Yes.

Uh, this is not May in the picture, but I just like a lot of us bought something online the other day.

And as you can see, I was in the market for some gym shorts.

But not just any old gym shorts, but gym shorts like these with a handy pocket on the side for my phone Now to get there.

Not only did I have to convince myself that I'd look good inside shorts, but I had to find the right shorts.

I looked at different brands.

I looked at different styles.

I pondered different delivery options, and I also pondered price.

Finally, I landed here on these well priced, very stylish Jim Swords.

And they have, of course, the handy side pocket for my phone.

So no more stepping on my phone in the gym or smashing it on the road if I went for a run.

Problem solved.

Mission accomplished.

I felt sure that if anybody had seen this had looked, they would see me.

In fact know me.

It turns out that I've got this wrong.

You see, the picture of May and what my unruly retailer thought of me was a bit different.

As I said, this is not a picture of me returns out that they think that they know what I look like to then This is apparently made based on my judo digital persona.

Apparently, guys like me well, we like 13 inch off road antennas, rain ponchos, charging cables and we need a rubber strap of some kind.

And I was so intrigued about this rubber strap that I click through to understand just what was this thing?

It turns out it's for strapping a headland to a helmet, so quite taken aback by this profiling.

They got me thinking this picture that they have of May is not at all like me.

It's not even aspirational e like me, a six pack of rain ponchos.

I live in Dubai.

I could see how a charging cable was a fit, but everybody has a phone.

I have an iPhone, so at least that got somewhat right.

And here in Dubai, everybody pretty much owns an SUV or a sports car, so there's a 50 50 chance with the antenna.

But the rubber strap thing.

I don't own a helmet or a headland.

Bottom line is this profiling was way off track.

I was both mystified and a bit annoyed at the same time.

These recommendations, far from bringing me closer to them, is a customer there, in fact, pushing me further away.

I was completely misunderstood both who I waas and what I wanted.

But why and into what end?

Why online do they get this so wrong so often?

That was the question in my mind then.

It's the question that will set about answering now.

So let's get started.

This bad experience reminded me that you've always had to earn your right to a relationship with the customer.

Really?

What online retailers want today is what shopkeepers 100 years ago head to know us Well, the picture that you see here is a general store in the 19 twenties, and this guy, he knew his customers well, he got there because he was engaged and he got there because he was an integral part of their lives.

He knew not only the person in front of him, but he knew the relationship that they had to those around them.

He knew birthdays, weddings and funerals.

He was not only in constant contact with these customers.

But he was doing what humans do Well, he was observing their behavior and he was moderating his behavior.

And yes, he was selling.

But he was serving a CZ.

Well, he knew them.

He knew all of them very well.

But then it all started to change.

It started to change and it got a bit different, in fact, very different.

We got on a new ride.

We industrialized, we mass produced, our populations grew.

We became a consumer class obsessed with convenience.

The General Store became the department store, the supermarket, the hypermarket and even the convenience store.

Soon the store kite keeper went online and became a nap.

And we went online as well.

We were online, and we would just where we discovered we research.

We ranked, we raided, we bought and he bragged about it on social media.

We're on a ride.

It was the ride of a lifetime and really was a blast.

But we didn't think very much about the cost of the ticket.

You see, with every interaction online, a little bit more is known about us.

It does not matter whether we buy or whether we browse.

The fact is our fingerprints are on everything that we touch online.

So what could go wrong?

Not a lot.

Apparently, studies show that more than half of us are comfortable with information being amassed an aggregated if it can be used in some way to our benefit.

So if you can expedite my experience, deliver more relevant offers, behave in a more personalized fashion, summed up, deliver a better overall experience, then this is a fair trade.

Please take my personal information and please put it to good use, but and there's always a but get it wrong and we're equally disappointed.

I have standards are high, so high now, in fact, that Maur and more of us get frustrated.

More than half of us have frustrated if you make bad recommendations.

We have frustrated if you limit us.

We do want to see the smart shopping suggestions, but we do want to see all that's on offer, not just what you think we might like.

We may covet an expedited shopping experience, but it needs to be on our terms.

Are we being difficult, or is this actually deliberate?

It's probably a bit of both who we are and what we want is always in motion.

You see our identity and our intention of fast colliding on both are actually needed.

This image says it all.

Or more to the point, doesn't say it'll.

What's wrong here is that we're actually deliberately different, depending on the circumstance.

Sometimes we have seen better from just one angle and we know best.

