Intelligent Packaging — Extending Engagement to Mobile

February 8, 2011 By

The buzz words “intelligent packaging” are bandied about a bit.  Typically, what we see is that “intelligent packaging” means giving the User/Consumer additional information.  In some cases, it also includes a social recommendation engine.

However, our approach is that “intelligent packaging” should include, but be more than, just additional information – It should engage the User at a conversational level; allowing the User/Consumer to become part of the brand story itself.

Information informs.

Story sells.

This is where the 3-dimensional narrative engine we’ve built comes into play — User/consumers are always “driven forward,” however there are many paths “forward.”  And, Users can access “information” through our “backstory” engine, before returning to the progressive conversation.

“Intelligent packaging” truly connects when it does so on an emotional level, not just data/information.  This is where personalization and contextual relevance and “understanding” come into play.

OK — Just wanted to define “intelligence packaging” from our perspective — it’s bigger than “more information.”

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

The Cereal Aisle: Flashing Lights or Conversation?

February 1, 2011 By

This post caught our attention:

http://calorielab.com/news/2011/01/13/fulton-innovation-and-ecoupled-ces-2011/

Specifically, the “light up cereal boxes” of the “future!” — This envisions (delivers) a future where visual, digital triggers are even more all-pervasive than the vision of BLADE RUNNER.

It’s cool.  It’s clever.  It will get my attention once or twice — But, end of the day, it’s NOISE.  I will learn to filter it out.

“Conversation” is quieter.  It is opt-in.  It is signal, not noise.

It can be like a whisper, where someone must lean-forward and actually engage.

Now, if the conversation could trigger a light-show or indoor fireworks show, perhaps that would be the best of both worlds — but, we continue to believe that in-store (to mobile) should start with a conversation.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, Mobile, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Year. . .New Features. . .Conversational Mobile Marketing Evolves

January 28, 2011 By

That was quite a lag in blog posts. The Holidays took over (after an exceptionally busy December, in part, due to the consumer-facing MySantaTalk app); then, CES (yes, lots of tablets and 3D TV, but, in general, not the most exciting CES; some work in mobile health felt pretty substantial and game changing).

What’s up here?

We’ve realized that the perception of our platform is more “how do we compare to apps?” than “how do we compare to text messaging?” — The inclusion of rich media elements in our content, really, remove us from the text-communication space, even though that is the core of our platform.

To that end, we are in the process of enhancing the overall design and user navigation of the mobile web interactive chat experience. Watch for updates throughout Q1.

In the interim, as MySantaTalk prepares to take a rest for the year — There’s a short, mobile web, demo that features our favorite fictional brand character: Capn’ Wag — As a demo of fun, intelligent packaging for kids, we hope you enjoy. Access is found on: http://contentai.com/demos/capnwag Or, just scan the QR code below:

Filed Under: AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Mobile, mobile marketing, QR TAgs, Virtual Agents, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Conversational AI Holiday App Gets a Shoutout – My Santa Talk

December 12, 2010 By

We appreciate the post from @textually for our MY SANTA TALK property that’s in the public wild’s for the Holidays.  To clarify, only the URL is sent via SMS.  The interactive chat and story is mobile web only (so that it includes graphics and video)…

Here’s the Link and the write up:

Thanks Emily!

Filed Under: AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, holiday mobile marketing, Mobile, mobile marketing, QR TAgs, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conversational AI – Wide Ranging Applications

December 7, 2010 By

Today was one of those days when the human conversations about “conversational AI” spanned a very wide range.

Interestingly, our MY SANTA TALK application works well as an example for both intelligent packaging and brand customer relations as well as for conversational mLearning, particularly ESL (See our ESL initiatives at:  http://ESLai.com).  Our SHOPGIRL application also is a terrific example of a very concise engagement that can work for both commercial and educational applications.

As we see sessions running from 8-19 minutes on the MY SANTA TALK app,  clearly, we’re engaging and holding the user’s attention.  Our original projections were that 5 minutes would be the maximum mobile web engagement period.  We were wrong.

