From a guessing game to true personalisation: Empowerment Tech will empower businesses to understand what really matters
Personalisation is like active listening - are business really listening to their customers, or are they just waiting to speak?
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From a guessing game to true personalisation: Empowerment Tech will empower businesses to understand what really matters
In the last post I wrote about the idea of Mass Customisation.
Where businesses customise goods (e.g. raw coffee beans) to create products (packets of ground coffee). And how they can then offer services (cups of fresh coffee) and stage great experiences (Starbucks).
I wrote about how we’ll soon do the next logical thing. Customising experiences for each customer individually.
To create ‘Personal Moments’.
Today I want to look at how companies differentiate. Why personalisation goes so wrong. And how Empowerment Tech will soon help businesses understand what really matters.
I think it’s quite simple.
Personalisation goes wrong when businesses don’t understand the customer. They don’t understand the why or when or who or what of the customer.
It’s why you get sent a ‘targeted’ advert for a car, but the business doesn’t know you just joined a car club.
It’s why you are recommended a book on Amazon based on your shopping history. But that they don’t know you actually hate the genre. Your previous purchase was for a friend’s birthday.
Logically then, the opportunity is to help organisations better understand their customers.
That’s easy, right? Drop another cookie. Collect some more personal data. Stick it in another database and run some AI magic…?
It’s hard. Certainly at Internet Scale. Businesses end up being either:
Creepy - With massive centralised databases of customer personal information, often managed by large Web2 companies and data brokers. An attempt to build a 360-degree view of the customer. All exposed to the hourly risk of a data breach; OR
Clumsy - Companies just guessing. Grouping customers who are similar enough to cluster, but different enough to get their own ‘demographic segment’. Sophisticated Sushi Lovers. Vulnerable Volvo Drivers. Excitable Diabetics. It’s all made up of course, and why online advertising peaks at 3-4% click-through.
Neither option is working. We all know that.
Both ends of the spectrum - creepy and clumsy - are the result of industrialised data thinking.
A hangover from the last 100 years of business machinery and efficiency. Standardising processes. Standardised service models. Standardised targeting and customer experiences.
Not for nothing, but this customer standardisation is killing innovation.
Hello... is it me you’re looking for?
So how can businesses truly understand the customer? To differentiate in today’s increasingly bland digital marketplace?
We can find the answer in my last post. By looking more closely at Mass Customisation.
With products, businesses compete on price. With services, they compete on quality. And with experiences, Joe Pine - the man behind the idea of Mass Customisation - believes that it’s about being authentic.
Before we jump into personalisation, let’s quickly look at what being authentic means.
Joe Pine argues there are two types of authenticity:
Doing what you say you will - or being true to others
Being consistent about who you are - or being true to yourself
You can create a simple map to show if a business is being authentic. Here’s how this plays out:
TOP LEFT: It’s kind of authentic, but there’s something missing. They do what they promise… but they really aren’t truly being themselves. It’s a ‘Fake Real’.
Example: it’s like being served by the Fast Food Burger Guy. Yes, he gives you a burger. But he doesn’t really care. Did he wash his hands today? The “have a nice day” feels empty.
BOTTOM RIGHT: It’s the opposite. An authentic experience, but a manufactured one. Everyone knows it’s a show. But that’s OK because it’s heartfelt. It’s a ‘Real Fake’.
Example: it’s like going to Disneyland. Every little detail is designed for magic and family entertainment. But you’re not really in the Magic Kingdom.
BOTTOM LEFT: It’s a completely fake experience. It smells of deceit and shiftiness. It’s a ‘Fake Fake’.
Example: it’s like being targeted by an online phishing scam. It’s not really an official from the bank getting in touch with you. And there is no immediate payment needed. You will never see your money again.
TOP RIGHT: This is the ideal state. It’s an authentically ‘real’ experience. The company is completely true to themselves. And they do what they say they will. It’s a ‘Real Real’.
Example: it’s like going to a traditional Italian family restaurant. They take a very real pride in serving you. Discussing the freshness of the ingredients. They insist that you sample their home-made tiramisu, and give you a limoncello on the house. Just because.
Getting to know the real you
So this helps us understand how to differentiate with experiences. Joe’s idea of being authentic.
We can use this same approach to unpick personalisation. You’ll remember from the last post that personalisation is about customising experiences.
