b'MARC ZIENKIEWICZ JOE PENTLICKIEDITOR, CREATE BY ISSUES INKOLIVER MANUFACTURING VICE mzienkiewicz@issuesink.com PRESIDENT & COO @mzienkieissuesink.com joe.pentlicki@olivermanufacturing.comolivermanufacturing.comLetting Customization Lead InnovationTechnology Changes butCUSTOMIZED. Just for you. Tailor-made. Human Nature Doesnt Personalized. How many times have you come across those words in marketing materials and advertisements during the past year? Its nearly WE RECENTLY lost a dear family member, and several of us spentimpossible to avoid them as mass personalization time looking through old family photos. Some were taken backhas become a reality for businesses and consumers.in the 1920sthe kind of photos you have to handle with careBusinesses have not only developed the because the photo paper has become brittle and can easily tear ifcapabilities to measure specifically what each youre not careful. individual consumer wants, they are now in a It felt strange to hold physical photos in my hand. Digital pho- position to link their processes and resources to tography is the new norm and when someone shows me a photoprovide it, reports Nigel Wixcey, a lead partner of these days, 99% of the time its on a phone. Consumer Business at Deloitte LLP.We sat around and talked about how digital photos are dispos- Empowered by social networks and digital able. You take the picture, look at it, then file it away with hun- devices, consumers more and more are dictating dreds of others buried in your phones memory and forget aboutwhat they want, when and where they want it. it, if it doesnt get deleted. Its not a stretch to say that personalization is no That didnt happen with film and cameras, we all agreed.longer a luxury; its expected as part of service.Photos were taken on special occasions you wanted to rememberThe one place where this is in its infancy is the and you took time to pose for them. Film was expensive and youhealthcare industry, and Im excited to see more only had so much on hand, after all, so you couldnt be careless.advances made in this area. The opportunities here Then there was the anticipation while you waited to get the filmseem endless from doctors on demand to DNA processed, to see how the pictures turned out. testing with prescription diets and lifestyle plans, Digital photos cost nothing to take and are disposableindis- and from diabetes tracking to online therapy.criminately snapped and easily forgotten. Personalized service is changing consumers But is that really true? It felt like it, before we reminded our- expectations and the way businesses do busi-selves that most of the photos we were looking at hadnt been seenness. As a small, family-owned manufacturer, in a very long time. They sat for years in boxes and photo albumsweve been doing personalized service and cus-that had been collecting dust. Theyd been mostly forgotten about,tomized products before it was the cool thing as had many of the people and events depicted in them. to do. We have the flexibility to focus on meeting To me, the moral of the story is that technology changes, buteach and every clients needs.human nature doesnt. We are open to new ideas and testing new Technology is what we make of it. It has no inherent value.things. We enjoy and take great pride in working We bring value to it by how we use it. with customers to solve their challenges. This not If we treat a digital photo as disposable, thats what it will be.only keeps us sharp, but also keeps us innovating.If we take time to preserve it by posting it to social media, or evenThink about how you can take your cus-having it developed and framed, it takes on a new meaning. tomers experience to the next levelit could When creating content for your businessbe it printed mate- be something simple like a follow-up phone call rial, digital material, video or podcaststake time to think aboutor something more complex like a chat bot to how memorable it will be. Will people find it worth spending theiranswer questions on demand.time and/or money on? Or will it be ignored and forgotten about?See my next column for some insights on how to make your content memorable and stand the test of time.44GERMINATION.CAMARCH 2020'