Personalised isn't personal

I don’t know about you, but once I greet or acknowledge a person I seldom use their name during conversation.

So why do so many direct marketers?

Because they get all excited about personalisation.

That pic above is a small snippet from a letter I got today.

It features my name in the headline, as well as in the opening paragraph of copy.

This is some DM guru’s idea of personalised communication.

Just because a DM piece has been personalised doesn’t mean it’s personal.

Quite the opposite in fact. It’s simply a sales vehicle with my name contained within it.

Not only that, but the only person who ever calls me Stanley is my Mum.

I get letters like this quite often. Normally I just throw them away. But this one was from my bank.

Yes my bank! Who want to reward me, a ‘Gold Service Customer’ with a generic DM letter that is anything but personal.