Category: General Content

Starbucks Previews Chatbot Service; Partners With WeChat For Mobile Gifting

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
After turning its U.S. stores into sponsored locations in Pokémon Go to drive visits, Starbucks is doubling down on its mobile initiatives with two big moves. First, the Seattle-based company previewed a conversational chatbot service called “My Starbucks Barista,” which uses MindMeld’s AI engine to understand and place complicated orders in natural language via text or voice. The mobile pre-order service is set to roll out in Starbucks’ mobile apps starting early 2017.

Meanwhile, Starbucks also forged a strategic partnership with Tencent to tap into mobile commerce in China, an increasingly important market for Starbucks. The two companies launched a new social gifting feature on WeChat, the No.1 messaging app in China with over 846 million monthly active users, allowing customers to give Starbucks products to friends using WeChat. The partnership also includes payment integration, which lets Chinese customers pay for Starbucks purchases both online and in-store with WeChat wallets.

What Brands Should Do
These two initiatives indicate Starbucks’ ambition in conquering mobile by building user-friendly conversational services that are growing prominent in consumer-brand interactions (read more on this trend here). The partnership with Tencent to leverage WeChat to reach Chinese consumers could be a strong indication of what it has in store for U.S. messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger. The upcoming chatbot service leverages the power of AI to make mobile ordering more convenient and user-friendly, which should significantly improve its customer experience on mobile. As mobile becomes integral to the customer journey for most brands, more brands should take notes and start exploring how incorporating conversational interfaces may help improve the customer experience.

The Lab has extensive knowledge about reaching consumers on mobile messaging apps and building branded chatbots. The new NiroBot we build in collaboration with Ansible for Kia delivers comprehensive product information about the all-new Niro model via friendly chats. If you’re interested in reaching your audience on messaging apps and better serving them with a chatbot, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) for more information or to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: GeekWire & China Daily

GE Unveils A Futuristic Circular Lamp With Alexa Integration

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
GE has unveiled a futuristic circular lamp that will be able to respond to voice command thanks to its integration with Amazon’s Alexa. Essentially an Echo Dot with a funky LED light hoop on top, the lamp also comes with a speaker that allows Alexa to respond to your requests and commands, as well as built-in voice control over the lamp. GE says it is expecting to ship this product in Q2 2017.

What Brands Should Do
As Amazon started allowing third-party companies to build Alexa into their own products, We expect to see more Alexa-enabled smart home and IoT devices in the coming months. This would no doubt push conversational interfaces more deeply into consumer’s daily lives, upending the way that consumers interact with digital devices and creating a new paradigm for brand-consumer interaction. As Amazon continues to expand the underlying deep learning technologies to more services, it is time for brands seeking to stay ahead of the digital curve to start exploring how incorporating conversational interfaces may help improve the customer experience.

The Lab has extensive experience with building Alexa skills for brands. If you’re interested in learning more about this or have a client opportunity, please reach out to our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: The Verge

Lead image is a promotional image courtesy of GE

Sprint And Starbucks To Sponsor Pokémon Go Locations In U.S.

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
While the craze of Pokémon Go has expectedly winded down a bit from its feverish launch this summer, there is no denying that this location-based mobile game still holds much potential for brands to explore. Back in August, Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, struck a deal with McDonald’s to turn over 3,000 restaurant locations in Japan into sponsored Gyms in the game. But since then, Niantic has made no big move in regards to bringing brand sponsorships to markets outside Japan.

That officially changes today as not one, but two big-name brands become sponsors for the game in the U.S. Earlier today Sprint announced it is partnering with Niantic to add PokéStops and Gyms at over ten thousand Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Sprint-RadioShack store locations. Moreover, Starbucks has reportedly also signed on for a similar partnership to turn its coffee shops nationwide into PokéStops and Gyms in the game. Moreover, a leaked document also shows that Starbucks will be introducing some Pokémon-themed drinks to accompany the launch.

What Brands Should Do
As we pointed out in our previous Fast Forward analysis on the game, Pokémon Go’s smashing success presents great opportunities for brands to reach a young-skewing audience on mobile and even drive offline traffic to stores. While not every brand has the resources to become an official sponsor for game, there are still plenty of things that brands can do to capitalize on the game’s viral popularity and its AR-related implications. We have already seen some brands finding interesting workarounds such as location-based dynamic ads to reach Pokémon Go players. As Niantic warms up to brand sponsors, we expect more opportunities to come for brands to reach the massive global mobile users playing the game.

