'Personalization' is marketing word of the year, according to ANA

Well, at least it’s not "authenticity."

The ANA’s Marketing Word of the Year 2019 is "personalization" and now we can all break for the holidays stress-free knowing this to be the case. 

As in years past, the organization identified a list of finalists and then asked members to cast their vote to determine the winner. This year, voting was done online during the week of November 18, with 341 participating.

One comment included: "Personalization is what customers expect. Every current and prospective customer expects that your brand knows them and can deliver what they want."

Another member added: "Consumers are busy. Too busy to invest time with anything that’s not relevant to them personally. It’s all about relevancy, aka personalization. ‘Make it all about me.’"

Other top choices included "equality and inclusion," "data," and "in-house."

According to the ANA’s Marketing Knowledge Center (MKC) "Ask the Expert" service, member questions on personalization started to pick up in 2018 and accelerated in 2019. 

The team issued a report on personalization in mid-2019. Highlights include: More than half of consumers expect companies to know their buying habits and anticipate their needs; half of marketers plan to increase investments in personalization technology and; one report participant identified personalization as the most important marketing trend of this century.