A NEW Scottish company is bidding to utilise the principles of “mass personalisation” to make the most of advertising across the channels used by modern consumers.

Two former leaders of Dentsu, the major international agency, Richard Gill, formerly Dentsu managing partner and Jack Few, who was head of dynamic creative, have set up the business called “additive+”.

The Edinburgh-based firm said the concept of mass personalisation is on the rise across many industries, driven by the availability of data and new technology, and is seen, for example, when customers log in to Netflix or Amazon and their experience is slightly different from their next door neighbour’s, as their specific interests and viewing habits are taken into account.

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According to research by Deloitte, fashion, holidays, and financial products are all increasingly being personalised by consumers, with people able to fine tune exactly what they want in a cost-effective way.

Mr Gill said: “Personalisation in advertising isn’t new, it’s been happening for decades initially with direct mail and more recently through email.

“However, the opportunities to use personalisation across newly digitised channels like out-of-home, video and audio aren’t being capitalised on.

“We believe there are huge opportunities for advertisers to deliver more effective campaigns by taking advantage of personalisation.”

Mr Few said: “Delivering effective personalisation is really complicated: You need to have vast but accurate, usable data; you need to be well versed in a range of technology platforms; and most importantly you need to understand the media and creative planning process.

“It’s very unusual to have all of those skill sets and experience under one roof.”