Customization?- to do or not to do, that is the question

While I was babysitting the other night, we were watching TV and a Neutrogena commercial came on. It was about their new “skiniD.” SkiniD supposedly works because it uses the power of personalization to create an acne solution that matches your individual needs. You get on to the website and take this skin evaluation to see what products would work best for you. One of the dermatologist states that, “Personalization is key.” This got me to thinking- is customization really what matters to the consumer and can it actually enhance the customer’s experience?


On the Converse website you can custom design your own shoes. You get to pick the body color, heel stripe, tongue color, lining color, stitch color…the list goes on. You can even personalize the shoes with your own words. Also on sites such as adiamondisforever.com you can design your own engagement ring. Does having the ability to design your own stuff put more pressure on the consumer? To a certain extent I believe it does. Say you spent all this time designing your own product and when you finally receive it, it doesn’t meet your expectations. You have no one to blame but yourself, and that is a very irritating place to be in as a consumer. Everyone always wants to have a scapegoat. However, customization can be a good thing because one size does not fit all. In 1947, Burger King thought customization was the way to go with their slogan “Have It Your Way” and in 2004 they returned back to the expression. Everyone wants their burger to be how they like it so I feel this enhances the customer’s experience. In class we talked about L’Oreal and Clairol, well Revlon gives consumers the ability to create a custom salon look at home with Revlon Custom Effects. I feel most people like to be in control and having the option to personalize things gives the control to the consumer instead of the company.



TimBuk2 allows customers to build their own bag. I do feel having the ability to create something that fits your needs is a fantastic concept, but is customization really customized when a company gives a certain number of different varieties in a product, thinking that one of them has to be the perfect one for a customer? I think the hardest thing for companies is that it is almost impossible to find out what people’s true needs are. Amazon.com does a good job of keeping track of what customers buy and then recommends other products they may be interested in, but this does not get at the heart of meeting customer’s expectations through personalization.

Eighty percent of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8 percent of their customers agree, says Bain & Company. (Harvard Management Update) I read an article about the three "Ds" of customer experience. Unlike most companies, which reflexively turn to product or service design to improve customer satisfaction, leading companies pursue three imperatives simultaneously:
1. They design the right offers and experiences for the right customers.
2. They deliver these propositions by focusing the entire company on them with an emphasis on cross-functional collaboration.
3. They develop their capabilities to please customers again and again—by such means as revamping the planning process, training people in how to create new customer propositions, and establishing direct accountability for the customer experience.

Each of these "Three Ds" draws on and reinforces the others. Together, they transform a company into one that is continually led and informed by its customers' voices. I think listening to customers’ opinions is critical to any business, and I feel some big companies lose sight of their customers and just see dollar signs. I think overall customization can help enhance a customer’s experience, but for now it will still have to walk the tight-rope of consumers’ opinions.