Behind the Curtain: Why Great Personalisation Feels Like Magic

If you’ve ever watched The Wizard of Oz, you’ll remember the moment Dorothy pulls back the curtain to reveal the great wizard – just a man furiously working levers and switches, trying to maintain the illusion. 

That moment reminds me of today’s customer experience.  

In our new SAP Emarsys Global Consumer Products Engagement Report, we uncovered a powerful insight: consumers love the outcome of AI – the speed, relevance, and convenience – but they don’t want to see the machinery. Only 8% want more obvious AI-led brand interactions. The rest? They want personalisation that just happens – like magic. 

This metaphor means even more to me personally. As a child, I devoured every one of L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz books — not just the movie. The idea of an enchanting world powered by something (or someone) behind the scenes stuck with me. It’s a perfect parallel to the work we do today. 

That’s the paradox we’re exploring this June at the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit in Amsterdam: how brands can scale AI-powered personalisation while keeping the experience unmistakably human. 

Versuni, the Amsterdam-based home appliances leader (formerly Philips Domestic Appliances), is a perfect example. By integrating SAP Emarsys with their SAP ERP and customer identity backbone, they deliver personalisation behind the scenes  – unifying consumer data across touchpoints while preserving their brand’s human feel. 

Globally, 29% of marketers cite internal complexity as their biggest challenge – silos, fragmented tools, and messy data. That’s why we introduced the Customer  

Engagement Maturity (CEM) Index – a new global benchmark that helps brands identify how ready they are to join what we call the Engagement Era. 

 Because here’s the truth: the best customer experiences feel effortless. But behind the scenes? They’re powered by a symphony of AI, data, and human insight – all working in harmony. 

So next time a brand surprises you with the perfect offer, just at the right moment, click your red shoes together and remember: it’s the magic no one wants to see.

Interested in attending? Learn more here. I’ll be there in person and would love to connect.