The Mass Customization Of Marketing
from the this-pitch-specifically-designed-for-you dept
A few years ago we wrote about Harrah's somewhat creepy "rewards" program that so thoroughly tracked users' preferences, that they knew much more about everyone who walked in their doors than most people would have ever imagined. They used that data mining system to create very personalized pitches directed at customers, and it's worked wonders. Harrah's apparently now gets 43% of their customers' gambling money, up fro 36% a few years ago. Other companies have taken notice and lots of them are buying into similar marketing and data mining tools to help create that perfectly customized pitch. This, of course, was the promise of plenty of CRM technologies that never quite lived up to the hype. However, now, like so many promises in the late 90s boomtime, it appears the technology may be ready. While it is creepy to some who realize just how much data is being stored and analyzed about them, others notice that in some bizarre way, it has the opposite effect. By creating such a customized appeal, it makes users feel more special -- more like they're going to the old corner grocer who happens to remember them and everything they like. Still, at some point, the level of customized marketing coming from a large multinational company may seem a bit too creepy when they remember much more than a corner grocer ever would.
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