It’s Tuesday, I’m Nithya Sudhir. I collect words, chase patterns, and write about whatever makes me curious.
Why "Made For You" Works
Have you ever cracked open a fortune cookie and instantly thought — “yes, that is exactly what I needed to hear today”?
Same.
I am also the person who awaits YouTube Rewind, checks Spotify Wrapped the second it drops, takes every "which city should you actually live in" quiz, and has forwarded a horoscope to a friend with the caption "this is literally us.
I just love things that feel like they are about me. Most of us do.
Spotify Wrapped reached 200 million engaged users within 62 hours of launch in 2024, generating around 500 million shares.
Over 2 million people take the Myers-Briggs personality test every single year.
And Horoscopes? A $3 billion industry. Need I say more?
Here is what all three have in common: they make you feel seen.
It’s Monday. And we are getting into why that feeling is one of the most powerful things your brand can create.
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The Professor Who Lied to his 39 Students
In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer gave his students a personality test.
He told them he would analyse each answer individually and return a personal profile the following week.
He didn’t though.
Instead, he gave every student the exact same result, copied directly from a newspaper astrology column. Yeah, you read that right!.
It had things like, "you have a great need for other people to like and admire you" and "you have a tendency to be critical of yourself.”
Then, he went ahead to tell them to rate their result. (I mean, the audacity!)
But guess what? On average his students gave their analyses an accuracy score of 4.26 out of 5.
Every student. Same profile. Rated as uniquely personal.
This phenomenon is formally called the Barnum Effect in 1956, named after Phineas Taylor Barnum, a famous 19th century circus pioneer who was known for his ability to to enchant audiences with stories that felt personal to everyone in the room.
The Barnum Effect shows us that when a description is warm, positive, and just specific enough, people find themselves in it. Every time.
What Forer's experiment actually revealed is not that people are gullible. It is that humans are wired to find personal meaning in messages that reflect something true about the human experience.
And when your brand speaks to a real value, a real desire, or a real identity your customer holds, they too feel seen.
That is not a trick. That is good marketing.
What personalization actually makes you feel seen?
What Consumers Want from Personalization, BCG
Putting the Custom in ‘Custom’er
The best DTC brands are already using this.
Some have sophisticated recommendation engines. Some have a great email copywriter and a solid best sellers list. Both work.
Why? Because the Barnum Effect does not care how you got to the recommendation. It cares how the recommendation feels when it arrives.
Here’s how the others are doing it:
The skin or lifestyle quiz. Five questions. A recommendation that feels custom. Best examples: Drunk Elephant, Curology, Function of Beauty, and Prose.body
The "picked for you" email. A customer browses and leaves. They receive an email with products selected based on what they looked at. The copy says "You’d love these."
The health assessment funnel. (Another quiz). Brands like Hims and Roman open with a detailed questionnaire before showing a single product or price.
The loyalty tier name. Gold. Insider. VIP. No data science required. Just a label that makes someone feel like they are part of something worth being part of.
The post-purchase message. "You clearly care about what you put into your body." One warm line in a confirmation email or inside the packaging. True of almost anyone who just made a considered purchase.
The Brand That Sent Your Dog a Bandana and Made You Feel Like Family
Butternut Box is a UK-based fresh dog food subscription brand founded in 2016 by two friends, Dave and Kevin, after Dave started cooking home meals for his Staffie Rudie who had chronic health problems.
They sell freshly cooked, human-grade dog food delivered directly to your door, portioned and planned specifically for your dog.
Butternut’s revenue surged 82% in 2023 to £126.7 million. They are backed by over £280 million in funding and hold a 4.8-star Trustpilot rating.
When you sign up, Butternut Box walks you through a quiz covering your dog's age, breed, allergies, and health conditions. Based on your answers, they suggest personalised recipes and portion sizes.
After your first order arrives, so does a dog bandana with your dog's name on it.
You are now a "Butternutter." You belong to something — a community of people who, the brand implies, understand what it really means to care for a dog. The bandana creates the feeling of belonging.
The quiz gathers real data and delivers real recommendations. But the bandana? That is the Barnum Effect in physical form.
It takes something true about every Butternut customer — that they love their dog and want the best for them — and turns it into a moment that feels like it was made for you and Rudie specifically.
The feeling is genuine. The mechanism is universal. That combination is exactly why it works.
How to Make Your Customers Feel Like Butternutters
Name the tribe. Give your customer community a name that says something about who they are, not what they bought. The label creates the belonging.
Find your bandana moment. Every brand has one. The small, unexpected thing that arrives alongside the product and says: we thought about you specifically. It does not have to be expensive. It has to feel considered.
Use their words back at them. Whatever your quiz collects, reflect it back in your first email or packaging insert. "You told us Rudie has a sensitive stomach. Here is why we chose the chicken recipe." That sentence costs nothing to write.
Time it right. Send your Barnum moment just after the first purchase, not before. The customer has already committed. Now you are confirming they made the right call.
Make generic feel exclusive. The bandana goes to every new Butternutter. Nobody receives it knowing that. Design experiences where the feeling of belonging is real even when the gesture is universal.
The best personalisation is not always the most sophisticated. Sometimes it is just the most human.
Your customers do not need you to know everything about them. They need to feel like you get them.
That’s it from me folks!
💡 Idea Jar: Does your brand have a bandana moment? The thing that makes customers feel like they specifically belong? Let me know, I want to hear it.
How's the depth of today's edition?
As always, hit reply if something in here hits home.
See you next week,
Nithya
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