This is the last episode of this season of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast. It consists of an audio book chapter - well two actually - namely... 

CHAPTER 22: ACHIEVING ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY FOR PERSONALIZATION - with the points:

• The glass ceilings and how to break them
• Breaking the glass ceiling between the Hack and Pack levels
• Stabilize the performance of your core platforms
• Transition your team of builders to a team of executors (Makers to Marketers)
• Secure resources for both campaigns and marketing automation
• Secure data quality and format for marketing automation
• Switch from a project-based to a hybrid operating model
• Change from a simple ESP to a real MAP
• Breaking the glass ceiling between the Pack and Stack levels
• Establish cross-functional teams
• Centralize data and insights
• Centralize production and orchestration of content
• Realign your incentives and personalization accountability around customer-centricity

and

CHAPTER 23: CONCLUSION

• Conclusion
• About the authors

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 21: ’GOVERNANCE.

Our special guest this week is Tina Lambert from Danish Industry. Tina is currently working as Head of CRM after many years within the political organization. Stakeholders wanting to inform all clients are many and the need for balancing priorities within CRM makes it necessary to rely on fixed processes and governance.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Tina's background and career
• The importance of Governance in CRM and Marketing
• How data processing, privacy regulations, and consent management play into the CRM strategies at Danish Industry
• How the CRM department connects with both Legal, Procurement and IT
• How the CRM department interplays with other departments to get the client communications rolling
• What stakeholder strategies they use to align internally on customer communications and lastly...
• Tina's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 17. It is the third and last chapter in Part 3 of the book - The Prerequisites for Personalization and the chapter is called: Conversion Rate Optimization & Personalization.

CHAPTER 17: CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION AND PERSONALIZATION

• Prioritizing between CRO and personalization
• Shifting from CRO towards personalization
• When to shift from CRO to personalization
• So, who is personalization not for?

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing the second chapter in part 3 of the book: THE PREREQUISITES FOR PERSONALIZATION. Chapter 16 is called ’DATA AND PERSONALIZATION'.

This week’s guest is no-one but Chief Consulting Officer from the DACH based agency Nexum AG, Michael Bietenhader. Michael has extensive experience from both within consulting, from working ‘client-side’ at COOP Switzerland and from his long time hosting of ‘the loyalty podcast’.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Michael's career path and his work at COOP Switzerland and NEXUM AG
• How the adventure of 'the Loyalty Podcast' began
• How personalization fits with customer loyalty (seems to be a popular topic these days!)
• How the DACH region is doing in terms of personalization in general
• How much data a company needs for profitable personalization
• What the trade-off is between having enough data and having the right data
• If more data is always better?
• If too much data can become a problem
• How fast data becomes obsolete
• What brands should do, if they have too little data... and...
• Michael's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 16. It is the second chapter in Part 3 of the book - The Prerequisites for Personalization and the chapter is called: Data & Personalization.

CHAPTER 16: DATA & PERSONALIZATION

• Is your data clean?
• How much data is needed to make personalization profitable?
• Re-evaluate often!
• How to scale permissions and data
• Persistent customer log-ins

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing the first chapter in part 3 of the book: THE PREREQUISITES FOR PERSONALIZATION. Chapter 15 is called ’THE BASIC FOUNDATIONS FOR PERSONALIZATION'.

To help us getting to the bottom of this, I've had the opportunity to spend a really good time discussing matters with Jesper Damsgaard, SVP of Ecommerce at the world famous jewelry company Pandora.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Jesper's career path and his work at Pandora
• The business of Pandora, business model, concept, the scale
• What the charms mean to the company - and to the customers
• Which types of personalization that Pandora is using
• If you can start too early as a company 
• ... or as a marketing practitioner
• What needs to be in place before doubling down on personalization
• The balance between brand building, Top-of-mind awareness and Personalization
• The balance between Owned and Paid media
• Which data, that Pandora collects
• How personalized their customer journey is and finally...
• Jesper's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 15. It is the first chapter in Part 3 of the book - The Prerequisites for Personalization and the chapter is called: The Basic Foundations for Personalization.

In the chapter we discuss the things that need to be in place in order for personalization to be worth doubling down on as a company. This is closely related to different go-to-market models.

CHAPTER 15: THE BASIC FOUNDATIONS FOR PERSONALIZATION 

• Three areas to manage well before investing in personalization
• Solid core offering
• Brand trust and demand
• Access to plentiful customer data
• Data types
• Special considerations for FMCG
• Value propositions with frequent engagement create more and better data

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 14: ’TYING IT ALL UP IN THE BOWTIE’ with Håvard Hovdahl, SVP of Loyalty at the Nordic hotel chain, Strawberry.

It's a conclusive episode of the series - almost a season finale (except there will be a new season starting next Wednesday already) - as we're concluding on the Bowtie of Personalization - but also adding a twist of Customer Loyalty.

Håvard seems to know all about the intersection between Hospitality, Loyalty and Personalization - so do take the time to listen to this one!

