Looks like Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to be the buzz word for 2017 in the region. While brands are incorporating AI in its businesses, creative tech house, Brndstr, has opened a dedicated BOT (Social Chat Robots) Studio and Virtual Reality Lab.
Using a suite of custom built technologies – Brndstr helps brands to create real time solutions as part of marketing and advertising strategies.
“The campaigns we have created for brands use our automated tech to instantly reply to a user when they engage with a social post. In 2013, the word BOTS was seen as spammy but this is essentially what we were building. By offering a user immediate gratification increased engagement dramatically and improved overall campaign metrics. People no longer needed to wait days to get a digital voucher for a free burger, they simply just had to retweet,” said Simon Hudson, CEO & Founder, Brndstr.
In April this year, Mark Zuckerberg took to the Facebook stage announcing the next wave of technology – Facebook Messenger was launching what it would call the BOT Store. A new way for brands to create automated assistants that sit inside the messenger platform and offer instant replies. During the keynote Zuckerberg showcased BOTS from brands such as CNN where you could now simply chat to the CNN bot in messenger and get the news you wanted, instantly and directly in the chat window.
“We knew BOTS were powerful tools back in 2013 and are lucky because we have a 3 year head start and 150 partners more than our competitors,” added Mr Hudson.
The Brndstr BOT Studio allows brands of any size to build and host a BOT on Facebook Messenger or Twitter Direct Message. Starting at a basic level these BOTS allow a brand to add a digital assistant to its messaging channel – these instant replies can include things such as product details, maps to an office, phone numbers or opening times of a restaurant.
In addition to the BOT Studio, Brndstr is also launching a Virtual Reality Lab where it will help brands build amazing new experiences in a Virtual World. The Brndstr VR Lab will build 3D, virtual worlds for brands that their audiences can experience using any compatible headsets, such as the Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR. “From the 150+ partners we have, we are excited to see what magic we can build together – imagine things like walking through the Business Class of an A380 and not only getting see first hand what it looks like, but also book and select your seat directly from the VR environment,” he explained.
