By Richard Askam, Personalisation Experience Ambassador, FESPA
Later this month, we will be opening the doors to the second edition of the Personalisation Experience conference (20 March 2024, Amsterdam RAI, The Netherlands). The conference will explore the value of customisation, the psychology of personalisation, how to embed customisation into customer experiences, and the technologies making personalisation accessible.

In the build-up to the conference, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many of our expert speakers about why they’re so passionate about personalisation, the opportunities it presents and the tools available in the market.
Here, I bring together three of those speakers – Bernd Zipper, Founder, CEO and Senior Consultant at zipcon consulting; Marie-Eve Lemieux, Chief Solutions Officer at Mediaclip; and Samantha Taylor, Founder of The Good Factory. We discuss how personalisation adds value, the opportunities in the market, as well as explore what they will each be talking about at the Personalisation Experience conference.
What do you think the current state of the personalisation market is and where do you think personalisation can add value to consumer experiences?
Bernd Zipper: Personalisation in printing and mass customisation has evolved significantly over the last few years. Many businesses still believe personalisation is simply labelling or printing a name on an item and sending it to the customer. Yet, it’s so much more than that. Personalisation, individualisation and customisation add immeasurable value and have the power to transform printers’ revenues and the printing industry as a whole.
Marie-Eve Lemieux: I’d agree that, in the last 20 years, personalisation has come a long way from basic variable data (such as adding a name to a product) to completely individualised designs. We’ve switched from a scenario where personalisation was a nice-to-have for consumers, to one where customisation is now effectively a necessity. If businesses aren’t already embracing a personalised approach, they definitely need to consider it to remain competitive.
Samantha Taylor: For me, personalisation certainly isn’t adding a name to a product. It’s the idea of creating a unique design that can deliver added value for the customer. Ultimately, I think print helps us connect to our memories. There’s something really interesting about the possibility of creating something like a garment that the consumer will form an emotional attachment to, and then wear for much longer, extending the longevity of the garment. For me, it’s really important to look at how sustainability and personalisation can work hand in hand. Ultimately, a personalised item is something we cherish and want to hold onto, contributing to a more sustainable consumption mindset.
Where do you see the opportunities in personalisation?
Bernd Zipper: When it comes to personalisation, individualisation and customisation, if it’s fun for the customer, they will love it. And if the customer loves it, there’s money to be made. And the more the printer can scale it, the more successful their business model will be. And personalisation is only the first step on the journey of mass customisation, which is a huge opportunity for printers to seize.
To me, complete customisation means that the consumer is free to create every aspect of a product, independently from the offered templates. Maybe extra information about the product, or the occasion, is included, making it extra special. For example, a bottle of wine with a name and photo printed on it, as well as the end-user’s birthday or anniversary date. Including these differing levels of personalisation, individualisation and customisation result in a product that is extraordinary – an item that the customer never wants to throw away. This degree of personalisation is a great way to attract and keep customers, as well as generate repeat business.
Marie-Eve Lemieux: It’s proven that a tailored offering will keep bringing your customers back, help build customer loyalty and improve profitability. And the world of personalisation is already much more vast than most people realise. I’ve worked in the industry for thirteen years and I’m still amazed by all the opportunities and applications that are made possible through modern technology, software and business models. There’s an eagerness from the end user to personalise their products and we have the capabilities to fulfil these orders, so the opportunity is just waiting to be seized.
Samantha Taylor: I see a huge opportunity for personalised garments, especially in terms of gifting. We’re much more likely to remember a beautifully printed silk scarf in a design and colour that really speaks to us, than an off-the-shelf piece of clothing. And that’s where I see personalisation helping smaller businesses and designers break through the ‘fast fashion’ market. By creating and selling unique, bespoke pieces, and capitalising on the rising consumer demand for personalised garments, I’m hoping that we get to a point in personalised fashion where young designers are placing really successful collections that speak to people, and are well thought through in terms of the lifecycle of the product.
What do you think is stopping people from seizing the opportunity?
Bernd Zipper: Printers across the board are facing increasing levels of pressure on costs, storage space, energy usage, speed to market, customer demand and more. While this is challenging, personalisation and mass customisation – when implemented correctly – can add huge value and have the potential to drive up profit margins.
Marie-Eve Lemieux: In my opinion, one of the key challenges is that most people aren’t aware of all of these incredible solutions and capabilities, so personalisation is still largely untapped. In addition, the missing puzzle piece for a lot of businesses nowadays is the pipeline, and what distribution and manufacturing should look like. They might already understand the value of personalisation, but they’re unsure of how to implement and integrate it into their business.
So it’s important to focus on how we, as an industry and as customisation solutions providers, can offer products that allow businesses to capitalise on the eagerness of the consumer to buy personalised products and make the most of innovative production solutions.
Samantha Taylor: One of the key challenges and the age-old question is addressing pricing discrepancies compared to fast fashion. But when we look at the manufacturing models used by big fast-fashion brands, we’re not going to be able to beat their pricing, because it’s founded on exploitation within the supply chain. However, while personalisation can’t compete with bulk-manufactured fast fashion on price, it can help us be much more adaptive and tell a strong story to the customer in terms of the sustainability of the supply chain.
What will you be covering in your session?
Bernd Zipper: My session, titled ‘AI Brings “Total Personalisation” in Print’, will explore how we can employ AI to reach mass customisation and level up productivity, as well as discuss the latest trends in personalisation and why the technology is set to impact personalisation in print.
Marie-Eve Lemieux: I’m focusing on ‘Making Sense of Connecting Production Imperatives to Consumers’ Aspirations’. I’ll share our customers’ success stories and how they’ve integrated personalisation into their offering. I will highlight how, as an industry, we can now easily connect on-demand production with consumer demand and explore optimised business models. Reviewing best practice user cases, we will also explore how the next-gen consumer experience can drive profit margins and customer loyalty, while unlocking personalisation potential.
Samantha Taylor: The world is now full of young people who want to co-brand themselves alongside the major brands by using personalisation on apparel. My session titled ‘The Future Growth of Personalised Apparel’ will explore how personalised, printed garments can add value for consumers and help brands be more sustainable, touching on over-production, garment lifecycles and resale options.
Whether your business is already capitalising on the personalisation opportunity, or you’re looking for expert insight into how to get started, I guarantee you’ll find insightful advice and information at the Personalisation Experience Conference 2024.
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