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Håvard's career path and his work at Strawberry
• What is so special about working in Hospitality
• How personalization fits into Loyalty and Hospitality
• How personalized a customer journey could actually become (if suddenly all challenges were gone and there were no roadblocks)
• How personalized the AVERAGE customer journey in hospitality is and what the reasons for the gap is
• How they measure the results og loyalty and personalization at Strawberry - eg. balancing CLV and 'Proxy metrics'
• How he sees the general maturity of personalization in hospitality and last but not least...
• Håvard's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally (Yes - at a Strawberry hotel! - and I agree it is such a good example!)

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast is a BONUS episode and we'll be discussing Moments of Truth and the role of CDPs within Personalization. To help us become wiser on this topic we have Founder and CTO at Tealium, Mike Anderson in the studio.

In this episode we cover the following points:

• Mike’s career and how Tealium was born before the term CDP was even invented
• How important Personalization is in the world of Tealium
• What ‘When’ and ‘Realtime’ mean for personalization
• How Tealium can help marketers uncover both Segments and Moments of Truth with their customers
• Which companies can benefit from a CDP? How Martech-mature do they need to be?
• Who doesn’t need one… (tricky one there but Mike manages to answer quite good!)
• What the biggest value-add normally is for CDP clients
• What Mike’s best advice is for companies wanting to evaluate or implement a CDP
• Mike’s own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally.

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 14 which brings further perspectives on how personalized a customer journey can be expected to become - even if you are an expert at it. Also we zoom in on how to work with control groups to measure value properly.

CHAPTER 14: TYING IT ALL UP IN THE BOWTIE OF  PERSONALIZATION 

• Getting back to the knot of the bowtie
• What does ‘good’ look like from the customer’s point of view?
• The realistic end goal of the personalized customer experience
• Less engaged customers will experience less personalization
• Measuring the value of personalization
• Identifying your metrics
• Using control groups
• Using proxy metrics
• Do the math – all the way to the money
• Maturity levels for a personalized customer experience
• The Pyramid of Personalization

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 13: ’PERSONALIZATION ON INBOUND PLATFORMS’ with Lars Birkholm Petersen, Founder of Uniform, the Agency Altola and Ex VP of Business Optimization at Sitecore. 

Lars is a published author within personalization and was one of the pioneers within onsite personalization when he was at the Nordic CMS / DXP Sitecore. 

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Lars' career path and his work at Sitecore, Altola and Uniform
• How marketers can create the most value from doing onsite personalization
• How fast webpage load time and personalization can be each other's enemies
• How the Bowtie of Personalization fits with Lars's view on the topic
• How simple 'My Page' personalization ranges into Product Recommendations
• How hiding elements can be a part of a personalized customer experience
• Which types of value that can be created with onsite personalization and what it takes to unlock that value
• Lars's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally.

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 12 ’CONTENT PART 2: CONTENT FEEDS’ with Pier Luigi Spagna, EMEA VP of Retention and Engagement at Warner Bros Discovery.

Pier has deep experience from CRM and Engagement through not only several years with HBO and Warner Bros Discovery but also from his time at Deliveroo in the UK.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Pier's career path and his work at HBO and Warner Bros Discovery
• What the story is with the HBO and Discovery brands
• Which kind of personalization they're using at Warner Bros Discovery
• How they work with content feeds in terms of content types, sub categories, headlines etc.
• How sports and normal series play different roles in engaging their subscribers
• How they work to create a personalized experience by personalizing these content feeds
• How algorithms and editorial curation go hand-in-hand for the sake of the best customer experience
• Pier's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely... 

CHAPTER 21: GOVERNANCE

• How does governance apply within marketing?
• What is subject to governance when it comes to personalization?
• Governance topics imposed by law
• Data processing, privacy regulations, and consent management
• Governance topics imposed by other departments IT Governance
• Procurement processes
• HR policies
• Brand guidelines
• Governance topics you should consider imposing Personalization accountability
• Data operations
• Marketing operating model
• Contact and suppression policies
• Retail media policies
• Martech governance
• Maturity levels for governance

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 13 which concludes on how to deploy personalization tactics to inbound platforms such as websites and apps.

Due to a slight mix-up of schedules, the intended discussion of Chapter 12 with Pier Luigi Spagna from Warner Bros Discovery will be next week's episode. 

CHAPTER 13: PERSONALIZATION ON INBOUND PLATFORMS 

• Relating inbound platform construction to the Bowtie of Personalization
• Creating inbound platforms from insights
• Core customer experience comes before personalization
• Personalization in near real time
• Personalizing content feeds vs personalizing messages
• The order of personalization on inbound platforms
• Start with ‘My’ pages
• Personalize content feeds
• Add personalized messages
• Hiding unnecessary content is also personalization
• Value creation from personalization on inbound platforms
• Increasing top-line sales
• Reducing service costs
• Reducing churn
• Maturity levels for personalization on inbound platforms

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 12 which revolves about the role that content feeds - as in e.g. product recommendations and similar recommendations - play in the realm of personalization. 

