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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.