Self-service

Help yourself, we’ve earned it

I can turn things on and off, I can opt in and out, and increasingly, I can serve myself - and personalise that service. Whether it’s banking, travel bookings or tax returns - more and more things can be done by users. By steadfastly refusing all special mail offers, my own product or service experience is affected by only the directly relevant information I have provided. So what’s next? Customisation is the future most pundits identify - where the offer, product or service is made more relevant to my particular needs on the basis of my activity, location and so on. We assume that this customisation will be more potent when more relevant personal information is accessed or made available (by us) to brands, service providers and suppliers. The real question though is not so much what this customisation will look like but what businesses would you currently trust with that sort of information? What will they have to do to earn that level of intimacy?