CONTENT PART 2: CONTENT FEEDS

• Using content properties to group, sort, rank, filter, and mark
• Generic grouping of content
• Advanced grouping of content
• Sorting and ranking
• Filtering
• Marking
• Personalizing content feeds
• The right feed means more than the ranking within it
• Echo chambers or sources of inspiration?
• Using content feeds wisely

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 11 ’Value from Marketing Automation’ with Jesper Lindeberg, Head of CRM at Miinto.com

Jesper has been a part of personalization and CRM at Miinto.com for several years now and is the primary architect of the huge growth that Miinto.com has had in their revenue coming from Marketing Automation. There's really no one better to talk about this chapter and share his experiences.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Jesper's background from Miinto.com, Saxo.com and the agency days
• What kind of company Miinto.com is
• Jesper's experience working with personalization and how they go about it at Miinto.com
• How the two forms of insights - moments of truth and messages - compare when seeking value from marketing automation
• How value creation in MA compares to more seasonal campaign revenue
• How MA can also lead to Cost savings
• What the most effective flows are
• How Miinto are looking at generative AI for personalization
• Jesper's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally (or almost experienced...)

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 11: 

PERSONALIZATION IN MARKETING AUTOMATION

• Value creation in marketing automation
• Segments and content feeds are secondary in marketing automation
• For marketing automation, consider value over the long term
• The three primary value drivers of marketing automation
• Increased top line – retail
• Increased top line – subscription
• Decreased customer churn
• Cost savings
• Beyond sales – chasing the Next Best eXperience 
• What are the most effective flows?
• Maturity levels for Marketing Automation

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 10 ’Insights part 2: Moments of Truth’ with Gianfranco Cuzziol, Former Head of CRM at Aesop, Speaker, Author and Consultant.

Gianfranco has been a part of personalization and CRM from way back when Direct Mail was the thing (and hey - it still works!). He's worked agency side, as a consultant and on the brand side. International CRM & Personalization Lead at Avon and before that Natura & Co (The Bodyshop, Aesop). All the experience you could possibly want in this podcast.

Gianfranco gives his perspective to what makes personalization work and comes with numerous examples from his time at Aesop and before that. Also there's the favourite example of personalization that never happened - so disappointed in the automotive industry...! 

Give it a listen to learn more!

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Gianfranco's background from Aesop, Natura & Co, agency and client side
• How Gianfranco sees the Bowtie model as a guide for personalization
• How Gianfranco sees the distinction between Segments and Moment of Truth
• Which Moments of Truth that were most important in the Customer Journey at Aesop? 
• How good were they at determining these moments for customers? Enough data? Enough insights?
• How can classic AI help us here?
• How did they act on these insights? Across channels? Inbound vs. Outbound?
• What does Gianfranco believe will happen to personalization in the future?
• How can generative AI help us?
• Gianfranco's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally (or almost experienced...)

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 10: 

INSIGHTS PART 2: MOMENTS OF TRUTH

• What is a moment of truth?
• Moments of truth belong to the customer
• Discovering vs creating intent
• The danger of creating an unintended intent
• Finding moments of truth
• Dynamic data indicates a moment of truth
• Absence of data can also indicate a moment of truth
• Digging deeper into moments of truth
• How Google uses the term ‘moment of truth’
• Algorithmic indications of moments of truth – AI and advanced analytics
• Not all moments of truth are marketing’s responsibility
• Moments of truth matter the most within marketing automation

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 9 'Personalization in Campaigns' with Mads Jefsen, Marketing Director at the football club F.C.Copenhagen (FCK).

FCK has been a huge success the last few years - and with the recent qualification into the knockout parts of the Champions League - this year is no exception.

But they're not only doing well on the field - they're known worldwide within the world of football for how they work with commercializing their club and their digital activities! ...Also when it comes to personalizing campaigns!

Watch it to learn more!

When working with personalization in campaigns it's really about how you match your segments with the right messages. FCK are masters of this! Working with insights such as the customers' favourite stand on the stadium, their buying patterns, their interest in merchandise and much much more...

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Mads's background from both the publishing industry and FCK
• How Mads defines the term personalization
• How Mads and his team manages the complexity of a football club and the data it is consistently creating personalized customer experiences
• What the difference is between marketing to customers and to fans
• How they use these insights in their campaigns and for personalizing the customer experience in general
• How they are firm in working for a long term CLV and not term conversions (all the time)
• Mads’s own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely chapter 9:

PERSONALIZATION IN CAMPAIGNS

• Defining the term ‘campaign’
• Value creation in personalized campaigns
• Increasing sales to prospects and customers
• Increasing the efficiency of campaigns by reusing dynamic logic for content
• Saving costs by optimizing ad spend and avoiding returned orders and dissatisfaction
• Charging suppliers money through retail media
• Maturity levels for personalized campaigns 

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast I'll be discussing chapter 8 'Content, Part 1: Messages' with Dorte Karlsson, Previoius Head of Data & Insights from Story House Egmont Denmark and CRM Manager at the workers' union HK and now Senior Advisor at the agency Web2Media.

Dorte's career history has CRM written all over it...

So how has Dorte seen different message variants contribute to a better, more personalized and more profitable customer experience?

Watch it to learn more! (And see what happens when I'm trying to record a podcast with my toddler being at home sick...)

Messages are one of the primary types of content used in personalization and represents one of the 4 corners of the Bowtie of Personalization from the book 'Hello $Firstname'.

We'll learn from Dorte's experience with magazine subscribers at Story House Egmont and discuss how she has used different message variants to boost retention rates with more than 20%.

Based on her history at the Danish workers' union HK she tells about how relevant and correctly timed messages for graduates moving from a cheap subscription to a full fledged one remedied churn like nothing else in the union's history!

