A funny thing happened on the way to 21st century advertisers harnessing the concept of targeting ads and other promotional materials to specific individuals. They were able to leverage this type of personalized marketing campaign to reach a broad-based, social media driven crowd of curious onlookers.

Successful Campaign Examples 

One of the most successful recent examples of a personalized marketing campaign is the series of 2010 TV ads by pizza chain Domino's. In the style of a jittery, hand-held feature film documentary, the spots show how Domino's took out large billboards targeting three customers who had abandoned the chain's products, and then followed along as the company convinced these "holdouts" to try the firm's new and improved pizza recipe. It was all part of a broader based campaign that helped the company double its quarterly profits to $23.6 million.

But Domino's didn't stop there. Leveraging the inherently kooky and illogical premise of spending thousands of dollars to reach just a few customers, the pizza chain extended a free food offer to other "pizza holdouts" via social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.  Thus, the idea of a personalized marketing campaign became the companion piece foundation for a broader, mass-media effort.

The same principle applies to a 2008 effort by Pennsylvania's Wilkes University to bolster its admission process.  For example, even though the institution was ultimately passed over by Briana Turnbaugh, one of the students targeted by a highway adjacent billboard promising to lead her to the "Good Life", the campaign got her friends interested in the school. The $120,000 ad campaign was able to convert other personalized targets, with personalized mentions also emblazoned on pizza boxes, at gas pumps and in an MTV TV commercial.