a $2,500 shopping spree and party in your hometown Coach store — plus have your design created into a special limited edition item and sold in select locations! This is your opportunity to put your artful stamp on the perfect Coach tote!"

This initiative is yet another example of a co-creation initiative that I’ve blogged about before. The same kind of thinking was behind the design your own tissue boxes initiatives by Kleenex and Scotties.

Seems that a lot of companies are jumping on the co-creation band wagon. Why? It’s all about tapping into a global network of resources to then co-creating unique products with consumers one at a time. Who wants to be part of the masses, when you can participate and help to design something unique. Right?

So back to Coach. Want to see my favourite design so far?

"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.

This is just one of the insights identified in a new report put out by Canon entitled Digital Printing Directions: Trends & Opportunities.

Printers worldwide report that the long runs of the past are disappearing and the major shift in run length trends has been in the run length of one. The drivers are copier volumes, one-off books, and personalized direct mail.

Take a look at the chart to the right which shows that by the year 2010, 48% of print jobs will have a run length of 2,000 or less.

Why the move to personalized printing?

I love getting direct mail. Why? It’s a chance to see what marketers are up to when it comes to personalization.

The bad news is that not many companies are doing it. The good news is that it provides great opportunity for corporations to stand head and shoulders above their competition by sending out creative, personalized material.

In the year-and-a-half that I’ve been writing about personalization, I’ve only received 4 personalized direct mail pieces. Ya, count them - 4! They were from Cadillac, Rogers, Women’s College Hospital and Volkswagen. That’s it. And I'd have to say that all of them were excellent initiatives!

So, last week when I received a follow-up from Volkswagen I was totally let down. There was a sort of a déjà vu as I opened up the envelope. The colour of the piece was the same, the message was the same, the model of the car was almost the same. In other words there was nothing that excited me about the piece because I had seen it before.

The image above shows the invitation I just received. Click here to see an image of last years’ piece. I don’t see a difference? Do you see a difference? Exactly my point.

What would have grabbed me?