We cover the following points:

• Dorte’s background from both CRM at HK, Head of Data and Insights from Story House Egmont and her work at Web2Media
• How Dorte defines the term personalization
• How Dorte finds conversations with colleagues and clients around the term personalization
• How Dorte sees the distinction between the two content types Messages and Content Feeds from the Bowtie of Personalization
• Dorte’s favourite examples from personalized campaigns from HK and Egmont
• Dorte’s favourite examples from personalized Marketing Automation from HK and Egmont
• How Dorte and her teams have been using different communication channels to optimize cost of communication
• How Dorte perceives customer value in personalization and why you shouldn’t always chase the conversion but go for engagement instead
• Dorte’s own favourite example of personalization that she's experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's latest book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely chapter 8:

CONTENT PART 1: MESSAGES

• What is a message?
• Variations from channel to channel
• Adapting message variants for different segments
• Using cultural differences in message variants
• Beware of poor translations
• Using parametrization for extra personalization
• Creating value for customers in your messages
• Category entry points
• Value creation in a broader perspective
• Using message variants when repeating a message
• Focusing on messages when working outbound
• Is it really for me?
• Personalizing the choice of communication channel

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 20: ’MARKETING TECHNOLOGY.

Our special guest this week is Martin Wammen. Martin is the founder of the boutique Martech consulting agency Marchitechs. And he has extensive experience from both SaaS, the agency side and even from classic direct marketing and is currently working with several high end brands in the Nordics.

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Martin's background and his aim with founding Marchitechs
• What the most common challenges companies face when choosing marketing technology are
• Which key criteria he recommends that brands consider in this process
• How representative the considerations by Norsk Rikstoto (who are in the book) are across the board
• What the need is for a central customer profile and how that fits with Customer Data Platforms
• How companies should deal with the fact that the 3rd party cookie is dying and how they should focus on 1st party data
• How Martin sees the order of which technology should be applied for personalized customer experiences
• His view on what he calls the 'Content Crisis' and how that is tied closely into GenAI
• How he sees the two martech trends 'Atomization' and 'Aggregation' that we cover in the book
• Which trends he sees in the future
• Martin's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast I'll be discussing chapter 6 'The Bowtie of Personalization' with Peter Anders Franch, Head of Customer Insights, CRM and Email Marketing at the multiple award winning Danish omnichannel retailer in health and beauty, Matas. 

Since The Bowtie of Personalization is one of the key chapters in the book and the Bowtie being the main model for understanding and talking about personalization in an unambiguous way, this is indeed an episode not to miss.

You can expect us to be discussing how Matas approaches personalization from a channel agnostic view and matches insights and content like few others. 

That includes the following:

1. Peter's background from both agencies and brands - as he says - it has CRM written all over it! 
2. How Peter defines the term personalization and also hyper personalization
3. If and when hyper personalization makes sense in the world of Matas
4. Whether personalization mainly should happen in the channels or on an omnichannel level
5. How the channels fit into the whole personalization talk
6. How Matas prioritizes channels against one another
7. How both qualitative and quantitative data is leveraged for better CX in Matas
8. How a model like the 'Bowtie of Personalization' can help marketers have more meaningful conversations and thus work better together on personalization
9. What Peter believes will happen with personalization in the future
10. And at the end - Peter's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter. The episode was supposed to be a discussion of Chapter 6, but due to unforeseen circumstances - we'll launch yet another chapter before we head into discussions of the two.

INSIGHTS PART 1: SEGMENTS

• How are segments built?
• Turning segments into personas
• Methods of segmentation
• Advanced segmentation – behavioural clusters
• Value-based segmentation
• Using value-based segments to optimize paid media spend

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

THE BOWTIE OF PERSONALIZATION

• A glimpse of hyper-personalization – what’s ‘knot’ to like?
• Dramatizing the knot in the bowtie
• True personalization magic happens before the channels
• Central management of insights and content drives efficient personalization
• The art of the possible
• Websites and apps mash it up
• Deciding on your communication channels
• Owned media before paid media
• The new channels
• The power of repetition
• Insights come from data
• Quantitative data drives insight; qualitative data drives messaging
• All models are wrong – but some are useful!
• From Bowtie to Pyramid – what does good look like?

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast I'll be discussing chapter 5 'Marketing Without Personalization' with Kim Jong Andersen, Partner and CCO at Wibroe, Duckert & Partners and Chairman and Founder of Danish Digital Award.

You can expect us discussing how marketing would look - and indeed looked - before personalization became a thing. That includes the following:

1. Kim's background from several and very different types of marketing agencies and his involvement in founding and driving Danish Digital Award. 
2. When the term personalization first came up
3. When personalization took off
4. Whether personalization is more of a data or a content exercise
5. What a strong value proposition means for the effect of personalization
6. If personalization make it up for a poor value proposition
7. If personalization automatically means less reach
8. In which (business) use cases personalization is useless
9. How branding and personalization relate 
10. If personalization mainly creates short term or long term value for brands
11. What Kim believes will happen with personalization in the future
12. And at the end - Kim's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced personally

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

MARKETING WITHOUT PERSONALIZATION

• The personalization–value equation
• Short- or long-term value creation
• Using strong value propositions for easier marketing
• Getting the format right to engage your audience
• Achieving more value via high reach
• Adding extra value to your marketing through personalization

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the Hello FirstName podcast I'll be discussing chapter 4 'Why does Personalization work?' with Neuroscientist, PhD from Princeton, TEDx speaker, and multiple book author Matt Johnson.

