Study: This Business Is Getting Personal

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Note to marketers: Customers "are desperate to have a relationship where they are nurtured, cared about and recognized." Of course, you have to be careful not to recognize them too much.

Privacy concerns aside, a new CMO Council study concludes that individualized content will be the next big thing as marketers move from traditional mass media into a new era of ads like those depicted in the film "Minority Report."

"Personalization is the whole theme of this marketing era," said Bob Thacker, senior VP-marketing and advertising at OfficeMax. "It's the end of mass communication as we know it."

In a presentation this spring, Hewlett-Packard Chief Marketing Officer Michael Mendenhall said personalization or customization is one of the biggest trends in the industry. "Customers want you to know them," he said.
 

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