Of creating Personal Moments.
Well if businesses can differentiate customer experiences by being authentic… then they can differentiate customer moments by making them Personal.
And that means deeply understanding customer context.
There are two parts to that. The business needs to understand:
Who I am… right now
What matters to me… right now
On the first, this is related to identity. But I don’t mean specifically WHO I am. Rather, businesses need to understand my persona. Who I want to be seen as, at that particular moment.
Because my identity - my persona - changes over time. At some times of day I’m a parent, at other times I’m a sports fan. Sometimes I’m an employee and at other times a shopper.
On the second, about what matters to me, this is about understanding my needs and wants… and at that particular moment.
Again, this doesn’t mean static ‘preferences’. It means what I want or need right now. Am I looking for advice and help? Am I in a rush? Am I shopping or just browsing? Or do I just want to be left alone to watch the match?
We can use the same picture to map out customer context:
Here are some examples:
TOP LEFT: When the organisation asks me who I am, but then guesses what matters right now: It’s Facebook (and other ‘social commerce’).
Them: “Please sign in and let us know exactly who you are.”
Me: “Hi, it’s me again.”
Them: “Hey! We’ve been following your activities online (and in some places offline too), and what your friends have been saying recently, and we thought you might be interested in this Car. And an ‘Ice Watch’. And a ‘Dream holiday in Northern Europe”.
BOTTOM RIGHT: It’s the opposite. When they don’t know who I really am, but have some sense of what I want: It’s Booking.com
Them: “Hi, what are you looking for today.”
Me: “Here’s some basic information about what I need.”
Them: “Great! Here’s a list of things you might be interested in, but because we don’t really know who you are (and can’t verify any of the stuff you just told us) you’ll have to navigate all the options, and we’ll then have to pass you over to the providers directly… (and get paid for the referral)”
BOTTOM LEFT: When they don’t know who I am and then completely guess what I want: it’s Spam.
Them: “Would you like to buy this car?”
Me: “How did you get this address? Please delete me from your database.”
Them (8 minutes later): “Would you like to buy this car? Or this one? Or this one?”
TOP RIGHT: This is the Personal Moments opportunity. To understand just enough customer context - who I am right now, and what I want right now - to make it personal, relevant and valuable.
It’s a passenger’s Travel Pass. I gave this example in the last post. Enabling passengers to use a portable digital ID wallet to interact with different organisations, and share personal data under their control. In a Travel Pass, not only can the customer connect their digital wallet with the airport and airline, but they can do so many other different providers. From the travel agent and taxi company to the tour guide and restaurant.
This idea is already being trialled by major airlines and travel agents. And will soon be piloted as part of the EU’s digital ID wallet program.
Them: “Hi, how can I help you?”
Me: “I’m looking to prepare for my trip later today”
Them: “Ah, great. We can see you are travelling from London to Frankfurt. However the flight is looking delayed. Would you like us to automatically inform your hotel, the taxi company collecting you and your restaurant booking?”
Me: “Yes please. Also check if I can receive compensation for the delay.”
Listen up folks
Digital wallets. Verifiable Credentials. Personal AI.
All new digital tools in the hands of the customer. And part of the emerging $billion market for ‘Empowerment Tech’.
It started as a public discussion about digital ID, wallets and credentials. But it will soon give way to new wave of digital transformation. Powered by the customer themselves, and Personal AI.
Where businesses will be able to better understand their customers. And not in a creepy or centralised way. But because customers will finally be able to share their own digital context.
About who they are… right now. And about what matters… right now.
Empowerment Tech won’t just be about customer empowerment. About data portability, privacy and security.
It will also be about empowering businesses. Creating new, disruptive digital relationships. Where companies can build lasting and powerful digital connections with their customers.
And where they can actually start listening to, not just talking over, their customers.
Today personalisation is a bit like the idea of ‘active listening’. Are businesses really listening to their customers? Or are they just waiting to speak?
The companies that don’t understand who the customer is, or what they need, will be left behind.
They certainly won’t be able to fake it. By adding so-called ‘smart customer engagement channels’… but then just spraying out offers to customers over email and SMS.
The age of the guessing game will be over soon. It’s time for businesses stop being tone deaf.
Empowerment Tech will help businesses understand what really matters to customers.
And help them to start listening.
Thanks for reading this week’s edition.
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