Mobile Conversations

Conversational Mobile Experiences

 

Mobile Marketing.  Mobile Entertainment.

Mobile Learning.

 

What conversation do you want to start?

 

Extend your story from television, retail products or

print to Mobile, Tablets and Ultrabooks          

Connecting

Mobile Text Conversations

 

The essence of how we use our mobile devices.

The number 1 form of written communication...

 

...in the World.

 

Chat on mobile-web = no per message costs plus delivery

of rich media

Communication Design

At  heart, Mobile is a "Communicator"

contentAI studios are Communication Designers

 

Delivering compelling, real-time, 2-way Communication Experiences

2nd Screen Experiences

Sometimes "Location" = The Couch

 

2nd-Screen engagement now exceeds 50% of

Mobile and Tablet User Engagement.

 

Intuitively Extend Story & Ad Units Across Screens

With interactive scenes synchronized on the 2nd Screen

 

 

Why Mobile Content Producers Need NFC

June 20, 2012 by

Today was a very good day for the (possible) standardization of NFC (near field communication) as an interface for mobile engagement.

The Windows Mobile Summit (WinMo8) announced that all new Windows Mobile phones will be enabled for NFC, for both payments and non-payments (payments tends to get the press).  But, it’s the non-payments we’re focused on – The seamless way Users will tap and intuitively engage with objects in the world around them.

When coupled with Google/Android (and it’s Motorola prospects) for NFC, this creates a fairly daunting “standard,” within mobile, which generally is the land of fragmentation and no-standards.  Apple is the lone hold out at this time (we’ve given up on RIM).

NFC matters because it allows for a near thoughtless, unfocused gesture that can be repeated easily by individuals.  It doesn’t require someone to pause, open an app, or focus.  It’s a gesture that can (literally) open door locks, make a payment in a restaurant – Or, open up apps or mobile web sites (or, launch media files) — That range  of uses is what makes it fascinating….it’s what makes it…perhaps…ubiquitous.

Hopefully, Microsoft will release their promo video they used at today’s presentation of “an average family in a restaurant” where NFC was heavily featured — The other area that is wide-open and unexplored territory will be creative uses to use NFC between NFC tablets (such as the SURFACE device) and mobile screens – Imagine being able to encode segments of an online video with NFC triggers for 2nd screen (or,maybe this is 2nd-to-3rd screen) engagement?

So, while Windows Phone has a tiny market share today, the SURFACE announcement earlier this week, plus the WinMo8 announcement today shows that Microsoft are not just trying to tread water, they are trying to regain a position they lost sometime ago…when coupled with other companies making commitments to NFC, that “trigger” should start to become commonplace within 12-18 months.  At which time, a whole new world of mobile content engagement and experiences will be required.

Some will say this was or is possible with QR codes.  We “believed” in QR codes about 2 years ago, then saw them applied in such haphazard ways that we believe consumers gave up on them before they even had a chance (Noting, even Microsoft TAG started segueing to NFC about 6 months ago).  The industry thought and effort that’s going into NFC is far more substantial than what happened with QR (in the West)…we’re very bullish on NFC…we think it opens up a range of opportunities for mobile content that (sorry…can’t help it)…to date, has gone untapped.

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, Brands and Mobile Tagged With: , , , ,

More Numbers on 2nd Screen Apps and Engagement

June 18, 2012 by

In a recent article on The Wrap “Meet the Wild West of Television focused on 2nd Screen Apps, some Nielsen analytics were notable:

 

That said, these are “tablet” numbers and we’re not quite as Bullish on tablets being mass-market devices for sometime – But, these numbers would appear to be relevant to concurrent mobile phone/television 2nd Screen engagement.  As people are less and less disconnected from their mobile device (yes, it’s a cyborg’ish appendage at this point), it’s quite possible that concurrent engagement stats for a mobile phone are much higher than the above tablet numbers.

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, AI conversation Tagged With:

Anthropomorphize Digital Engagement – Why Bots Work

June 14, 2012 by

There is a well-worth-reading article titled:

Virtual coaches keep overweight people on track

On HEALTH CARE IT NEWS:

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/virtual-coaches-keep-overweight-people-track

The core concept that was proven in the study was that humans will anthropomorphize their engagement with a “virtual coach:”

 58.1 percent of the participants using a virtual coach indicated it motivated them to be more active, and 87.1 percent reported feeling guilty if they skipped an online appointment.

Guilt?

Only arises when there is an emotional connection.

