’Hello $FirstName’ - marketing experts discussing the topic of personalization

Hello $Firstname AI Edition, Chapter 4: Why Does Personalisation Work?

In Chapter 4 of Hello $Firstname, Dr Matt Johnson reads ‘Why Does Personalisation Work?’
Matt is the author of Blindsight and Branding That Means Business, and he hosts the blog neuroscienceof.com. In this chapter, he brings the listener into the psychology behind personalisation.
Why do people respond better to messages and content that feel relevant to them? The answer is connected to evolutionary psychology and the fundamental motives framework, including motives such as avoiding harm, avoiding disease, making friends, attaining status, acquiring a mate, and caring for family.
The chapter also tackles the darker side of personalisation: when it becomes creepy. It explains how personalisation can backfire when brands appear to stalk customers with repetitive ads, use data customers did not realise they had shared, or address topics that feel too sensitive or intimate.
Finally, the chapter explores the difference between being personalised and being personal, and why brands should be careful not to pretend they have a closer relationship with customers than they really do.
In his reflection at the end, Matt connects the chapter to the age of generative AI. His key point is that brands will not win merely by doing more personalisation, but by deciding how they personalise, and how well they express their unique brand personality in those personalised experiences.
More resources from the Hello $Firstname universe
You can buy the physical book here:https://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
If the Amazon EU link does not work in your country, please search for Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalisation, AI Edition on your local Amazon store.
You can download the illustrations and models from the book here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/resources 
You can also learn more about the Personalisation Cards and Canvas, which help teams turn the Bowtie of Personalisation into practical use cases, here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards 

Hello $Firstname AI Edition, Chapter 3: Defining Personalisation

In Chapter 3 of Hello $Firstname, Mhari Coxon reads ‘Defining Personalisation’.
Mhari is a marketer from the United Kingdom, and in this chapter she takes the listener into one of the book’s central missions: creating a practical definition of personalisation that marketers can actually use.
The chapter distinguishes personalisation from customisation, actual personalisation from perceived personalisation, and explicit personalisation from implicit personalisation. It also explores the blurry boundary between segmentation, targeting, and personalisation, arguing that personalisation is not a simple either-or question, but a matter of degrees.
The chapter focuses specifically on personalised communication, meaning communication initiated by companies through marketing or communications teams. It builds towards a practitioner-friendly understanding that can unite different marketing disciplines and make personalisation easier to discuss, plan, and execute.
In her personal reflection at the end, Mhari expands on the idea of value creation. Drawing on her experience in B2B and B2B2C, she introduces the idea of a ‘triple win’: value for the company, value for the customer organisation, and value for the end user.
More resources from the Hello $Firstname universe
You can buy the physical book here:https://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
If the Amazon EU link does not work in your country, please search for Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalisation, AI Edition on your local Amazon store.
You can download the illustrations and models from the book here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/resources 
You can also learn more about the Personalisation Cards and Canvas, which help teams turn the Bowtie of Personalisation into practical use cases, here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards 

Hello $Firstname AI Edition, Chapter 2: What Is the Problem with Personalisation?

In Chapter 2 of Hello $Firstname, Dr Jason Pallant reads ‘What Is the Problem with Personalisation?’
Jason is Director of the Marketing Technology Lab at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He has also used some of the frameworks from Hello $Firstname in the marketing technology curriculum at RMIT.
This chapter explores why personalisation is such a difficult topic to align around. Marketers often use the same word while meaning very different things. UX and website teams may think about dynamic content and recommendations. Media and advertising teams may think about targeting and audiences. CRM and direct marketing teams may think about customer data, triggers, journeys, and owned channels.
The chapter also asks whether personalisation is worth the effort. It covers the operational complexity, the cost of technology and content production, the scepticism from parts of the branding community, and the risk of investing in personalisation without a shared definition.
In his reflection at the end, Jason highlights how different marketing backgrounds shape different interpretations of personalisation. He also points to the importance of shared definitions, especially if marketers want to build credible business cases, case studies, and use cases for personalisation.
The key point is that marketers need a clearer and more common understanding of personalisation before they can expect senior leaders to invest in it properly.
More resources from the Hello $Firstname universe
You can buy the physical book here:https://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
If the Amazon EU link does not work in your country, please search for Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalisation, AI Edition on your local Amazon store.
You can download the illustrations and models from the book here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/resources 
You can also learn more about the Personalisation Cards and Canvas, which help teams turn the Bowtie of Personalisation into practical use cases, here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards 

