Is personalization key to digital marketing success?

Filipino digital marketers may have celebrated their biggest gathering to date, but their sights are honing in on ever smaller targets.

In the recently concluded Digital Conference 2025 (DigiCon 2025), the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines (DMAP) touted the event’s rapid evolution in the last decade. 

“DigiCon 2025 is a lot of scale,” Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines President Miko David told CoinGeek. “Things are better, bigger; the tracks are so exciting. It’s very vibrant here.”

David said that the organizers of DigiCon 2025 aimed to make the event more inclusive to everyone in the ecosystem. These include advertisers, creative agencies, market research firms, and many other sectors. But despite the event scaling up in size, marketers at DigiCon are focusing on their narrowest targets yet: individual consumers.

Why does personalization work?

With the theme “The Age of ‘i’: The Power of Personalization,” DigiCon 2025 has signaled a shift into more personalized marketing strategies. Hand-in-hand with technology, these can open new ways for businesses to connect with consumers—at a deeper, more intimate level.

“This is personalization that happens in our everyday lives that we take for granted,” DigiCon 2025 Chair Alan Fontanilla said in his opening remarks. “But more than that, it’s how deeply connected technology is to our lives, often in ways we barely even notice.”

Fontanilla went on to say he’d seen how powerful personalization can be in very different ways. One scenario he provided is a business offering special deals to customers based on their unique needs. A credit card company, for example, wouldn’t offer a coffee promotion to someone with hyperacidity; instead, it would offer matcha.

Fontanilla also recounted how a recent film was marketed creatively to the masses.

“Recently, an indie film found an unusual way to reach its audience,” Fontanilla recounted. “Not through billboards or trailers, but through dating apps. The movie’s characters themselves invited people to the premiere.”

And why did this strategy work?

“It worked because it felt real; it felt personal,” Fontanilla said.

The real differentiator in a connected world

With powerful and varied technology now widely available to digital marketers, one of the biggest challenges is how to stand out to their target market. And the DigiCon Chair explained that it’s not the technology or content that separates the winners from the losers; its relevance, timing, and context.

“It’s how we make people feel like we’re talking to them and not just at them,” Fontanilla said.

Still, technology serves a key role in leveling the playing field for marketers. Nowadays, it’s not just giant corporations or established brands that have the opportunity to connect with consumers. With a smaller budget, a smart platform, and the right strategy, even startups now have the chance to accomplish what used to require massive budgets and entire departments.

According to Fontanilla, businesses need a clear strategy and the right impact.

“Personalization has been democratized,” he said. “Big brands, small businesses, international groups, startups… It’s no longer about how much you have; it’s about how well you use what’s available to you.”

Changing the world 

The idea of businesses tailoring their content to individual consumers and curating specialized, personalized content is one that seems to resonate with many attendees at DigiCon 2025.

Speaking with CoinGeek, several attendees shared some of their key takeaways from the talks and the various booths at the event.

Jules Contreras from the Manila Broadcasting Company said she learned a lot, noting that the power of personalization is very much emphasized. She also noted that artificial intelligence (AI) seemed to be a major point of discussion in the different talks.

“It’s definitely going to take over technology,” Contreras said. “And it’s very relevant to us as digital content producers.”

Carlos Cristobal and Fel Jocson, both from the advertising firm Publicis, also remarked on the event’s scale and messaging. Cristobal said they learned a lot from the booths and that the speakers are “super knowledgeable”. Meanwhile, Jocson shared one thing that she is looking forward to moving forward in the industry.

“One of the speakers said that marketers will be changing the world,” Jocson said. “So I’m really looking forward to how the marketing trends and the culture will be shaping the market.”

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