Digital Assistants – a brand’s best friend? David Wright David.Wright@kantar.com

What are Digital Assistants? Personal Assistants Customer Service Assistants Chatbots

“A brand’s best friend?” - The experiments 2 1 Usability Test How do people interact with a DA? Behavioural Analysis SIRI + Facebook Messenger interaction patterns 3 4 Facebook Brand Page Analysis What do direct brand to consumer conversations look like now? Messenger ‘Chatbot’ Prototype and Analysis

Usability Test 1 Location based questions Weather and Time Questions Information Searches “I want it more conversational, like if SIRI asks me additional questions, to help it get me the best information" “If I ask for a baked chicken recipe, or how to remove a stain, why not link straight to a 'how to' video on YouTube from a reputable brand?” “I need to adjust the way I talk, so Google understands me". “I like it when Siri replies to me (via voice), not when it gives me a list of tiny links" “I like it when there is a photo in the result”

People set the conversational bar very high 1 Usability test summary People set the conversational bar very high “This was the first time I used SIRI in two years. Wow it’s got really good. When I first used it didn’t understand me. I didn’t use it again." For brands though… The knowledge base is controlled by Apple or Google. The brand is not included in the conversation. These assistants are not a brand’s best friend.

Behavioural data analysis 2 Behavioural data analysis What to people do on SIRI? 70K SIRI SEARCHES 4K IMAGES TAGGED Wolfram 8% Sports Logos 18% Movies 18% Maps 8% Music 1% Nature 6% Other 9% Sports Faces 48% Bing Search 63%

Behavioural data analysis 2 Behavioural data analysis Word frequency for mobile searches that contain “How” “How do I connect YouTube from Phone to TV?” “How do I edit my contacts on my Samsung Galaxy?” Are device makers now ceding the customer relationship to search engines?

Behavioural data analysis 2 Behavioural data analysis “Do Messenger Patterns indicate how people might want to interact?” Individual messenger sessions are brief and succinct.

Behavioural test summary 2 Behavioural test summary Brands need to be part of the digital conversation in their domain space Digital conversations: Are succinct as more than half of individual messenger interactions are less than 30 seconds. Are often a Q & A hunt for information. Images can bring this information to life.

Facebook brand page analysis 3 Facebook brand page analysis “What do brand consumer digital interactions look like now?” u = user (the person who first posted to the page and started a conversation chain) b = the brand 0 = other users have decided to comment within the conversation chain.

Facebook Brand Page Analysis 3 Facebook Brand Page Analysis 26% of customer posts were not answered 22% were responded to and the conversation was complete

Facebook brand page analysis 3 Facebook brand page analysis A large and complex long tail of interactions. For the 13K page posts there were 942 different chain types.

Facebook brand page analysis 3 Facebook brand page analysis Tesco had the smallest % of unanswered posts and the highest chain variation.

Public Facebook posts are likely the tip of the iceberg. 3 Facebook page test summary Public Facebook posts are likely the tip of the iceberg. For brands though… Open conversation ‘chains’ can be complex and highly variable. Facebook prand page conversations are public. In KLM’s case, direct social messaging interactions are the preferred communications channel. Brands are likely to prefer direct/private digital communication.

Messenger “Chatbot” Prototype and Analysis 4 Messenger “Chatbot” Prototype and Analysis Messengers are where that conversation is at. WeChat, China - 700 million users Facebook Messenger – 1 billion users KIK – 300 million users Line, Japan – 215 million users

4 Meet “Kit” the chatbot Structured Survey Open “AI” chat

Messenger “Chatbot” prototype and analysis 4 Messenger “Chatbot” prototype and analysis Finally we can participate! “

4 The good A simple “structured” survey with elements including “buttons” and “quick replies” worked! Say “Hi” to Kit!

The bad - aka attempts at open conversations 4 The bad - aka attempts at open conversations Although individual interactions are short and sweet a user pause and pick up the conversation at any time. It was easy to get lost in open chat and forget the purpose of the interaction. 52% of posts to the bot in “open conversation mode” were one word only.

The bad - aka too smarty pants too quickly 4 The bad - aka too smarty pants too quickly “I have a broken ankle”. ”What do you do to treat it?” “I am wearing a boot.” “Has it been a tough few days?” “Yes.” “Ok thanks. Please remember to say Hi again!” “Do you not feel sorry for me?””

A brand’s best friend? Key conclusions Chatbots combined with vast Messenger networks offer an unprecedented opportunity for brands to connect with customers at scale. However chatbot creation is not a straight forward. Customers expect brief and accurate interactions. However direct brand to consumer conversations can be complicated and nuanced. Early adopters and influencers will try to stump an AI enabled chatbot which may create a PR risk. DAs/chatbots have the potential to become a brand’s best friend. In the short term, due to the complexities of an AI managing open conversation, it is likely the brand bot experiences will start simply and rely heavily on buttons and other structured UI elements.