digital marketing
HAPPYBOT AIMS TO
PLEASE SHOPPERS
Kildonan Place talks tech and drives sales
It’s been nearly two years since Kildonan Place (Winnipeg, Canada),
together with Circus Strategic Communications, introduced its shoppers
to HappyBot, an ICSC award-wining digital initiative and the country’s
first in-center robot. A key member of the marketing team, HappyBot
is a touchscreen, interactive kiosk turned talking robot. Designed to
strengthen Kildonan Place’s “Shop Happy” brand positioning slogan
and elevate the customer experience, the custom-programmed chatbot
expresses a range of facial animations and emotive qualities, sings, tells
jokes, and says good-bye. With the power to track motion, HappyBot can
see, greet, and engage with those approaching and passing by. More than
simply a friendly face, the bot also offers discounts and prints coupons.
Located at Kildonan Place’s center court, HappyBot drives retail sales and
increases community engagement. A user flow diagram shows the course of
HappyBot tracks
shopper traffic to
engage visitors.
...drives retail sales and increases community
engagement.
interaction from sleeping to saying good-bye. After being presented with
a voucher, the shopper has the choice to either accept or decline the offer.
In doing so, this will determine the next step: Printing a copy vs. telling
a joke. Fun for all ages, the chatbot is also close-captioned for those with
hearing impairments.
Leading up to its launch, to generate awareness and cause excitement,
Kildonan Place promoted HappyBot through a multi-media holiday ad
campaign combining radio, social media, publicity, and television. An early
sign of public interest and response was the open rate of the center’s annual
e-blast. Featuring the chatbot, the holiday message connected with a large
audience of e-subscribers and produced a 33.8-percent open rate, compared
to the industry average of 17.3 percent.
By May 2017, within six months of talking and telling jokes, HappyBot
had earned a total of four million combined impressions and supported four
of Kildonan Place’s “Happy Days”: National Battery Day, National Plant a
Flower Day, International Dance Day, and Train Day.
THE HAPPYBOT LAUNCH MEDIA IMPACT
Radio Ads: 1.8M impressions
City TV Appearance: 25,000 impressions
Door Decals: 2M impressions
E-blast: 2,939 sent
Poster: 175,000 impressions
Most notably, in recognition of National Plant a Flower Day, HappyBot
distributed coupons for a custom Dancing Flower ornament and packet of
seeds. Throughout the day, the chatbot engaged with more than four dozen
shoppers. Over time, consumer engagement steadily increased. Last fall, as
part of the center’s ‘80s-themed promotion to celebrate the opening of its
expansion wing, the bot held a contest. Tying together old school and new
tech, the chatbot attracted shoppers with a “Plinko” style videogame. Taking
players on a stroll down memory lane, HappyBot provided additional
contest entries to win the grand prize: over C$600 (US$450) in gift cards
from in-center retailers.
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THE PLINKO RECAP (September – December, 2017)
5,777 entries
1,801 unique entries
2,429 plays
An average of 1.4 plays per customer
268 customers returned multiple days to play
1,129 opt-ins for future contact
To date, the chatbot has completed 205,034 interactions, printed 28,886
coupons, offered 87 different discounts, and represented 28 different
stores (not including HappyBot Plinko). With a limited marketing budget,
Kildonan Place has been able to spread its message, innovate the customer
experience, and stay on (technological) trend.
“HappyBot has proven to be an invaluable pilot project for Kildonan
Place. With bots set to revolutionize customer service, this initiative has
provided the center with useful first-hand insight on its shoppers’ reactions
and willingness to engage with technology. To heighten awareness of
HappyBot, the center has created branded hoarding that profiles [its]
abilities,” the center’s marketers noted in their award brief.
As a leader in the shift from app to chatbot, Kildonan Place is
introducing consumers and retailers to a new way of interactive shopping.