PEP TALKS

Short List
TitlePEP TALKS
BrandMARS
Product / ServiceWRIGLEY'S EXTRA
CategoryD05. New Realities & Voice Activation
EntrantCOLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media Placement WAVEMAKER Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media Placement 2 MEDIACOM NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production EIGHT Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 2 FRANKLIN RD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 3 EXTREME MUSIC London, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company MARS NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 2 FARRIMOND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company 3 COMMOTION Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Nick Worthington Colenso BBDO Creative Chairman
Levi Slavin Colenso BBDO Chief Creative Officer
Dan Wright Colenso BBDO Executive Creative Director
Max McKeon Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Mike Davison Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Maria Devereux Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Kim Ragan Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Billy Worthington Colenso BBDO Copywriter
Emily Osborne Colenso BBDO Senior Art Director
Ellen Fromm Colenso BBDO Senior Copywriter
Anna Wilkins Colenso BBDO Junior Copywriter
Sarah White Colenso BBDO Junior Art Director
Ahmad Salim Colenso BBDO Group Business Director
Nico Ainsworth Colenso BBDO Senior Business Director
Ruby Soole Colenso BBDO Project Manager
Arameh Bozorgi Colenso BBDO Account Manager
James Baker Colenso BBDO Account Executive
Natasha Gill Colenso BBDO Senior TV Producer
Winnie Dummell Colenso BBDO TV Producer
Elle Kiddie Colenso BBDO Digital Producer
Phillip De Meulemeester Colenso BBDO Senior Planner
Emma Tait Colenso BBDO Digital & Data Strategist
Tatyana Dickson Mars NZ Senior Brand Manager
Nicole Villari Mars NZ Marketing Manager
Catherine Marthindale Colenso BBDO Brand Manager
Dean Pomfrett Colenso BBDO Design Director
Jodie Heron Colenso BBDO Digital Designer
David Arcus Colenso BBDO Creative Technologist
Ricardo Greco Colenso BBDO Digital Developer
Reks Kok Colenso BBDO Retoucher
Hamish Steptoe Colenso BBDO Designer
Katie Millington Eight Productions Production Company Producer
Jamie Lawrence Eight Productions Director
Cole Goodley Franklin Road Sound Design
Aaron Aaron Morton Eight Productions DOP
Anita Ward Commotion Animation
Millie Costley Deakin Colenso BBDO Edit Suite Manager
Cameron McColl Colenso BBDO Agency Editor
Luke Urquhart Colenso BBDO Agency Editor
Mikee Carpinter Commotion Online Editor

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

A tough conversation can be even tougher without confidence. That’s why Extra Gum, the brand built on fresh-breath confidence, created Extra Pep Talks. The voice-led AI helped build confidence in our audience via dynamic practise conversations through Google Assistant. Extra Pep Talks is a technology first for mobile browser-based voice assistants and Google Home in the New Zealand market.

Background

As the brand that stands for fresh-breath confidence, EXTRA Gum’s purpose was to prepare people for their “Time to Shine”. We discovered that one of the top concerns for the tech generation – a typically hard-to-reach audience, yet one that represented the biggest opportunity to grow the brand – was face-to-face conversation (Ref: Forbes Magazine). With 68 percent of millennials actively avoiding face-to-face conversations (Ref: Men’s Health), we saw a unique opportunity to connect with a hard to reach market and prepare an entire generation for their time to shine.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Through intelligent, evolving and entertaining digital role play, our voice AI helped people practice the most commonly searched conversation topics. Everything from “How to ask for a raise” to “How to negotiate a bargain” to “How to say I love you”. Pep Talks already recognises thousands of phrases and each time a human responds, they are helping to build the AI’s conversation skills. The result: almost infinite unique conversations between human and robot. Each completed topic concluded with a voucher for EXTRA Gum for added confidence. With the use of voice tech set to increase by 40% this year by our target, the platform utilised voice on mobile, smart speakers, and desktop browsers.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

As the brand that stands for fresh-breath confidence, EXTRA Gum’s purpose was to prepare people for their “Time to Shine”. We discovered that one of the top concerns for the tech generation – an audience that represented the biggest opportunity to grow the brand – was face-to-face conversation (Ref: Forbes Magazine).

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

With the use of voice tech set to rise by 40% this year, we created a voice-led AI that engaged users with a customised interactive conversation experience designed to build confidence. Every conversation housed within the voice tech was inspired by commonly Googled topics - asking for a raise, asking someone on a date, breaking up with someone, negotiating a bargain and asking a flatmate to move out etc. The platform was able to recognize thousands of phrases and respond with appropriate contextualised dialogue. Every engagement built the AI’s conversational skills, ensuring dynamic, tailored experiences that challenged the user with wit, tough questions and unique responses.

List the results (30% of vote)

While the millennial market represented the biggest opportunity for EXTRA Gum, it also presented the biggest challenge in terms reaching them. Extra Pep Talks used media native to millennials to launch the global EXTRA Gum “Time To Shine” platform that was relevant to New Zealanders. This allowed the brand to connect with an entire generation in a completely new way.

Links

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