You can expect us discussing the following:

1. How Matt ended up in psychology and neuroscience
2. What neuroscience actually is
3. Why does personalization work?
4. How a distinction between implicit and explicit personalization fits with a neuroscience perspective
5. If personalization can become too much and when
6. How the element of serendipity connects to a good CX and personalization
7. How personalization affects brand perception 
8. Matt's own favourite example of personalization that he's experienced?

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the Hello FirstName podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

WHY DOES PERSONALIZATION WORK?

• When things get creepy
• When do consumers find personalization creepy?
• Personalized vs personal
• B2B business development – pretending to be personal?
• Creepy personalization or just a coincidence?

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the Hello FirstName podcast I'll be discussing chapter 3 'Defining Personalization' with PhD and Post Doc Tekila Harley Nobile from University of Lugano in Schwitzerland.

You can expect us discussing the following:

1. Personalization vs customization
2. Actual vs perceived personalization
3. Implicit vs explicit personalization
4. Targeting
5. Segmentation vs personalization – not a binary distinction
6. Two academic definitions of personalization
7. A practitioner’s definition of personalization
8. How Personalization is not an ‘either–or’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the Hello FirstName podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

CHAPTER 3: DEFINING PERSONALIZATION

• Personalization vs customization
• Actual vs perceived personalization
• Implicit vs explicit personalization
• Targeting
• Segmentation vs personalization – not a binary distinction
• Two academic definitions of personalization
• A practitioner’s definition of personalization
• Personalization is not an ‘either–or’

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely... 

CHAPTER 20: MARKETING TECHNOLOGY

• Systems of record
• Will a customer content platform (CCP) emerge?
• Atomization and aggregation
• Go for best-of-integration
• Growing your stack’s maturity
• Rightsizing your martech stack
• Using atomization and aggregation to rightsize your martech architecture
• Maturity levels for marketing technology

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the Hello FirstName podcast I'll be discussing 'The Problem of Personalization' with the CCO from Roskilde Festival, previous CMO of Tivoli and CMO of the year in Denmark, Michala Svane.

You can expect the following:

You can expect us discussing the following:

1. The three ways of working with personalization

2. The confusion on the topic

3. Which personalized campaigns that Michala is most proud of

4. Which marketing automation she is most proud of

5. Which on-site personalization she is most proud of

6. We discuss the scepticism towards personalization

7. When personalization isn't a good idea

8. Michala's personal favorite example of personalization

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the Hello FirstName podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

CHAPTER 2: THE PROBLEM OF PERSONALIZATION

• Three branches of marketers
• Is personalization worth it?
• The branding sceptics
• The need for a clear definition

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the Hello FirstName podcast I'll be discussing 'The Hype of Personalization' with thought leader and fellow author David Mannheim.

You can expect the following:

1. We discuss what consumers actually expect

2. Where the personalization hype comes from

3. The Gartner hype cycle

4. Whether the hype is real

5. If personalization creates Money or CX

6. The branding skeptics and the bashers

7. The maturity of personalization technology

8. Generative AI

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the Hello FirstName podcast consists of an audio book chapter.

CHAPTER 1: THE HYPE OF PERSONALIZATION

• Consumers expect personalization – and brands had better deliver
• The tech hype of personalization
• Has personalization technology become mature?

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this Episode, Rasmus Houlind gives an introduction to the podcast series and concludes with the Introduction from the book 'Hello $Firstname' and sets the listener on the path to learning all about personalization and how to create value for both company and customers. 

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 19: ’PEOPLE AND SKILLS FOR PERSONALIZATION’.

Our special guest this week is Christian Peter. Christian has vast experience as a leader in CX from several large banks in the financial sector in Germany. He even has the award statuettes to prove his success in the field. Last year I saw Christian receive an EDDI Award from DDV, German Dialog Marketing Association for his and his team's work at CommerzBank. He's also an author at Sulona.com and has written the book ‘It Depends on the Ands’ that sums up his experiences in bite sized advice. 

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Christian's career path and his work for multiple German banks
• What it was that drove him towards becoming an author
• What the state of Personalization is in Finance today and how it has changed
• How much of the Customer Experience that Marketing owns in Finance
• How the mix of Outbound vs Inbound channels is in Finance
• The importance of Tech vs. People in Personalized Customer Journeys
• Scott Brinker's 5M Model and Marketing Technologist Roles
• The necessity of T-Profiles in Smaller Teams
• Challenges in Hiring and Retention vs. the Utilization of External Consultants and Agencies
• Changes in Operating Model with Increased Maturity
• Automated Lifecycle Communication vs. Campaigns
• Project vs Process based operating models
• The Impact of Generative AI on Personalization in the Future
• Christian's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 19: People and Skills for Personalization

CHAPTER 19: PEOPLE AND SKILLS FOR PERSONALIZATION

• Enter the marketing technologist
• How about the creative skills?
• How the 5M model applies to personalization
• Applying these skills to the Pyramid of Personalization
• Shifts in focus
• Shifts in composition
• Shifts in operating model
• Size matters
• Insourcing vs outsourcing
• Maturity levels for people and skills

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing chapter 18: ’MODELS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY IN PERSONALIZATION’.