We see this kind of emotional engagement with our virtual characters and agents.  We haven’t done formal studies, but, the referenced article is consistent with how we feel human End Users respond to virtual agents — It’s an overwhelmingly personal experience.

Just as HAL 9000 was a believable “character” to movie audiences, we suspend disbelief in our direct engagement with (good) bots.

Filed Under: AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Past, Present & Future – Automating Customer Service & Social Media

June 7, 2012 by

The article by analyst @jowyang on Techcrunch today:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/07/brands-start-automating-social-media-responses-on-facebook-and-twitter/

Took us back in time, about 2 years, when we first tested automated “human’ish” responses with our platform, via Twitter (and, even into Facebook, via IM).

We discussed with Brands about the cost and scaling of “humans” v. automated bots (as well as consistency and the instant response we provide), but, 2 years ago, I guess we came across sounding like Science Fiction fans, not mobile and social marketers!

So, today, it’s official, we in the “nascent, but growing” stage of seeing this engagement format move into the marketplace.  Our two years of building our platform and testing our “creative” and interactive narrative positions us well ahead of anyone just starting to dabble in this space.

@jowyang’s “future” looks like this:

“Human-like Relationships:  While on the distant horizon, artificial intelligence agents will simulate human behavior and be a guiding agent, conversationalist, and act like a real world concierge, “

Well, that’s what our “today” looks like.  Brand Agents who guide.

Our blog posts haven’t used the CATEGORY “AI and Twitter” in a heck of a long time.  Nice to dust that off again!

Now, we do respect that there are diverging opinions on this topic, really just specific to use of automation within “social media,” as if it’s a “pure” landscape that should be reserved for “humans only.”  (See the OPINIONS section of the Techcrunch article).

We have the ability to clone or create the “best” customer service bots, who respond instantly, around the clock – and can manage high volumes of concurrent users (and each receives a personalized response).  Compare that to most “human” customer service representatives?  Perhaps most who work  a Brands Twitter account are a bit hipper than those in the Call Centers, but, well, we can add “hip” to our bots.  Do people really care if it’s human or silicon, provided they get what they need?  Quickly?

As humans, we’ve adapted and evolved to accept Human::Machine interaction quite well.  At the grocery, if the line is shorter at the automated check-out, that’s where we go.  Yes, I like a brief chat with the human check-out person, but, nine times out of ten, I head to the automated check-out, who is always friendly and gets me out the door quickly (And I never find someone has put the fresh strawberries at the bottom of the bag).

 

Filed Under: AI and Twitter, AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Why is “Mobile First” a “Second Screen?”

June 7, 2012 by

Folks who work in digital/interactive started the “mobile first” meme about a year and a half ago.  I believe it was Google who really made the phrase popular?

But, what is often overlooked is that for the mainstream, average human being (e.g. consumer), “television” remains the #1 screen in their lives:

http://www.appmarket.tv/news/1727-report-americans-still-love-tv-more-than-anything-else.html

Posts from a month or so ago (below) include studies that indicate strong “second screen” use of mobile devices (throwing “tablets” into the mobile category; but, smartphones as well), as being used concurrently with television (with use of all devices peaking during Prime Time).

The opportunities to “bridge” those screens, through so-called “2nd Screen” apps and extended story experiences is what we at contentAI feel is an extraordinary opportunity.   In fact, this entire engagement format was why we started building our platform about 2 years ago….we didn’t know if or when the market would catch up…but, we’re pleased that it has (in a big way).

Is the money shifting to this area?

http://www.appmarket.tv/news/372-tv-applications-and-widgets-market-worth-over-1-billion-euro-by-2013.html

There are still structural issues with regard to ACR (automated content recognition) to more intuitively sync the screens – We have a few ideas on how that will evolve.  But, we’re technology agnostic in that regard as well, as we can adapt our platform to integrate with 3rd party APIs quite easily (Actually, we really like the YahooCTV SDK; though whether they’ll get a significant user base is the obvious question).

So, “stay tuned.”  On all of your screens.

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, Conversational AI, mobile marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Interactive Scene Engine (Another Way of Looking At Us)

June 4, 2012 by

Introducing our platform to an ad agency executive over the weekend, we spent a fair bit of time “defining” the applications that are built as “interactive scenes.”

Interestingly, that phrase is not one we’d used before, but, it helped (let’s call him “Bob”) Bob quickly understand the contentAI  platform in relation to his other work.

We often talk about “motivated characters” or “virtual characters,” but, what we really do is create “scenes” that both the virtual character and the End User play-out.