Hello $Firstname AI Edition, Chapter 1: The Hype of Personalisation

In Chapter 1 of Hello $Firstname, Kim Motroen reads ‘The Hype of Personalisation’.
Kim is one of the founders of Publicis Foundry and has spent more than 20 years working with marketing, technology, and customer experience. 
This chapter traces the roots of personalisation hype back to The One to One Future by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, and explores why the idea of individualised communication has remained so powerful for marketers, brands, and technology vendors.
The chapter looks at the commercial promise of personalisation, from higher customer lifetime value to better omnichannel performance, while also questioning whether the technology has truly matured. It discusses martech growth, Gartner’s hype cycles, personalisation engines, multichannel marketing hubs, and the arrival of generative AI.
In his reflection at the end, Kim points out that even though we have moved from one-to-one marketing in the 1990s to AI and real-time personalisation today, many organisations still struggle with the fundamentals: data quality, ownership, execution, and actually getting things live.
The conclusion is clear: personalisation can create major value, but it is not magic, and it is not always plug-and-play. To avoid misunderstandings, bad investments, and broken promises, marketers need more clarity.
More resources from the Hello $Firstname universe
You can buy the physical book here:https://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
If the Amazon EU link does not work in your country, please search for Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalisation, AI Edition on your local Amazon store.
You can download the illustrations and models from the book here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/resources 
You can also learn more about the Personalisation Cards and Canvas, which help teams turn the Bowtie of Personalisation into practical use cases, here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards 

Hello $Firstname AI Edition: Introduction and Forewords

Welcome to the audiobook edition of Hello $Firstname, the AI edition.
In this opening episode, Rasmus Houlind reads the introduction to the updated edition of the book and explains why personalisation has changed so dramatically since the first edition. Generative AI has made the content challenge easier to solve, but it has also made the need for clear frameworks, shared language, and practical execution even more urgent.
At the end of the introduction, Rasmus adds a short reflection on how agentic commerce, agentic personalisation, and agentic workflows are already changing how personalisation is perceived.
You will also hear the forewords read by Scott Brinker, longtime martech analyst and editor of the Chief Martec blog, and Rupali Jain, Chief Product Officer at Optimizely. Together, they frame the book from the perspectives of martech, AI, customer experience, data, content, and digital experience management.
This episode sets the stage for the full audiobook and introduces the core ambition of Hello $Firstname: to help marketers create more profitable, scalable, and meaningful personalised customer experiences.
More resources from the Hello $Firstname universe
You can buy the physical book here:https://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
If the Amazon EU link does not work in your country, please search for 'Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalisation, AI Edition' on your local Amazon store.
You can download the illustrations and models from the book here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/resources 
You can also learn more about the Personalisation Cards and Canvas, which help teams turn the Bowtie of Personalisation into practical use cases, here:https://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards 

What’s New in Personalization? AI, Boozt, and the Hello $Firstname Launch

What has actually changed in personalization now that generative AI is everywhere?
In this digital launch recording for the AI Edition of Hello $Firstname, Rasmus Houlind is joined by co-author Frans Riemersma and Maria Moreau from Boozt.
Together, they explore how AI affects personalization, why the Content Layer has become increasingly important, how the Bowtie of Personalization still helps marketers create shared language, and what Boozt’s practical CRM approach can teach us about making personalization work in the real world.
Consider watching the video-edition of this episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/_GgTJagrBT0?si=nUtoSsLMup6zaR6f
The conversation covers the Bowtie of Personalization, the CX Layers, the growing importance of the Content Layer, the difference between data and content as prerequisites for personalization, and Boozt’s practical approach to CRM and email personalization.
This is not just a conversation about AI hype. It is a discussion about what it takes to make personalization work in practice, across teams, channels, customer journeys, and commercial priorities.
In the episode, you will hear about:
• Why Hello $Firstname needed an AI Edition• What generative AI changes in personalization• Why the core logic of personalization has not changed• The Bowtie of Personalization• The CX Layers: Data Layer, Content Layer, and Personalization Layer• Why content has become a critical bottleneck• How AI changes the economics of content variation• Why more content does not automatically mean more relevance• Boozt’s approach to CRM and email personalization• How personalization becomes an operating discipline, not just a strategy slide• The Personalization Cards and how they help teams move from abstract ambition to concrete use cases
Resources:
The episode on youtube (including models and visuals)https://youtu.be/_GgTJagrBT0?si=nUtoSsLMup6zaR6f
Buy Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalization, AI Editionhttps://amzn.eu/d/6jV4QZT 
Explore the Personalization Cardshttps://www.omnichannelinstitute.com/en/personalizationcards or
https://youtu.be/-sBQCySi180?si=LUzj_hRSmhd1r4Ns 
Download the free abstract of Hello $Firstname, AI Editionhttps://bit.ly/HFNAI-ABS 
Explore the Beyond Hello $Firstname: Personalization Practitioner coursehttps://omnichannelinstitute.learnworlds.com/course/personalization-practitioner
 
