The Personalisation Paradox: The State of Marketing Personalisation 2026

As we move into 2027, marketing teams find themselves facing a defining tension. Customers increasingly expect experiences that feel like a perfectly tailored suit: precise, relevant, and made just for them. Yet they are more resistant than ever to the idea of being measured to achieve it.

This is the personalisation paradox.

Consumers expect brands to understand their needs, anticipate their preferences, and deliver seamless experiences wherever they choose to engage. They want the perfect fit, but they are increasingly cautious about the measurements required to create it. As awareness of data collection grows, so too do expectations around transparency, trust, and control.

At the same time, personalisation itself is being redefined. Historically, success was measured by a brand's ability to target the right customer with the right message at the right time. Today, that is no longer enough. The challenge is understanding what personalisation means and how brands can meet customers where they are.

Whether through owned channels, digital platforms, retail environments, personalisation is shifting from simply knowing customers to creating value in the moments that matter most.

This evolution has been accelerated by AI, which has transformed what is technically possible. Organisations can now create, optimise, and scale personalised experiences with unprecedented speed and sophistication. Yet the challenge is no longer whether brands can tailor experiences. It is how to ensure those experiences feel genuinely tailored rather than algorithmically assembled. The perfect fit is no longer a technical challenge; it is a human one. Brands must balance relevance with responsibility, automation with authenticity, and personalisation with trust.

In this report we explore the state of personalisation today, the impact of the agentic consumer and how brands can close the gap between good personalisation to creating exceptionally tailored experience.

I hope you find our conclusions insightful and I look forward to continuing the discussion at the Marketing Personalisation Summit, this November in London.