For more suggestions on how brands can benefit from “Pokémania,” check out our in-depth Fast Forward analysis on the matter here.

 

Source: CNET

NBC To Air Live Ads For Oreo And Toyota During “Hairspray” Broadcast

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
NBC is set to shake things up a bit for the upcoming broadcast of its live production of Hairspray by experimenting with native, in-program advertising. Instead of cutting to a commercial break, Oreo and Toyota will promote their products with live commercials performed in character by the cast of the musical in a retro style that harkens back to the early days of television commercials.

Moreover, the show will also feature a song-and-dance number inspired by Reddi-wip’s milk delivery history. In addition, NBC will also run two segments of sponsored content during two breaks with brand sponsors’ messages showing alongside behind-the-scene looks via split-screen.

What Brands Should Do
This is not the first time that NBC has tried out this type of native ads to appeal to an increasingly ad-avoidant TV audience, as the broadcaster substituted some regular ad spots during its primetime shows in February with AmEx-sponsored native content from the respective shows. This upcoming initiative seems to be a natural continuation of this trend. At a time when ad blockers and subscription-based streaming services are helping millions of viewers actively avoid ads, it is important for brands and media owners to take measures in response and come up with new ways, such as sponsored content and native ads, to engage with their audience.

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer eyeballs, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

How E-Retailer MeUndies Hosted A Successful Facebook Live Event On Black Friday

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
For this Black Friday, online underwear retailer MeUndies tried something different as it hosted a live sales event on Facebook, which attracted 13,300 viewers and scored a conversion rate of 25%, 13 times the average rate that MeUndies usually get on Facebook.

To promote the hour-long live event, MeUndies first sent out invites to its 314,000 Facebook Page followers and then ran a Facebook event ad targeting customers who opened MeUndies emails but hadn’t made a purchase in over a year. The event went live on the afternoon of Nov. 25, complete with a DJ and dance contests. Throughout the hour, MeUndies unlocked increasingly larger discounts as more viewers tuned in to get them to check out the Black Friday sales on its website.

What Brands Should Do
This event serves as a great example of how brands can leverage live video to reach a growing segment of the online audience. In particular, this MeUndies live event is illustrative of how brands can use live streaming as a direct sales channel to pitch to a captivated audience in real time and drive conversion. It also shows the importance of careful planning and pre-event promotions so as to drum up customer interests and maximize the event impact. As more and more brands and publishers rush into live video to capitalize on the growing consumer attention, brand marketers should start exploring live-streaming platforms to engage with online customers in real time.

 

Source: AdExchanger

Lead image courtesy of MeUndies’ Facebook

Oreo Launches Pop-up Ecommerce Site To Attract Holiday Gift Shoppers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Oreo is dipping its toe into ecommerce as the popular cookie brand opens its first branded ecommerce site (gifts.oreo.com) to sell holiday-themed Oreo cookies directly to the gift shoppers. Unlike other ecommerce site, however, this Oreo Gifts site offers an interesting feature where the gift buyer can simply put in the email address or mobile number of the recipient without filling out the address. The recipient will receive a notification via text or email with instruction on how to claim their gifts.

Why Brands Should Care
Oreo is not the only popular snack brand to venture into ecommerce in time for the holiday season. Earlier this month, Cheetos launched an online shop that sells branded holiday gifts ranging from clothing to perfume. Oreo’s parent company Mondelez International says the site is part of a global e-commerce strategy, which it is expecting to grow by at least $1 billion in revenue by 2020. As more and more consumers opting for the convenience of online shopping, traditional CPG brands should take a cue from Mondelez and start exploring ecommerce opportunities to reclaim some of the diminishing distribution channels and build a lasting customer relationship.

 

Source: PR Newswire


Lead image courtesy of Oreo Gifts

Folgers Coffee To Sponsor A Life-Size Gingerbread House In NYC

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Folgers Coffee has signed on as a brand sponsor for a life-size gingerbread house created by Taste of Home, a food and entertainment publisher as part of its holiday campaign this year. Previously, the publisher has created digital gingerbread house that readers can navigate on their phones, but this year it is created a life-size gingerbread house installation in New York City starting Tuesday.

