Customization of promotional products: added value for your customer relationship
A sales argument but also real expertise
Customization has seen significant improvements both in terms of technique, service, and communication. We now even talk about hyper-personalization, a decisive turning point in the marketing strategy of companies. Offering more than a promotional item or service, but a unique experience, is the goal of your promotional product. An analysis of three brand strategies that make purchasing an ultra-specialized act accessible to all.
Hyper-personalization in all its forms
Materials, shapes, colors, processes – products today can seamlessly fit into trends and perfectly meet consumer desires. Swatch, the famous Swiss watch brand, quickly understood customers' desire to be fashionable while standing out. It offers a watch customization system on its website, "Pick a design, make your watch." The interface allows choosing between several patterns created by young artists and designers from ECAL (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne). These patterns are then applied in real-time by the user on a watch matrix, allowing them to choose the positioning. The customer sees their model take shape instantly and can try out different designs before deciding and placing their order. Swatch, while reinforcing its reputation as a Swiss watchmaker by collaborating with local trendsetters, offers a product that is up-to-date but remains unique, giving customers the opportunity to be fashionable while standing out.
The customer as a designer for custom-made products
The sportswear manufacturer Nike takes a different approach to customization by allowing the customer to control every component of their future favorite sneaker. The website "Nike By You" sets the tone right away: "Just you, us, and a million possibilities." The brand’s expertise is made available to the customer, who takes on the role of a designer working at Nike. Model, materials, and colors of the various components, up to the embroidery of their initials on the tongue – the customer can have input on every aspect.
High-tech shopping
When it comes to hyper-personalization, physical stores are not left behind. The brand ZARA has embraced a phygital approach and equipped its stores with interactive mirrors that allow customers to request a different size or color of clothing from a salesperson equipped with iPads. Once reserved for wealthy clients, the concept of a personal shopper is now accessible to everyone, and customers benefit from in-store information as quickly as they would on a website. With an augmented reality process, they can also discover exclusive new looks by pointing their smartphone at mannequins in the window. These technological and playful tools contribute to a personalized and interactive customer experience, immersing buyers in a positive and rewarding universe, closely aligned with their desires.
Anticipating your customers' expectations
"We need more than just stuff," proclaims the custom sneaker creation site AD Adidas. While added value no longer solely lies in expertise, the need for an experience involving the customer is still not enough. Personalization and its ultra-specialized version, hyper-personalization, go further, aiming at the next marketing revolution: anticipating customers' desires or needs. Knowing each customer's profile, purchasing behavior, and predicting what they will like or need is what perfects the custom approach. A recent study by consulting and technology firm Accenture concluded that in the US and Europe, 91% of the population are more likely to buy from brands that remember them and offer tailored recommendations. Customer file analysis, CRM data usage, targeted newsletters, and promotional campaigns are tools that help retain consumers. The renowned fast-food chain McDonald's even creates a client file for each car to suggest their favorite burger during the next drive-through visit. Viewed as an individual, the customer feels acknowledged and trusts the brand that knows their preferences and anticipates their desires.
A custom-made future
The promotional product market must evolve with new technologies and new practices. Both technical and, above all, human, this marketing revolution of hyper-personalization is an opportunity to assert expertise while strengthening customer relationships with products and services designed as extensions of the consumer. The challenge ahead will be predictive personalization. Based on artificial intelligence algorithms, combining data, machine learning, and human expertise, tomorrow's personalization will anticipate the market and offer a custom-made solution at the most relevant time.