Getting Personalization Right – Insights from HBR and Lessons from the Field

In the article “Personalization Done Right,” Mark Abraham and David Edelman outline the core principles companies must embrace to deliver meaningful personalization: empower me, know me, reach me, show me, and delight me. This framework emphasizes that personalization isn’t just a gimmick—it’s about deeply understanding and consistently serving your customers at every touchpoint.

A standout example in the article is Spotify, which has mastered personalization by harnessing vast amounts of customer data to create tailored experiences. Using advanced AI, Spotify intuitively understands user preferences, ensuring seamless, cross-platform interactions. These companies don’t merely aim to “delight” users—they begin by profoundly knowing them and using this knowledge to create empowering experiences.

Aspirations vs. Reality: My Experience at McAfee

While some companies, like Spotify, excel at personalization, others, including my former workplace, McAfee, remain stuck in the aspirational phase. At McAfee, we aimed to implement personalization across our security solutions, constantly brainstorming how to offer tailored, timely experiences for our customers. However, we struggled to make these ideas a reality.

The challenge we faced at McAfee—one that many companies encounter—is the lack of a solid foundation in customer data and insights. We had great ideas about how to “delight” our users, but without first building a deep understanding of who they were and what they needed, our efforts remained surface-level. As Abraham and Edelman note, successful personalization starts with knowing your customer. Skipping this step makes it impossible to deliver on the promise of true personalization.

Lessons for Companies Pursuing Personalization

For organizations eager to embrace personalization, the takeaway is clear: ambition alone isn’t enough. Personalization requires a solid infrastructure of data, tools, and processes to truly understand and meet your customers’ needs. Without these, any personalization effort risks being shallow and ineffective.

The HBR article, coupled with my own experience, underscores the importance of taking a data-driven approach to personalization. It’s not just about trying to delight customers—you need to start with a deep understanding of who they are, what they value, and how you can empower them.

Personalization as a Strategic Investment

Approaching personalization as a strategic, long-term investment pays dividends in the form of customer loyalty and engagement. By grounding your efforts in robust customer insights and integrating personalization into your broader strategy, you can deliver experiences that not only delight but also empower and retain users.