So if you want a wow me, then no, me as I want to be known, then you will know what I want.

And it turns out it's actually worth it.

Today there is a personal information industry that's worth billions, populated by providers who collect and collate they analyze, and they abstract not only our identity but also our intention.

Before, of course, on selling it was certainly popular.

But Maur, everybody is getting famous.

We like celebrities being chased by the paparazzi.

But in a digital world, personal data is collected on all of us by the swipe on by the like, and we don't even have to buy or trying to be noticed.

But all this scrutiny that might in fact provide us with opportunity it follows, then cannot should not we do something with this?

I believe that that's a question that will be answered soon.

In fact, I think we can answer it now.

We are, you see, in the movies and movies of our own making, I think in near future exists where Justus, a celebrity, needs an agent.

We will need one, too.

Personal information brokering today only supports those that sell.

What if new brokers emerge benefiting those that by and by that I mean us?

We can have an agent representing our image, our intention and our interests.

Now we can be the star of the show.

But where to start, our agent could firstly act on our behalf.

They could establish ownership of our total personal information now held by those that sell to us.

They would close an immediate gap in identity.

You see who we are to our online retailer ignores who we are to our bank or to Internet provider.

In fact, anybody, for that matter agent, can actually help us take charge.

They can go beyond anything these businesses could do by themselves, and it would be a give to get.

We would give authorized, accurate a picture of US high definition image, complete with everything that they have always wanted, and we would get bigger discounts, better prices, Maur extra but expedited service and you buying experience well, he would have less friction.

It would have more accuracy, more transparency and, in the end, more customer satisfaction all made possible because we've made available a complete picture of us the most useful picture of us.

So that's a good starting point.

But can we actually go further?

I think we can go further.

You see, we have arrived.

Our star is rising.

Our agent can represent us not only as who we are but who we want to be and when an identity with intention, a persona with purpose.

This perspective, this context for engagement is what's lacking today.

Like a personal stylist, they can dress us up in the best digital persona to get the best effect.

My persona is really only accurate when I provided, because that's when it reflects my intention.

There's no need to guess.

That's what our agent can give us agency to manage ourselves with those that sell and when it matters, so at an individual level, our agent will represent us.

But could they in fact, do even more our agent can do more.

So if we are in the movies, What about the rest of the cast?

The power of personal information is magnified.

When we considered as a group find me 100 1000 million people who look like him so I can sell to them.

Our agent would not just represent us, but many of us.

It would be the collective us.

If our agents can take our personal information on mass group the like minded, then authenticity and intention become facts, not false positives.

This will become the emerging engine room for our personal information economy.

What we have worth this individual's explodes when we consider the collective us.

But a good movie make that a great movie always is filmed in a great location and in the digital world Location has a different nine.

But just what is that?

Nine.

It's name is influence of billions of spent on fortunes and made trading and influence.

But is it money well spent, more money well earned?

It's true that we do look to influences inspiration, but in a very short time we've become skeptics.

They're creeping issues of authenticity.

Invested interest influences are all starting to look alike whilst we're not.

This skepticism and the sameness is not really serving us very well, and it raises the question if brands are willing to pay the proxies of us.

If so, why not pay for proximity to us today?

Influences a two dimensional arrangement brand influencer on were the target.

What if we formed a paid partnership with their own personal information?

Is the glue we could be out very own matchmaker.

We'd get influenced only from those that really mattered.

No need to guess our engagement because we would be engaged money well spent.

And we would be spending money, too.

So in this brave new digital future that we're living now, are we being misunderstood?

Probably, yes.

Do we need to be misunderstood?

Absolutely no.

You see whether we one of many or standing alone, we do in fact stand out in the crowd and we are counted.

We are the star of Aryan movies, but we need to be considered from all angles at different personas at different intentions.

Some of their desires are unique to us, some uncommon to a group of like minded, but it's always in context.

We talk about business to business or business, to consumer or even direct to consumer.

What about a new model?

What about consumer to consumer, where we are by turns, somebody's customer and I are our customer.

We have something to sell back to the digital world, and it is us.

We're seeing the dawn of the personal information economy.

We're all celebrities.

And with a little help from my agent, we could all be rewarded for a lifetime of notoriety.

For the right reason.

We could all get famously compensated for being just who we are doing, just what we do.

Perhaps this is the ultimate win win, because we won't be misunderstood.

Our intentions are good, the best, in fact, because they will be run.

Thank you.