The installation comes with some virtual and interactive elements designed to surprise and delight the visitors, who will be greeted by a virtual marshmallow and get to decorate an interactive Christmas tree via a touchscreen. Visitors can also submit their holiday photos to appear on an “America’s Holiday Mantel” display using the hashtag #holidayheritage. Folgers will use those user-generated photos in its ads across Taste of Home’s digital channels.

What Brands Should Do
This is the latest example of brands leveraging sponsorships to connect with event-goers. In September, Taco Bell teamed up with Sony and set up a pop-up VR gaming arcade to attract and engage with consumers. This type of experiential marketing has been gaining traction lately due to the increasingly fractured consumer attention and growing level of ad avoidance. Therefore, more brands should consider striking mutually beneficial partnerships to create memorable experiences for customers.

 

Source: Marketing Dive

Uber Acquires Geometric Intelligence To Form An In-House AI Team

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Uber has acquired a New York-based startup Geometric Intelligence to launch its own in-house research team that focuses on artificial intelligence development, according to The New York Times. This move not only reaffirms Uber’s dedication to improve its algorithms for more efficient routing and ride-sharing, but also signals the company’s growing ambition in developing autonomous vehicles and driverless solutions, to which sophisticated AI and machine learning tools will be crucial.

Why Brands Should Care
As conversational interfaces and cloud-based solutions rise to prominence, AI and machine learning are quickly becoming a hot topic among the tech and ad industries, especially in regard to how they would transform the way we analyze data and extract insights. Already, we are seeing companies like IBM and Oracle integrating their respective machine learning-powered solutions into marketing products, promising profound impact on consumer expectations and brand-consumer interactions.

This is a topic we will be diving into in details in our upcoming Outlook 2017 report. Please check back in early January to read more of our take on this hot industry trend.

 

Source: The New York Times

Amazon Trials Checkout-Free Physical Retail Experience

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon has started testing an innovative take on brick-and-mortar retail with a grocery store dubbed Amazon Go in Seattle that has no cashier or checkout line. Instead, the 1,800-square-foot store is blanketed with motion-capturing cameras and sensors, which allows it to leverage a powerful combination of computer vision and deep machine learning to keep track of the goods on and off the shelves, recognize each visitor, and create a virtual shopping cart on their phone. Once they are done shopping, they can just walk out of the store, confirm their purchases on their phones via automated receipts, and pay with their Amazon accounts. The store is only open to Amazon employees at the moment, but the company says it will be open to the public in early 2017.

What Retailers Should Do
This launch marks a crucial step in Amazon’s ambitious expansion into physical retail after the ecommerce giant tested the water with a few branded bookstores in select cities. More importantly, it unveils Amazon’s inspired vision for the future of retail as it proposes a frictionless, mobile powered shopping experience that eliminates one of the worst parts of grocery shopping – waiting in line for checkout.

While Amazon’s approach may seem a bit radical to some, there is no denying that smartphones are bringing a myriad of new possibilities into creating better in-store experiences. Walgreens, for example, has launched two initiatives aimed at delivering a more personalized shopping experience via its branded mobile app. Other retailers may not have the resources to attempt what Amazon is testing, but they need to take a cue and start leveraging mobile technologies to modernize their retail experiences.

For more information on how retailers can effectively reach connected consumers by taking a mobile-powered, omnichannel approach, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Lead image is a screen capture from Amazon’s YouTube Video

Pinterest Launches Showcase To Help Brands Present Their Best Sides

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Pinterest has introduced a new feature called Showcase to help brands on its platform leave a strong first impression on customers visiting their profile pages. Rolling out to business accounts, this new feature enables brand managers to choose up to five customizable Pinterest boards and Buyable Pins in the US to feature as a rotating carousel on top of their profile pages.

Why Brands Should Care
A new report from our sibling Mediabrands agency Magna found that social and search captured the bulk of digital dollar growth in 2016, and social media is expected to rise to the top of advertising spending in market share by 2017. Pinterest stands to benefit from this ad dollar boom, as it has long enjoyed its reputation among social networks as a “Sales Conversion Powerhouse.”

This new feature should offer brands a way to curate their best content collections and present them in a prominent manner to attract the attention of potential customers and hopefully lead to conversion. As social platforms like Pinterest continue to build out their ad products and add brand-friendly features, brands advertisers need to learn to leverage these tools to reach their desired audiences .

 

Source: Marketing Land