00:00 Welcome and intro01:34 Meet Rasmus Houlind01:48 Meet Frans Riemersma03:03 Meet Maria Moreau from Boozt05:13 Agenda for the session06:34 Why create a new AI Edition of Hello $Firstname?10:02 What has not changed in personalization11:40 The Bowtie of Personalization13:12 Which types of personalization are most affected by generative AI?15:32 Frans Riemersma on AI, martech, and the content challenge17:13 The content crisis in personalization18:35 The Data Layer explained19:48 The Content Layer explained21:35 The Personalization Layer explained24:49 Brand LLMs, canonical content, and AI-generated variants26:40 Using generative AI for campaign production27:42 People, skills, technology, and governance30:32 Maria Moreau introduces Boozt’s approach31:02 AI as a hot topic inside Boozt32:03 What is Boozt?34:23 Boozt’s Nordic department store strategy35:51 Why personalization is the heart of CRM37:18 Boozt’s email personalization results38:38 Three CRM jobs at Boozt40:17 Scaling email personalization across 1.2 billion emails41:59 Boozt’s email framework and prioritization logic57:14 Personalization Cards, Canvas, and course58:04 Final resources and closing
 

🎮 Data with a Dopamine Kick: Gamification, Zero-Party Data, and Personalization - with COO of Scratcher, Nikolaj Skarbye

In this episode of Hello $Firstname, I’m joined by Nikolaj Skarbye from Scratcher.io for a deep dive into what might be the most overlooked shortcut to personalization: asking people directly - while making it fun.
At the heart of our conversation is zero-party data: the kind of willingly shared data that can include preferences, intentions, interests - even motivations. And instead of waiting for transactional behaviour to build up, gamification offers a way to collect this data early in the journey, at scale, and in ways that engage rather than interrupt.
The twist?If done well, gamification doesn’t just capture data - it builds emotional connection with the brand while it’s at it.
🔍 Highlights from the episode:
Beyond Spin-the-Wheel: From preference quizzes to product advisors and loyalty re-engagements, the real power of gamification lies in how it's designed, branded, and contextualized - not just the mechanics.
Short-cut to Smart Segmentation: You don’t have to wait for purchase data to personalize. Interactive experiences can surface intent and profile data long before a sale.
Data That Feeds the CX Layers: Zero-party data connects the Content Layer, Data Layer, and Personalization Layer - bridging marketing, CRM, and even call centre scripting.
Creative Use Cases: From Penguin knowledge tests for NGOs to Whopper giveaways at Burger King, and B2B IT assessments - Nikolaj shares cases that go well beyond e-commerce.
The Incentive Myth: Big prizes don’t always mean better participation. Smaller, brand-relevant rewards often lead to higher redemption rates and better lead quality.
From Collecting to Activating: We explore how zero-party data gets mapped, enriched, and activated across CDPs, ESPs, web personalization, and even in-store experiences.
📺 Watch the full video🎮 Check out Scratcher
📚 Want more?
This episode is part of Season 2 of Hello $Firstname, based on the book Hello $Firstname – Profiting from Personalization and the Content Crisis Manifesto.
📘 Buy the book 📄 Get the abstract 🎧 Listen to the audiobook 🖼️ Download the models & illustrations 🎤 Book Rasmus for a keynote or workshop

From Prompts to Personalization: How AI is Rewriting Email Marketing - with Villads Leth, CEO and Founder of Alvas.ai

What happens when the Content Crisis meets AI creativity?
In this episode of the Hello $Firstname podcast, I sat down with Villads Leth, CEO and Founder at Alvas.ai, to explore what fully individualised, AI-written email content looks like in practice. And why it’s forcing marketers to rethink what content is, how it’s created, and what it means to personalise at scale.
🎯 Here’s what makes this conversation so relevant:
Villads and his team are enabling brands to go far beyond segmentation. They’re generating email content that’s 100% unique—based not just on the products in a customer’s basket, but also their behavioural history, preferences, and context. It’s 1:1 communication, built in real time by AI.
But this isn’t just a story about scale.
It’s a story about what happens when content creation becomes decisioning—and when marketing teams have to shift from writing to prompting, from planning to QA.
🧠 Key Topics We Cover:
The Two Modes of Content Production:
Hyper-individualised 1:1 emails for triggered flows
Efficiently produced, semi-personalised content for broader segments and campaigns
Prompting ≠ Briefing: Why marketers need to learn to talk to machines—and teach them to speak brand.
Content QA at Scale: What internal processes are needed to safely roll out GenAI-driven content.
When Not to Personalise (or at least individualise): Yes, really. Villads makes a strong case for restraint when intent is fuzzy.
The New Content Pipeline: How GenAI transforms not just what content gets made—but how, when, and by whom.
Villads also reflects on how fast things are moving: 🧠 The cost of content creation with AI has dropped by a factor of 200. ⚠️ But trust is fragile—one bad AI-generated message, and the damage is done. 💡 That’s why they’re big on guardrails, education, and starting small.
📺 Watch the full video here 📥 Download the CX Layers & Content Crisis Manifesto
📚 As always, this episode is grounded in:
The book 'Hello $Firstname – Profiting from Personalization'
The Content Crisis Manifesto
📘 Buy the book 📄 Download the abstract 🎧 Get the audiobook (free) 🖼️ Download all illustrations & models 🎤 Book me for a talk or workshop
 