Our special guest this week is Frans Riemersma. Apart from being a co-author on a very important part of ‘Hello $Firstname’, Frans is driving a lot of interesting research out there with MartechTribe.com and is really getting to the bottom of Martech and Martech Ops. This also includes the work on MarTechMap.com with Scott Brinker from ChiefMartec. So who better to take this discussion with?

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Frans's career path and his work MarketingTribe.com and the Martechmap.com with Scott Brinker
• What the term Marketing Ops means?
• How big personalization is in Martech these days and how that has changed over the years
• What a maturity model is - and how it can be used by e.g. a CMO
• The CMMi maturity framework
• What the Hack, Pack, Stack steps mean for marketing and how it fits with Marketing Productization
• How to break through the glass ceiling from one maturity level to the next
• How GenAI affect personalization and finally
• Frans's own favourite example of personalization that he has experienced personally

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

This episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast consists of an audio book chapter, namely Chapter 18: Models of Organizational Maturity in Personalization.

CHAPTER 18: MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY IN PERSONALIZATION

• The Omnichannel Hexagon
• A realistic view on organizational maturity within personalization
• Productization in marketing
• The back end of the Pyramid of Personalization

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this week's episode of the 'Hello $FirstName' podcast we'll be discussing the third and last chapter in part 3 of the book: THE PREREQUISITES FOR PERSONALIZATION. Chapter 17 is called ’CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION AND PERSONALIZATION'.

This week’s guest is a special friend of mine who's also known as 'The Queen Of CRO' (.com). Marianne Stjernvall has her own consulting and speaking business which is hard earned from her succesful history of CRO work at COOP Sweden and Tele2.

Who better to discuss the inter-relation between CRO and Personalization with? At least I only see a few other options that come close (and that haven't already been on the show).

In the episode we cover the following points:

• Marianne's career path and her work within CRO at COOP, Tele2 and her own business from the CRO community
• What CRO really is
• What her biggest achievement in CRO has been
• How the whole CRO community works
• How Personalization and CRO converge? (if they do)
• When to shift from CRO to Personalization
• What Direct Marketers can and should learn from the CRO tribe and finally...
• Marianne's own favourite example of personalization that she has experienced personally
• Which interestingly enough leads into a discussion about whether the best personalization is something that is clearly and explicitly personalized or that merely removes friction and makes things go smoothly... What do you think?

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this episode of Hello $Firstname Season 2, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Julie Marie Hermann, Personalization and CX Manager at Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry brand by volume. With over 33,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries, Pandora is leading the way in scaling personalization.

Julie shared some insightful thoughts on the challenges and opportunities Pandora faces when it comes to delivering personalized customer experiences. Here are some key takeaways:

Julie talks about the overwhelming amount of content Pandora manages across markets and platforms. With so many products and customer segments, finding the right content for each touchpoint can feel like looking for a diamond in a sea of options. Julie explains how Pandora is working to streamline content delivery and ensure customers receive relevant, personalized messages.

Julie makes an important distinction between brand-led content (broad, brand- and campaign-driven messages) and customer-led content (personalized messaging that speaks directly to specific customer needs). The key is ensuring the right mix: not every communication needs to be personalized, but as the customer comes closer to a purchase decision, the content must resonate more and more with the individual and their needs.

Julie is particularly excited about how Generative AI can help Pandora scale personalization efforts. From automatically tagging content to adapting it for different channels, AI can enabling Pandora to work more efficiently and deliver highly relevant, personalized experiences for their customers.

Julie offers valuable advice for marketers: balancing short-term tactical wins with long-term strategic goals. At Pandora, her team is focused on laying the foundation for sustainable personalization that delivers long-term value while still generating immediate results.

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’ and in turn the Content Crisis Manifesto.

The Content Crisis Manifesto can be downloaded here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here (or your local amazon in case it doesn't work...)

An written abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

The full audiobook can be downloaded here (courtesy of Agillic).

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

Book me for a presentation, meeting or talk here!

The Content Crisis in Personalization and the Content Layer

In the season premiere of Hello $Firstname Season 2, I had the privilege of sitting down with my co-author, Frans Riemersma, founder of MartechTribe and a global thought leader in marketing technology.

Frans is working closely together with Scott Brinker on the MartechMap.com that most marketers are familiar with (hint: crazy map with an ever increasing list of vendors).

Together, we introduced the theme of this season: how to solve the content crisis for personalization.

The content crisis has become the key bottleneck for scaling personalization. In this episode, Frans sheds light on:

• The Content Layer Vision: Much like the Data Layer revolutionized marketing, Frans predicts the emergence of a Content Layer, enabling seamless content flow from master files to personalized messages. Together - Frans and I - have been putting a lot of work into demystifying this layer and how it works.

• GenAI’s Role: Generative AI isn't just a tool; it’s a game-changer for creativity, localization, and scalability. Frans introduces the idea of Brand LLMs—custom AI models trained on a company’s unique assets, values, and tone.

