Personalization Is Manufacturing Bias?

MOVE

Stop trying to manufacture discovery.

I recently realized that my default approach to growth—and the default of most marketers—is fundamentally flawed. We rely on "personalization," but in reality, personalization is often just a manufactured bias designed to force a transaction.

The evidence is in the noise. My phone buzzes with insurance reminders and government app notifications. They are aggressive because they are commodities. They have no Point of View (POV), so they must rely on urgency and automated nagging.

Contrast this with a brand like Royal Enfield. They don't chase; you find them. They offer an "affordable premium" reality that encourages utilization, not just possession. Their marketing isn't about personalization; it’s about a pure motorcycling philosophy.

The distinction is sharp:

• The Commodity: Tries to create a connection through data and frequency (Noise).
• The Brand: Creates a connection through a distinct POV (Signal).

One manufactures discovery. The other earns it.

SEE

The industry narrative suggests that as AI floods the internet with generic content, the solution is more personalization. This is a trap.

Personalization is a maintenance cost we pay when we lack identity. It is an attempt to create "bias" in the customer's mind. While social platforms reward novelty and CRMs automate scale, this machinery often produces theater, not connection.

True discovery cannot be hacked by workflows. A purchase decision is emotional, but that emotion shouldn't be leveraged through automated touchpoints. It should be a natural resonance.

The brands that survive the AI content flood won't be the ones with the best optimization algorithms. They will be the ones with the clearest POV. Royal Enfield doesn't need to "optimize" for me to like them. They simply exist in their truth, and as a result, I seek them out.

Easier discovery through manufactured bias is ephemeral. Earned discovery through resonance is permanent.

REFLECT

In the context of the Ashtavakra Gita, neither pushing nor pulling works. Presence is enough.

We can view the market through a lens of consciousness:

• The Customer is the Seeker.
• The Brand should operate as Sakshi (Witness Consciousness).

The Seeker finds what they are looking for not because they were persuaded, but because the Witness was present and unwavering. This isn't romantic idealism; it is practical business strategy.

When we act out of fear—fear that we aren't visible enough—we resort to spam, optimization, and noise. We try to force the outcome. But if we shift the focus from "How do I get more customers?" to "What do I actually stand for?", the dynamic changes.

Presence is not passive waiting; it is active clarity. When the POV is clear, the noise stops, and the right discovery happens naturally.