Personalization

Personalization is all the rage. The web makes it easy to allow consumers to build exactly what they want. And manufacturers are increasingly willing to charge a premium to give consumers what they want.

Not every company is jumping on the personalization bandwagon. Apple, the undisputed king of consumer products, offers very few options. But I wonder if the true motivation for customization is sales or simply customer engagement. How many consumers complete the personalization process and purchase their product? Most of these sites allow the user to post their custom order to their Facebook or other social media profile. Even if the customer doesn’t complete the purchase, the act of personalization and sharing probably helps connect the brand with consumer.

Below are a few sites that I’ve run across lately that do personalization well. These are all Flash-based sites so if you have an iPhone or iPad (or you just don’t like Flash), you are out of luck.

Timbuk2

I’m looking for a new messenger bag for my laptop and iPad. While looking, I came across Timbuk2 which lets you order a bag with custom fabrics. In playing with the website, I made some nice looking bags (and some really, really ugly bags).

Shoes: Converse and Nike

Of course, customization isn’t limited to the messenger bags. Converse allows you to design custom Chuck Taylor shoes – mixing and matching solid colors and prints. 

Nike also allows extensive personalization of their shoes and clothing as well with their Nike ID site. Nike is one of the first companies that I can remember offering a service like this.

Mini

Lots of car companies allow you to customize your car, but Mini takes the personalization even further. The Mini USA site allows you to customize a car design and send the specs to a dealer. You can change the colors, the interior finished and all sorts of details.

Soup, Spoons and Social Media

I went to Subway last week. I don’t typically eat at Subway, but there is one by my office and I didn’t have much time for lunch. As I walked in, on the door, there was a window cling encouraging me to order soup with a combo. When I got in line, I looked up and there on the menu was an ad encouraging me to order soup. At the register there was another sign.

So I ordered soup.

I grabbed a seat. And realized I didn’t have a spoon. I looked up by the straws and napkins. There were forks and knives, but no spoons. So I asked the woman behind the counter – the same woman who sold me the soup – if they had any spoons. After asking another employee, she confirmed that they had no spoons in the restaurant.

The big picture

It seems both silly and odd that a franchisee would go to all the trouble of putting up all the signs and ads and then mess up something as simple as having spoons.

But I think this type of thing is very common in business. Often, we see people obsess over seemingly insignificant details, only to completely overlook a major issue. They work on the details and lose sight of the big picture.

As designers, we see this a lot.

Clients spend time and energy critiquing minor elements of a design, but often forget to shore up the logistical issues that support a campaign. Marketing and design are critical, but so is customer service and support. Think about my Subway story for a second. The marketing worked. I entered the store. And I purchased soup. However because of a minor – but critical – oversight, I was a dissatisfied customer. 

Social media and a lack of spoons

Right now, social media is all the rage. Everyone seems to be talking about how social media can help their business. Worrying that they’ll be left behind if they aren’t on Twitter or Facebook. Consultants are aggressively selling social media services.

But I fear many of these folks are losing sight of the big picture. Social media is a tactic. And yes, it can be an effective and powerful tactic. But as companies develop their social media plans, they cannot forget that it is just the beginning of the customer relationship. Strategically, you need to think through the entire customer experience. What are you going to do with your customers after you reach out to them through social media? How do you want to engage your customers on a continuing basis?

I’m not saying social media is bad or that it isn’t important. There are absolutely uses for social media in business and marketing. Just remember that the social media tactics are only the beginning. You and your company need to prepare for a long-term customer relationship.

Or in other words, when you decide to sell soup, make sure you are ready to provide spoons.