• Personalization as Dialogue: Frans reframes personalization as a human-like conversation between a brand and its customers. Imagine talking directly to the essence of a brand’s founder—deeply personal and deeply effective.

• Metrics That Matter: Personalization must drive real business value. Frans emphasizes ROI and innovative metrics like return on content to optimize marketing efforts.

We also explored how GenAI and the Content Pipeline can fix common pitfalls, like brands overselling (or over-personalizing!) irrelevant products.

Watch the full Episode with video on Youtube here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here.

(or your local amazon...)

An abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

In this episode of The Hello $Firstname Personalization Podcast, Rasmus Houlind sits down with Tom Burrell, founder of Retention Coach, to explore how businesses can turn retention strategies into a powerful growth engine. Drawing on a career spanning roles at Manchester United, DAZN, and TalkTalk, Tom shares actionable insights into why retention is often undervalued—and how personalization can change the game.

💡 What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How personalized onboarding journeys can boost retention by 10% or more
• Why the "content crisis" in retention is holding businesses back—and how to overcome it
• The role of GenAI in creating emotionally engaging, hyper-personalized customer experiences

💬 "Retention isn’t just about keeping customers; it’s about connecting with them emotionally, understanding their motivations, and inspiring loyalty," Tom explains.

Whether you’re in subscriptions, e-commerce, or CRM, this episode is packed with insights to help you rethink retention strategies for 2025 and beyond.

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’ and in turn the Content Crisis Manifesto.

The Content Crisis Manifesto can be downloaded here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here (or your local amazon in case it doesn't work...)

An written abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

The full audiobook can be downloaded here (courtesy of Agillic).

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

Book me for a presentation, meeting or talk here!

In this latest episode of Hello $Firstname Season 2, I sat down with Nicole France, Chief Evangelist at Contentful, to dig into how brands can truly make personalization work at scale—and the challenges they face in making it happen.

Personalization sounds like a simple concept, right? After all, we all know the importance of getting data sorted and leveraging customer insights in order to speak to our customers in a way that feels personal and relevant. But hey - what about ‘the right message’, I mean the content side of things? What good is the perfect audience if we have nothing relevant and engaging to say? And how do you scale that part of the solution? 

Nicole’s insights on content orchestration, headless CMS, and the interplay between data and personalization are invaluable for anyone serious about mastering scalable personalization. But here’s the kicker—some of the hidden gems from our conversation go far beyond what you’ll read here, so I highly recommend listening to the full episode for an even deeper dive into these topics.

Nicole and I discussed one of the biggest pain points for marketers: scaling personalization. As marketers, we all know content is fragmented across various platforms, and reaching the right customer with the right message can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. Nicole shared how headless CMS platforms like Contentful help manage content at scale and deliver it seamlessly across touchpoints, which is key to ensuring that personalization doesn't become just another buzzword.

The secret? Ensuring a seamless flow of content from the Content Layer to the Personalization Layer—because personalization can’t stand alone. It needs to be backed by solid data and the right content to truly resonate with customers.

Another fascinating point Nicole shared was the importance of distinguishing between master content and execution content. Master content serves as the foundation, but it’s the execution content—tailored, personalized content—that takes the interaction from static messaging to a dynamic, customer-centric experience. This is where the Personalization Layer truly comes into play.

We also touched on the exciting potential of Generative AI (GenAI) in content creation. Nicole discussed how GenAI can assist with everything from content creation to repurposing across channels—helping brands scale personalization without losing the human touch. But how does it all fit together? That’s where it gets really interesting, and you’ll want to hear Nicole’s thoughts on this in the podcast. Hint: It’s something about a rug…!

At the core of everything Nicole and I discussed was the idea that personalization isn’t just about data and content—it’s about emotion. Personalization should make customers feel heard, understood, and valued. It’s about crafting messages that resonate emotionally, even if the message isn’t hyper-individualized.

For a deeper dive into these insights, listen to the full episode where Nicole and I explore how content and personalization work hand in hand to create scalable, meaningful customer experiences.

Based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’ and in turn the Content Crisis Manifesto.

The Content Crisis Manifesto can be downloaded here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here (or your local amazon in case it doesn't work...)

An written abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

The full audiobook can be downloaded here (courtesy of Agillic).

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

Book me for a presentation, meeting or talk here!

Not Enough Traffic for A/B Testing?

Here’s How VodafoneZiggo Scales Personalization Anyway

📉 In B2B marketing, low traffic volume is often a CRO killer. But that hasn’t stopped VodafoneZiggo from building a smart, insight-driven personalization engine anyway.

In the latest episode of the Hello $Firstname podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Daniel Granja Baltazar, CRO Specialist at VodafoneZiggo, about how his team is rethinking Conversion Rate Optimization and Personalization in a B2B context—where statistical significance isn’t always an option, and complexity is the norm.

Daniel shared how qualitative research, from customer interviews to service center conversations, plays a central role in shaping the personalized customer experience. The transcripts and insights collected feed directly into the Personalization Layer—alongside behavioral data—and are then activated across web and email touchpoints.

🔍 Key Insights from the Episode

🎯 Why qualitative research is the backbone of B2B CRO With limited traffic and massive variation in the SME segment, Daniel's team relies heavily on qualitative methods—interviews, feedback loops, and even in-person time at customer service—to shape hypotheses and content strategies.

