Mars Wrigley offered a similar appeal to individual values through a campaign for its new Dove Galaxy bar. New ads highlight three women tied to the chocolate industry and pledge to help 1 million people in chocolate-connected communities by 2030. The campaign launched in China and the U.K. earlier this month and spreads across the world throughout the year to highlight the work of the women in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana—where 70% of the world’s cocoa is sourced.
“We felt like there was an opportunity to drive deeper meaning and really dig into insights,” Conley said. “As consumers experience more empathy towards others, that their satisfaction deepens, and this is especially true with women.”
Be genuine, not vanilla
I2c Inc., meanwhile, views personalization through the eyes of not only today’s consumer, but those entering the market during the next few years. That means broadening options to include virtual cards, more accessible funds and payments, digital wallets and contactless payments. It also involves personalizing rewards, loan structures, payment installments, communication and reaction to consumer behavior.
“Being genuine in your interactions with your customers is paramount to everything you do,” Alemany said.
A company may not reach everybody as it attempts to personalize its business and marketing. But that shouldn’t preclude it from trying. MAC’s Rebois traced her company’s history from when it offered 40 shades of Studio Fix foundation powder in the ‘80s to 70 shades today to match more skin tones. She sees the brand’s outreach during the height of the AIDS epidemic and onward as evidence that it stands for something, has empathy, cares and leads with its heart. When you do that, she said, the business success follows.
“Don’t be afraid of making choices that feel risky, because there is no risk,” Rebois said. “At the end of the day, the only risk is to be vanilla and to be boring,”
