Unilever: Promoting new products with a conversational WhatsApp chatbot
290,000
messages exchanged in 7 days
14x
higher product sales
Challenge
Developing two-way conversations to kickstart a campaign
Consumer goods giant Unilever was looking to promote a new line of products in Brazil under its leading fabric softener brand, Comfort.
Research by Unilever’s marketing team into customer buying behaviors led them to a big idea for the marketing campaign: approach customers in a way that mimics how detergent products tend to be organically recommended between consumers. By starting two-way conversations with advice and tips about taking care of clothes, the team hoped to raise awareness about their products.
To do this, they needed a chatbot that was accessible on a channel audience members commonly used to chat with friends and family. WhatsApp, the most popular chat app in Brazil, was the obvious choice. So in August 2019, Unilever enlisted Infobip’s help to run what would prove to be a groundbreaking WhatsApp Business campaign.
Solution
Implementing a conversational WhatsApp chatbot
The Unilever team knew that some of the best digital campaigns begin in the physical world. Their idea was to put up thousands of posters and billboards around the Brazilian city of São Paulo with an enticing message: “I’ll Bring You Back Your Beloved Clothes.”
Each of the posters featured a phone number users could send a WhatsApp message to in order to engage.
When people messaged the number, they were greeted by a chatbot called “MadameBot” which offered tips on how to care for clothes. MadameBot also introduced new products to consumers using video, audio, images and memes. At the end of the chat, consumers received a 50% discount on the new product with free shipping.
We helped the Unilever marketing team develop a fully verified WhatsApp Business channel that was compliant with all Brazilian regulations. The next step was to develop an AI-based WhatsApp chatbot service. Our chatbot building platform, Answers, created the chatbot code based on conversational exchanges planned by the Unilever team.
Result
14x increase in product sales
This conversational approach to the campaign proved a huge success. Levels of customer engagement far surpassed the initial goal of 600 interactions, solidifying Comfort’s presence in Brazil and creating a buzz about their new products. There was a significant increase in sales and lots of positive feedback from customers, leading to the three-day campaign being extended to a week. The campaign led to:
- 6,335 unique users interacting with the chatbot in the first 12 hours
- 290,000 messages exchanged in seven days from 12,000 unique customers
- 14X higher product sales during the campaign than on ordinary days
Additionally, Unilever’s call center received many calls praising the campaign. After seeing the benefits of conversational commerce firsthand, Unilever immediately began considering more WhatsApp initiatives, including plans to include a WhatsApp number on product packaging.
To find out more about using Answers to design and build a web chatbot on WhatsApp, read our article How to build a web chatbot – best practice and step-by-step instructions.
When we aired the campaign, Infobip was there in real-time, following everything that was going on with the bot. We had to make a bot script change in the middle of the day, and Infobip did it superbly quickly, without impacting consumer interactions.
Mariana Gonçalo
Senior Marketing Manager at Unilever
Company profile
Unilever
Unilever is one of the biggest multinational consumer goods corporations in the world that owns over 400 brands. It has been present in Brazil for 90 years, and their products can be found in homes across the country.
