Comments on: Proof of the Power of Personalization

By: Chef Mana

Chef Mana — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:28:06 +0000

A new addition to the nut butter business in particular and mass customization in general is SpreadableNuts.com. You can design your own handcrafted, custom, all organic nut butters or spreads from a selection of nut bases and delicious certified organic ingredients, including goji beries, cacao nibs, and exotic argan oil, to name a few.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:28:51 +0000

Thanks, Ryan – as a former BM I know that I’ve got to talk business rationale to get your attention!

By: Ryan Jones

Ryan Jones — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:36:10 +0000

Love this post…really great wrap up of the strong personalization campaigns going on out there. I also like the business rationale sprinkled in between your examples.

Tks Bob!
–Ryan

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:53:08 +0000

Thanks, Amanda, I love that we can use this space to keep adding examples. I think the more marketers see the number and variety, the more confidence they have that this can work.

By: Amanda Hilton

Amanda Hilton — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:59:50 +0000

A few brands that come to mind for me…YouBar and Three Custom Color Specialists.
YouBars.com is a new addiction for me. You go online and create your own customized, handmade nutrition bars. You pick all the ingredients and it immediately tells you the nutrition facts. They even let you name it whatever you want. They also let you make customized shakes.
Threecustom.com is a cosmetics brand where they will customize a makeup shade for you…whether it’s based off a discontinued color of your favorite lipstick or that perfect fabric swatch of red. And to know that’s it’s “just for you” makes the price seem not so bad.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:00:47 +0000

Thanks, Kari, good recommendation for personalized coffee. Buying $55 lbs is part of how the business model can make sense, and I think people understand this fairly well.

I read your URL and figured you were a coffee expert…Had to check out your blog to find that you’re actually a social media pro. Cool!

By: Kari Rippetoe

Kari Rippetoe — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:23:04 +0000

I remember Millstone personalized coffee – The Roasterie is doing that now with MyBlend (http://www.theroasterie.com/myblend/). Goes through the same Q&A process that Millstone went through, and it’s pretty cool (especially for coffee geeks like me). Only catch is that you have to buy at least 4 pounds (roughly $55 worth of coffee). Maybe that’s how they plan to recoup the costs; although I’m not sure how many people are going to buy $55 worth of coffee at one time.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:59:48 +0000

Welcome, Kevin! I think Millstone was likely a classic example of Innovator’s Dilemma, plus a victim of the negative reaction to the ’90s bubble. All I know is that I would be buying a couple bags of my personal Millstone blend every week today if it was still around.

By: Kevin Dwinnell

Kevin Dwinnell — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:34:19 +0000

Just found your blog from a posting on Hard Knox Life and your topic relates to a fundamental premise behind our company.

For our product (custom browser themes), and the ones you’ve listed above, the consumer goes through additional barriers to entry to invite that brand into their lives. If that commitment is rewarded, the effect can be very powerful. It would have been interesting to see all the data that went into Millstone’s decision to exit. Not that it would have made sense to continue the program, but what unmeasured positives would have narrowed the gap between profit/loss.