#personalization

#personalization

The Washington Post's new offering, "Your Personal Podcast," uses artificial intelligence to customize podcasts for its users, blending the algorithm you might find in a news feed with the convenience of portable audio. The podcast is "personalized automatically based on your reading history" of Post articles, the newspaper says on its help page. Listeners also have some control: At the click of a button, they can alter their podcast's topic mix or even swap its computer-generated "hosts."

Every creative person has had that moment where they look at something beautifully personalized-a monogrammed cutting board, a customized metal tumbler, a sleek engraved leather wallet-and think, "I could totally make that." Once upon a time, that idea would've required a workshop full of industrial tools and a level of skill that bordered on wizardry. Today? Thanks to modern laser engraving technology, that same idea can turn into a real business with surprising ease.

Beyond that, the feature focuses on providing an annual overview of activity on Wikipedia as a whole, but in a pretty graphical format, not dissimilar to Spotify's Wrapped. A list of the most-read English language articles is topped by Charlie Kirk and "deaths in 2025," proving that humans are incurably morbid. Wikipedia also says that editors made over 66 million changes across the site this year.

Every year, learning changes a little. But as we head towards 2026, the pace of change feels different. More urgent. More human. More personal. Learners are asking for authenticity. Organizations want learning that works in practice, not just in theory. And technology is finally mature enough to support a kind of learning that feels alive. In this article, we'll delve into the 7 eLearning trends that will shape 2026, starting with the newest and boldest shifts already underway.

We will soon use your interactions with Meta AI to personalize the content and ads you see, including things like posts and reels.

The holiday season is one of the most important times of the year for businesses looking to connect with their customers and boost sales. Holiday email marketing has become a cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy, especially as more shoppers turn to online shopping for convenience and variety. Well-crafted holiday email campaigns allow businesses to reach their target audience directly, share special offers, and build lasting brand loyalty.

If we look at the way consumer purchase behavior was back in the day, it was: You see an ad, you go to the store, you make a purchase," said Bryant. "Now, it's not as linear, and marketers really need to think about things more fluidly. Consumers also aren't waking up in the morning and thinking, 'today I'm [exclusively] a digital shopper.'

Retailers are facing increased competition at a time when high inflation and higher prices are limiting consumers' spending potential. This year, brands will have to work harder than ever to cut through the noise and drive purchase intent, and data marketing can and should play a central role in retailers' and brands' ecommerce strategies. From personalization to product feed, effective data management and utilization support a leak-proof customer journey, driving more consumers towards the bottom of the funnel and subsequently boosting sales and revenues.

your favorite dishes, obscure movie quotes, even that exact shade of sweater you casually admired months ago. Dinner plans are effortless: "Booked us Giorgio's again, your favorite - truffle ravioli and Cabernet, like last time," Mary smiled warmly. But gradually, things become less appealing. Your attempts at variety or exploring something new are gently brushed aside: "Heard about that new sushi place, should we try it?" you suggest.

Reactive personalization is being replaced by predictive intent engines. Instead of waiting for a customer to browse, AI anticipates the customer's next wants based on contextual data like weather, life events, and even local cultural moments. For example, as outdoor searches tick upward in specific regions, retailers surface camping gear. The upside is deeper relevance. As with every trend, there are risks. Here, if the timing is too perfect, the relevance can feel intrusive to the customer.

"People expect a lot of innovative things to come out of Netflix, given what we've done over the past 25 years in the business," Amy Reinhard, Netflix's ads president, said on Wednesday. "The thing that I'm most excited about is these interactive and modular formats, because these are the start of our personalization journey, and they add a ton of flexibility and optionality into what we're trying to do."

It's no wonder personalization programs so often fall short of expectations - they're focused on stats, not mindset. Consider this: even within the same demographic group, nearly 90% of people disagree with one another. Demographics tell us who a customer is, but behavior reveals why they act the way they do - and that's what drives trust and loyalty. Here's a slightly controversial take: I don't believe in personas. They work for storytelling and empathy building, but for personalization, they're too limiting.

Loyalty grows when your customers feel like you care. Between 2012 and 2014, La Quinta did something most hotel chains would never risk: it let its VP of Loyalty write personal postcards to guests - not to everyone, just to high-value customers or those who seemed ready to drift away. The postcards looked handwritten. Mike Case signed them and included his real email address.

A tattoo is an indelible mark, a permanent etching of a memory or a belief onto the body. We apply this concept to stuffed animals, which are often deeply intertwined with our personal histories. Through interviews with the owners, we uncover the unique stories and memories associated with each toy-where it came from, what it has witnessed. A tattoo artist then translates these narratives into a custom embroidery design.