Scaling Soulful Content with Generative AI – The Landfolk Way - with Chris Kjær Sørensen, CTO at Landfolk.com

In the latest episode of the Hello $Firstname podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Chris Kjær Sørensen, CTO and co-founder of Landfolk — the curated holiday rental platform that’s redefining what it means to rent a holiday home with character.
What struck me most in this conversation is just how naturally Landfolk operates in alignment with the Content Layer of the CX Layers framework. Not because they set out to do so—but because their approach to content is rooted in human stories, structure, and AI-powered scalability.
✨ So, what makes their content work so special?
📥 Collection, but with heart Landfolk doesn’t ask hosts to write their own listings. Instead, they encourage them to tell the story of their holiday home—the memories, the rituals, the morning light. This host-generated content is rich and emotional, and it becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
🔧 Enrichment and modeling into Master Content Those heartfelt descriptions are then cleaned, structured, and standardized using Generative AI—forming what we in the CX Layers would call Master Content. The result is brand-consistent, emotionally rich, and structurally sound content that’s ready to go.
🌍 Localization and platform adaptation From there, the Master Content is localized into multiple languages and adapted for use across web and mobile experiences—ensuring every guest, regardless of language or device, gets a coherent and delightful experience.
📬 Outbound activation—and what's next Landfolk is also reusing this enriched content in email newsletters and recommendation flows, with push notifications likely next on the roadmap. It's a brilliant example of how content can scale across both inbound and outbound channels without sacrificing soul or story.
🤖 Generative AI as a quiet powerhouse AI doesn’t replace the human voice at Landfolk—it supports it. From narrative cleanup to localization and platform-specific adaptation, AI enables a small team to operate with large-scale ambition.
It’s the Content Layer with a Scandinavian accent—and a really good camera lens.
🎧 In the episode, Chris and I talk about:
The power of host storytelling in a data-driven business
Why content isn't just a product description—it’s the product
How AI plays a supportive, not dominant, role in personalization
And what personalization means when your content already feels personal
📝 Disclaimer: Yes, Landfolk is an Agillic client (🙋‍♂️), having moved from a simpler setup to one that could support both a flexible content and data model. But we promise—we only mention it once.
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!
 

Pages ≠ Stages: Why Website Personalization Is Stuck in the Wrong Mindset, w. David Mannheim CEO and Founder of MadeWithIntent.ai

In the latest episode of the Hello $Firstname podcast, I’m joined (Again! Congrats on being the first 2nd-time guest, David) by David Mannheim — author of The Person in Personalisation, founder of MadeWithIntent.ai, avid Disney fan and all-around provocateur of personalization norms.
David and I go way back — he even wrote the foreword for Hello $Firstname — but this episode isn’t just a nostalgic reunion. It’s a bold look at how website personalization has lagged behind other parts of the customer experience, and how understanding customer intent is the key to finally catching up.
📊 What’s the Intent Gap? David’s team recently released a report that shows just how off the mark many ecommerce websites are. Despite having tons of data, 63% of online shoppers say digital experiences feel “inappropriate” or even “manipulative.” That’s not just a CX issue — it’s a trust issue.
💥 The Big Idea: Most web personalization doesn’t match buying stages, it matches page templates. But just because I’m on a product page doesn’t mean I’m ready to buy. (Maybe I’m still browsing, maybe I’m stuck, maybe I’m about to bounce.) David argues — convincingly — that we should personalize for intent, not location.
🔁 Context Is King What’s powerful here is how MadeWithIntent generates real-time data signals based on digital body language — scroll depth, mouse movements, time between clicks — and turns that into insights about a user’s mindset. The aim? To surface the right message at the right time, both onsite and in outbound comms.
And this connects beautifully to the CX Layers framework. MadeWithIntent enriches the Data Layer with real-time context, enabling the Personalization Layer to act meaningfully — not just generically.
🧠 We also dive into:
Why discounting might feel like the only optimization lever (but is often a race to the bottom)
The difference between existing content and new nudges
How outbound marketing can learn from onsite signals
Why most retargeting emails are just… bad
The long-term promise (and current limits) of GenAI in website personalization
🎧 This one’s packed with sharp insights, useful provocations, and some delightfully David-style perspectives on what real personalization should look like in 2025 and beyond.
Check out 'The Intent Gap Report' here or
'Made with Intent' here or
Connect with David 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!