Byline: ALICE Z. CUNEO

Note to marketers: Customers "are desperate to have a relationship where they are nurtured, cared about and recognized.'' Of course, you have to be careful not to recognize them too much.

Privacy concerns aside, a new CMO Council study concludes that individualized content will be the next big thing as marketers move from traditional mass media into a new era of ads like those depicted in the film "Minority Report.''

"Personalization is the whole theme of this marketing era,'' said Bob Thacker, senior VP-marketing and advertising at OfficeMax. "It's the end of mass communication as we know it.''

In a presentation this spring, ...