🧠 From assumptions to insights: how interviews feed content strategy By analyzing common misunderstandings and recurring questions, the team uncovers "invisible friction" in the journey—then translates that into smarter, simpler content that helps guide customers toward the right solution.

📬 Lifecycle content that prevents service calls Many of the best content ideas come directly from the call center. Proactive outbound emails that answer questions before they’re asked can save thousands of service hours—and create a better experience in the process.

🌐 Personalization in B2B is about people, not just companies At VodafoneZiggo, they’re working toward tailoring content not just by segment or industry, but by the individual’s role, preferences, and behavior—whether that’s a founder, an IT manager, or someone else entirely.

🤖 Generative AI as a CRO co-pilot Daniel also shares how their internal GPT instance helps summarize interviews, categorize feedback, and analyze large sets of qualitative data—saving time and enabling faster learning.

🔗 How It All Connects to the CX Layers

Daniel’s approach aligns beautifully with the CX Layers framework—with qualitative insights feeding the Content Layer, behavioral signals informing the Data Layer, and personalization being orchestrated across inbound and outbound channels.

It’s a great example of how Experience Optimization in B2B isn’t about volume—it’s about relevance. And sometimes, it starts by just sitting down and listening to your customers.

As always the episode is based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’ and in turn the Content Crisis Manifesto.

The Content Crisis Manifesto can be downloaded here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here (or your local amazon in case it doesn't work...)

An written abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

The full audiobook can be downloaded here (courtesy of Agillic).

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

Book me for a presentation, meeting or talk here!

🐟🍦 If we just increase the number of shark attacks, we’ll sell more ice cream! Sounds ridiculous, right? Yet, many businesses unknowingly fall into similar data traps when working with predictive analytics. While the two graphs might correlate - one is not causing the other. Could the sun be at play as the common determining factor?

The shark anecdote is one many great anecdotes Ola Lindeberg shared in the latest episode of the Hello $Firstname podcast. Ola, an indeed very senior data scientist with experience from Telia Sweden, Ivbar, and Swedish Armed Forces, joined me to discuss the flawed assumptions businesses make when using predictive analytics—and why prescriptive analytics would often be better if you want to drive real behavioral change in personalization. (OMG also just remembered the anecdote with the genAI powered spoof caller trap!!! It’s towards the end of the episode!)

At the core of our conversation was the Data Layer in the CX Layers framework. While most personalization setups heavily rely on data-driven insights, many fall into the trap of using predictive analytics without considering how to act on those insights. In other words, they’re forecasting the weather instead of deciding what to do about it.

Ola’s perspective perfectly illustrates why the Data Layer isn’t just about insights—it’s about decisioning and action. And that’s where prescriptive analytics comes in: Instead of just predicting what a customer might do, it helps businesses determine what action should be taken to actually influence customer behavior.

📊 Predictive vs. Prescriptive Analytics: Why Knowing Isn’t Enough

• Predictive Analytics tells you what is likely to happen (e.g., “This customer might churn”).
• Prescriptive Analytics helps determine what action should be taken to influence the outcome (e.g., “This content or offer could actually prevent churn”).
• Businesses often mistake correlation for causation—leading to wrong conclusions and poor personalization decisions.

🌦️ Why Wearing a Jacket Won’t Change the Weather (And Why Your Marketing Might Be Doing Just That)

• Another great analogy from Ola: You check the weather, see it’s cold, and decide to wear a jacket. But that doesn’t change the weather - which might be what you’re actually after… figuratively speaking of course.
• Many companies use predictive models the same way—reacting to insights without considering how to actually influence customer behavior.

⚡ The Booking.com Experiment: Why One Day in Paris Sells More Trips

• Booking.com tested an AI-driven recommendation model to suggest trip lengths based on user behavior. When they suggested three days (which was indeed the most frequently bought option), it had no impact on conversions.
• But when they suggested just one day, it triggered higher engagement and bookings, even though most people ultimately booked longer stays.
• The takeaway? Sometimes, the best way to drive action isn’t the most "logical" data-driven assumption—but rather an approach that nudges customer behavior effectively.

🤖 The Role of Generative AI in Decisioning

• Generative AI is already streamlining content production, but its impact on decisioning is still developing.
• Ola sees potential but argues that businesses need to test and quantify the impact of AI-generated personalization efforts rather than assuming they will automatically improve engagement.

🚀 Final Takeaway: Stop Predicting—Start Influencing If you’re only using predictive analytics, you might just be forecasting the shark attacks of your industry—without knowing how to actually drive change. True personalization means using data to prescribe actions that influence customer behavior—by integrating content, context, and decisioning models in a much smarter way.

Follow Ola on LinkedIn here.

As always the episode is based on Rasmus Houlind's book ’Hello $FirstName - Profiting from Personalization’ and in turn the Content Crisis Manifesto.

The Content Crisis Manifesto can be downloaded here.

The full book is available in print and kindle and can be bought here (or your local amazon in case it doesn't work...)

An written abstract of the book can be downloaded here.

The full audiobook can be downloaded here (courtesy of Agillic).

All models and illustrations from the book can be downloaded here.

Book me for a presentation, meeting or talk here!