So, are we really a “scene engine?”

Yes, in part.

But, we’re still a “virtual character” engine as well.

There are both simple and complex avenues to apply our platform.  We think of “character only” as being akin to chatbots who access a database of deep information via Natural Language Processing.

But, our interactive scenes are 3-dimensional, including  depth (same as “character” – deep data and knowledge), coupled with width (alternative paths) and length (all “scenes” have a beginning, middle and end)

I suspect we’ll start using “interactive scene engine” in some of our description phrasing more frequently.  It seems easier  to grasp than “motivated characters.”

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Transmedia Content and AI, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

“My Tooth Fairy Chat” App Released

May 14, 2012 by

Based on the success of our annual MY SANTA TALK app (mobile web, Android and AppUp), we decided to add a year-round children’s app to our library…

…MY TOOTH FAIRY CHAT is now on Android, with Updates to additional devices posted below.

Now in the Google Play Android Store

Also in INTEL’s AppUp Store: http://www.appup.com/app-details/my-tooth-fairy-chat

And in Amazon’s App Store plus Kindle Fire: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0084F1PHK

If you review children’s apps, please CONTACT US for free access.

Filed Under: Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , ,

Second Screen Apps – Extending Story & Character

April 27, 2012 by

Over the past 5 weeks, it seems that not a day goes by when some new study emerges specific to how “the audience” for television are already engaged in concurrent, multi-screen engagement (see blog posts below with links)  – Just not with the 2nd Screen content being related to the television (email, social networks, essentially communication is #1 use).

So, after about 15 years of the term “convergence” being bandied about, the audience are converged.

But, the content is lacking.

Each study talks to the massive growth opportunity for 2nd Screen apps.

We have little doubt there will be a mad-rush to fill in this gap with aggregated content apps and superfluous layers of data streamed to the 2nd Screen.

But, what interests us (and where the contentAI platform is perfectly well suited), is to create personalized, extended story experiences on the 2nd screen that are indigenous to the television screen content.

For drama or any fictional content, the audience are already in a “suspension of disbelief” mode, as they are emotionally engaged in characters and story.  Creating seamless experiences that are personalized and interactive, that deepen the engagement in the television content, is where this all gets fascinating.

 

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, Friendly machines Tagged With: , , , ,

Even the MPAA Says “Get Connected” – It’s a Multi-Screen World

April 25, 2012 by

The MPAA are traditionally behind-the-curve (let’s say, “historically” on many issues).

So it was interesting to see this statement from their CEO, Chris Dodd:

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/piracy/mpaa-ceo-hollywood-must-get-connected-27074

“Our business has become much more than simply making a great movie and inviting our customers to a theater,” Dodd said. “This new age of the connected consumer is here, and so we must adapt.”

Driving more movie attendance through deeper audience connections with story and character (from their 2nd Screens) is our favorite topic.

Now, the issue for “Hollywood” really focuses on the Unions and their abilities to adapt to incorporate Talent (Writers, Directors, Actors) across multiple screens beyond “marketing” spends, but where it’s inherent to the Production and story itself.

*****

UPDATE:  Some additional Nielsen numbers on “2nd Screen” concurrent engagement with TV:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/27/report-69-of-tablet-owners-watch-tv-and-surf-the-web-simultaneously/

According to Nielsen, 45% of tablet owners watch TV and use their tablet together at least once a day. A whopping 69% say they do so at least several times a week and only 12% say they never do this.

 

Filed Under: 2nd Screen Tagged With: , ,

Conversational Writing – Defined

April 24, 2012 by

We’ve always referred to our platform as “conversational…” – Which has lead to discussions about how we define (primarily) mobile text based engagement.  Our apps are “conversational writing” based.  i.e. “conversation” does not require voice/speech.

It was terrific to read a NY Times story about “Conversational Writing” here:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/talking-with-your-fingers/

Where the author defines “Conversational Writing” as being different from “writing.”  There are some great quotes, one take-away is:

 Not surprisingly, then, the earliest writing was based on the way people talk, and that meant short sentences with a direct logical throughline. Researchers have found that even educated people today speak in word packets of 7 to 10 words a pop.

 

How does this related to “connected TV” experiences?

Nearly 1/2 of the Audience are engaged in “conversational writing” on their 2nd Screens while consuming television.

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9685-the-five-cs-of-connected-tv

So, how about directing their “conversational writing” to include the on-screen characters?

Filed Under: AI conversation, Conversational AI, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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