MediaPost: Personalization vs. Community Validation

Cory Treffiletti asks a very important question today in his Online Spin article. Can personalization and community co-exist? Can a marketer be so focused in their personalized marketing that they lose site of the benefits of building a community around a brand?

He asks, "If Pepsi tried to target you as an individual rather than as the "Choice of a New Generation", would it be more effective or less so?

Can you have personalized branding which plays into a singular individualized mindset when a brand is, in essence, a mindset of many?

How can you be a part of something; a brand and all that goes with it, if you are the only one? A brand is, in effect, a community of people who "feel" the same way about a product. Does overpersonalizing a brand remove that sense of community?

Is this giving anyone a headache?