Commentary

Gallo Uses Chatbot To Engage One-to-One, Yield Data For Rose' Push


Faced with growing competition from native DTC brands and private-label offerings from both physical and e-retailers, big traditional CPG brands are fighting back through a variety of strategies, including acquisitions, incubators and, of course, intensive investment in developing in-house digital talent and capabilities.

But within that big picture, CPG brands' greatest need by far is “aggressively developing digital relationships with individuals -- the widest chasm they must cross,” Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO Randall Rothenberg stressed during the organization’s annual leadership meeting last month.

“The world’s largest consumer brands -- companies that did not know their end consumers, because the retailers controlled the consumer relationship -- are competing against the retailers and against their disruptor competitors to own those relationships,” he summed up.

CPGs are, of course, experimenting with many options for achieving what Nike CEO Mark Parker has dubbed being “more personal at scale.”

And one of those is using conversational marketing technology.

Using messaging and an artificial intelligence-based conversational tool worked efficiently for E. & J. Gallo Winery as part of recent efforts to increase awareness, particularly in the United States, of the company’s expanding rosé portfolio, report the winery and Snaps.  

Gallo needed to make direct connections with consumers to capture insights about preferred rosé flavor profiles, when and how they consume rosé, and which existing rosé brands garnered the greatest loyalty.

Gallo worked with Snaps to design and build a “Rosé Your Way” AI-powered chatbot to deliver a branded experience on Facebook Messenger.

The goals were to “engage one-on-one with our consumers, offer a utility for them in their purchase decision” and use the insights garnered to “further optimize our shopper marketing initiatives,” summed up Gallo CMO Stephanie Gallo.

The brand used targeted ads in Facebook Messenger and  Newsfeeds, plus Instagram, to promote the digital assistant to mobile users.

Once engaged, consumers were guided through a series of questions designed to enable the chatbot to recommend the ideal rosé within Gallo’s brand portfolio.

Afterward, Gallo reached out to re-engage consumers with personalized marketing content, including recipe pairings for the recommended wine and a customer satisfaction survey.

The campaign, which ran from May through July 2018, drew 25,000 consumers, with 90% of those who engaged with the rosé recommendation guide completing it, according to the partners. In addition, the follow-up push messages had a 60% open rate.

The data on rosé varietal preferences, drinking behavior and timing has been used to help guide rosé buying and stocking decisions and increase Gallo’s portfolio visibility within retailers, as well as increase consumer awareness, the brand confirms.

Naturally, Gallo is also using the consumer connections to continue to reach out with personalized, data-informed messages on new products and offers.

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