Evolving Trend of Mass Customization
In the early 1900’s Henry Ford was credited with the invention of the assembly line. This innovation allowed for large quantities of identical products to be produced in relatively little time. This movement became known as mass production and shaped the way industries would conduct business and build products for years to come. Fast forward to the early 2000’s and mass production, while still in place in many industries, is slowly being eked out by a new trend called mass customization. Mass customization has the same principles of mass production but with one significant difference: the companies were able to create the same products but with different features and specifications for the customer. This notion revolutionized the way we perceive consumer products. Fast forward to 2014 and mass customization, still widely used, is now being employed in different fields of business namely, Marketing.
1. E-mail marketing: Mass marketing customization is the notion that marketers are able to communicate a similar but slightly personalized message to a large audience as opposed to just sending out the same message to an entire audience. Among some of the most basic but effective forms of mass marketing customization is email marketing. One is able to include individual customers’ names and shopping preferences in the message which achieves two goals: (1) It gives the customer the assurance that the company cares about them personally and (2) can help solidify a sense of brand loyalty with that customer.
2. Website Personalization: One recent innovation in mass marketing customization is website personalization. Website personalization goes one step further than email marketing as far as personalized interactions with customers. On some retail websites, customers are given the option to create an account and sign in as they shop or look for products. This is incredibly beneficial for retailers because when a customer is logged in and browsing, his or her data, transactions, and preferences will be saved and made available to the retailer for various marketing promotions. As a result, the next time that customer logs on to the website, they may be greeted, offered promotions on items that they would be interested in, and given discounts and special deals. All of these will enforce a sense of loyalty and synergy between customer and company.
3. Personalizing TV and Digital Ads: Since mass marketing customization is still very new to the marketing world, the possibilities for growth and discovery are endless. One of the most interesting concepts for mass marketing customization is the notion of personalizing TV ads. Traditional advertising uses the television as a channel for communication. Unfortunately these ads are standardized for every single person watching the same channel. One concept of mass marketing customization is to shatter that old precedent and find a way to send relevant ads and commercials to viewers based on information about their interests, hobbies, career, and a multitude of other filters. Just imagine: running out of food while watching a football game and all of the sudden a commercial appears for a local pizza restaurant. Presently, this may be accomplished through digital TV ads – that is, the data from individuals who are browsing the web will have digital advertisements pushed through to them before watching video content sites such as Hulu and ABC video.
Mass marketing customization is beautifully simple in concept. Match relevant advertisements, promotions, offers, etc. with the right audience in order to ensure a mutual benefit for both the customer and the company. The big question though is “Where do I start?” Our products are designed to help facilitate mass marketing customization and provide an avenue for the average marketer to accomplish these seemingly difficult tasks. We love mass customization, and we are sure you will too.
