How Personalisation Turns A Product Into An Experience

If we’ve said it once, we’ll say it again - in today’s crowded market, customisation is king!

There are wins for both the company and the customer, with brands that bring personalisation to their product lines through mass customisation, reaping rewards such as increased sales, higher price points and ride-or-die style fans.

Meanwhile, for consumers, such specially-created or limited-edition products bring feel-goodness by the bucketload. Whether it's providing a way to express their individuality or, by contrast, making them feel like one of the gang.

You see, the power of personalisation has the ability to transform the everyday into something extraordinary, taking standard products and making them (seriously!) stand out.

“How”, we hear you say? Well, it’s all about the experience that comes with customised products, and this can take several different forms, depending on the level of consumer involvement and whether the item is purchased for personal use or as a gift.

A key measure of the success of any product is the psychological effects it sparks when used, seen or interacted with. So the thoughts and emotions a person attaches to or associates with the item. And the consumer experiences of personalised products have been shown to trigger more intense feelings than their off-the-shelf counterparts.

So, let’s explore the different ways customisation can turn a product into an experience and how we can help you have a slice of that piping-hot personalisation pie!

Experience In Creating

A consumer-led customised item invites the customer to participate in the design process, creating their very own version of a product. This unique and creative experience puts them in the driving seat, giving them the opportunity to exercise their ideas and showcase their individuality. And what’s not to love about that?

We’ve seen consumer adoration for such experiences through our client Tony’s Chocoloney’s personalised wrappers. The ‘online creator’ feature allows customers to design their very own wrapper, which is brought to life on screen. Depending on the level of involvement they want, they can choose a template to customise or create a label entirely from scratch, picking the background colour, decor, font and text. Thus making an immersive experience out of something ordinary (well, if we can call a bar of Tony’s Chocolonely ordinary!)

Similarly, we helped Kellogg’s connect with consumers through a customised product experience by inviting parents to create their own cereal box sleeves to surprise their children with at ‘back to school’ time. The experience included uploading a photo and personalised message to a digital creator, along with their child’s name, age and favourite colour, which was then incorporated into a unique design and delivered to their door. The results brought lots of extra smiles and endorphins to breakfast tables across the country!

Similar consumer-led examples can be seen in the apparel industry, with sports brands like Nike transforming the humble trainer into a personally-designed style statement. Brand fans can use its ‘Nike By You’ customisation tools to add their ‘magic touch’ to the label’s bestselling footwear. We’re talking colour, tongue design and fabric options, plus the chance to add initials for the ultimate stamp of personalisation.

Not only does the purchasing journey provide a gratifying experience for consumers, but it gives consumers greater allegiance to the end product, eliciting feelings of pride and self-expression. It’s also highly likely to be an experience they’ll want to repeat AND share with others, keeping that personalisation magic sprinting forth!

Experience In Using

Of course, it’s not just the creative process of customised products that stirs consumer emotions, but the act of actually using them too. This experience lies in the psychological effects caused by the product's aesthetics and the status consumers might feel in owning the item.

Take personalised phone cases, for example. In having some ownership over the design of the product, the sight when using it will cause feelings of joy and satisfaction on repeat. Furthermore, the distinct appearance of a product will often attract the attention and lust of others, reinforcing the pleasurable experience by owning something others desire.

And let’s not forget that personalised items can often be associated with wealth. Think customised credit cards, initial embossed designer luggage or, a more obvious example, personalised number plates. So, how a consumer is perceived by others in owning personalised products also adds to the feel-good factor they receive when flaunting or using them.

Experience In Gifting

The experience delivered in gifting a customised product is all about the feelings and emotions it evokes whenever it is seen, touched or used.

Some of the mass-customised products we produce for clients that would fall into this category include personalised cards, stationery and storybooks, along with photo products, such as mugs, t-shirts and photo wall tiles.

The unique appearance of such items instantly strikes up an emotional bond with the receiver and triggers deeper appreciation due to the thoughtfulness and effort involved. And that’s just the beginning of the consumer journey with a product like this, as every time it’s used or seen from there on out, those feel-good emotions come flooding back.

Personalised wedding favours are another great example of the experience gifting customised items can bring. Take a photo keyring or engraved bottle opener, for example. Whenever the receiver interacts with the item post-wedding, it has the power to transport them back to the occasion, triggering memories of the setting and the people and igniting the same warm, fuzzy emotions felt at the time. Basically, happy memories perfectly preserved in gift form for many years to come!

How You Can Do It

Whether adding personalisation options to existing product lines or creating brand-new ones, you too can transform a product into an experience and reap notable rewards along the way.

In a crowded market, introducing mass-customised products can help keep goods current, competitive and desirable, boosting market growth and even creating brand fandom.

Furthermore, given consumers’ emotional attachment to personalised items, they're far less likely to easily discard them, instead keeping and treasuring them for years to come, meaning increased product longevity and sustainability.

How We Can Help

Key to the success of mass-customised products is having the technical and production capabilities to bring consumers’ individual designs to life on-screen and then facilitate orders with style and speed.

And that’s where we can help! As the UK’s largest manufacturer of personalised print-on-demand products and the print partner behind some of the biggest e-commerce brands, there’s nothing we don’t know about the power of mass customisation or the importance of slick automation.

With our clever API integration, we can seamlessly link up your software and systems with our optimised, automated workflows. Meanwhile, our Personalisation Engine with intuitive UI and on-screen rendering will bring customers’ customised products to life in front of their very eyes.

And that’s not all. Through our highly switched-on ConnecTED proposition, we become a harmonious extension of your brand, so you can trust us to take care of fulfilment, shipping and returns management too.