We haven’t posted anything recently about mLearning — Our ESLai.com site has not been migrated over to mobile web applications — but, one of the primary reasons we embarked on mobile web delivery was around mLearning — the ability to incorporate graphics and video easily within the interactive chat creates a complete learning experience.

More updates soon.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conversational AI – Deep Mobile Engagement

November 24, 2010 By

While the conversations between Users and virtual characters are anonymous on our WAP chat delivery channel, we do review the chat logs (human review) to see how well the application is working and to see where there are areas for improvement.  The conversational logs also provide aggregated analytics.

With our consumer-facing http://mysantatalk.com application just reaching the marketing, one item we’re watching closely is the duration of each Session — MYSANTATALK is potentially much longer than most of our commercial, marketing applications — So, the obvious question is:  Will people engage with interactive mobile entertainment for more than a minute or two?

We are seeing an increasing number of Sessions running in the 8 minute range.  With some as high as 14 minutes.

With the prospect of “hiding” special videos or other valuable elements in conversation and encouraging multiple trips through each story, it’s possible we could increase this number.

Now, we’re all about quality, not quantity.  But, no one is going to hang in there for 10 minutes with something they don’t enjoy; so, we’re pleased to see the Sessions lasting longer than we’d projected.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, holiday mobile marketing, Mobile, mobile marketing, Transmedia Content and AI, Virtual Agents, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nice To Be Noticed – QR, Virtual Character and Chat “Firsts”

November 19, 2010 By

We really appreciate receiving feedback and suggestions — And, it’s also nice to get mentions about our efforts.  We recently launched our http://mysantatalk.com Holiday interactive chat/story — And, we also used it as our Holiday Greeting to friends, business associates and Partners.

We hadn’t really thought about this being a “first” in terms of using QR for a Holiday greeting – thanks Helen for the mention — coming from one of the most innovative digital storytellers out there, it’s appreciated…

Looking for the QR Tag?

Happy Holidays.

Filed Under: AI and Twitter, AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, holiday mobile marketing, mobile marketing, Transmedia Content and AI, Virtual Agents, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Conversational AI + Interactive Story Structure: The Basics

November 14, 2010 By

As a follow up to queries with regard to “how is the contentAI platform different?” – The basics are that the contentAI platform converges conversational AI (Natural Language Processing “NLP”), machine learning, pattern recognition, session management and personalization with a “STORY STRUCTURE.”

“Story” means that we start at “A” and end at “Z.” The path through may be non-linear, but, the User is guided to progress through the engagement and reach one (often of many) possible endings.

For mobile Users, this is ideal. The application has contextual awareness of the user (physical location; item they are holding, etc.) and there is an “awareness” of the “scene” that is likely to be played out between the User and the application. This means that the AI characters do not need to be “generalists” or be able to carry on random conversations or answer obscure questions — they need to “motivate” the User to get through the story/engagement.

This can be as simple as providing “item location” data plus providing a relevant mCoupon, or as complex as delivering transmedia story elements from a motion picture to the mobile engagement.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Conversational AI, Introduction, Transmedia Content and AI, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Happy Holidays — My Santa Talk Unwrapped

November 10, 2010 By

It’s both a B2B “hello” — And, an example of mobile web entertainment for consumer-facing engagement:

http://mysantatalk.com

For direct access to the interactive narrative adventure story — complete with graphics, animation AND video.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, holiday mobile marketing, iPad, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

QR and 2D Mobile Early Adopters? Start @ Age 5. Target’s Holiday Campaign

November 3, 2010 By

This was a fascinating post in Barcode.com:

http://www.barcode.com/QR-codes-and-2D/how-target-is-making-history-with-toys-and-qr-codes.html

With regard to TARGET’S Christmas catalog and a 5-year old’s quick and easy engagement via QR codes.

The article is correct that this concept should “go further.”  It’s right in line with our interactive story and character engagement platform, where we have always seen kids as being a group who would take to mobile conversational stories readily.  So, hopefully, next year, these kind of campaigns will include the child being able to “talk to the toy,” or to a doll, via mobile, as well as find hidden videos and images.  Creating a more personal engagement (that is still private and secure) will add real value to the “play” experience associated with the toys.

Filed Under: Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, Mobile, QR TAgs, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »