BACKGROUND
Welcomed into Indian homes
Within 4 years of coming to India, Amazon’s Alexa voice service and Echo devices have made their way to millions of Indian households. Echo devices have largely dominated the Smart Speaker market in India with a whopping market share of 79%.
The case of mistaken identity
More than 50 thousand commands are recognized by Alexa. She can help you shop, guard your house while you're at work, even become your personal fitness trainer. But there is one command she is known for more than anything else - to play music.
A brand analysis identified that users viewed Alexa, as less of a Smart Speaker, and more as an assistant to play music. It was a sheer waste of Alexa’s talent.
OBJECTIVES
Given the lack of knowledge of Alexa’s skills, our primary objective became to make people aware of all the amazing things Amazon Alexa and the Echo device can do that would make your life easier. We thus needed to showcase Alexa’s varied skills and commands.
To make sure people adopt these commands in their daily lifestyles, it was also essential to create relevance by sharing true use-case scenarios of Alexa. For this, we needed to be able to share the real-life experiences of ardent users.
Our third objective was to highlight Alexa’s personality. Not only make her a part of household conversations but adding a family member who was making the home “smarter.”
Lastly, we wanted to clarify the misconception that building a smart home is technical, difficult, and expensive for a common man.
The Conception of Friday’s With Alexa
It was clear from the onset that the audiences were immune to yet another scripted showcase of Alexa’s skills. The best way to explain someone Alexa’s capabilities was to sit down with them and explain candidly. We chose to do exactly that, but on Insta LIVE.
With persistent lockdowns in 2021, Fridays had lost their charm, with people unable to go out and entertain themselves. We put an end to boring Fridays and introduced #FridaysWithAlexa, bringing back the fun quotient of a Friday evening.
The Host, the Guest, and Alexa!
India’s two well-known comedians, José Covaco and Abish Mathew took over Alexa’s Instagram handle every Friday for 11 weeks, to host a talk show with their invited guests. Both José and Abish were avid users of Alexa, which was a key factor that played into their selection because we wanted our host to be able to answer any question the guest or audience would ask them about Alexa.
Our 11 guest influencers were Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) on Instagram and who our TG listened to the most. They came from various categories and lines of work - from celebrities, chefs, millennials, and comedians to bring in varied audiences to our Insta LIVE. These 11 guests were curated keeping in mind their audiences' affinity for automation, tech & devices.
11 Hours of Pure & Unscripted, yet Branded Content!
Hard sells are quite a turn-off. Our agenda was simply for the rotating host (José / Abish) to sit down with their guest for an hour, and have candid conversations that included their real-life experiences with Alexa, both funny and productive.
Some raved about the utility of the device, while others were glad to have a companion. One of our guest celebrities, who is also a full-time mother, was just in awe of Alexa's power in teaching her kids new things. Some spoke on how they dived deep into automating their home with the help of Alexa, from their water heater, TV, computer, to even switching off their mobile chargers to increase the longevity of their mobile. Alexa could be the fair quiz master, even on a games night, and otherwise, quickly switch to DJing as the mood sets in for a party.
Alexa - your newest family member
Instead of talking about the Echo device, we strategically decided to build upon Alexa's personality and capabilities as an active part of the home life. Building and supporting her personality through our LIVE shows, was to make her part of many household conversations. So, when one buys an Amazon Echo, they are not just buying a smart speaker, but adding a family member who was making the home “smarter.”
Through Fridays With Alexa, we successfully and candidly showcased multiple use-case scenarios involving Alexa. By bringing Alexa to life, her personality and charm shone through and delighted the audience.
A total of 235.8K Live Viewers attending Fridays With Alexa
Alexa’s IG handle got a good influx of audiences through our host and guest accounts, who liked the content and chose to follow the page. Our follower count increased from 4500 before the campaign to 10,006 post-campaign, which is a follower growth of 122%.
An Amazon report stated that, in comparison to the previous year, 2021 saw a 68% increase in the number of requests to Alexa. While the core request remained to play music there was a significant increase in audiences asking Alexa to do more than just play songs.
260K requests every day to control smart home appliances
170K queries per day about cricket, Bollywood and Indian festivals
11,500 questions every day about Covid, health and wellness related topics
Greeting Alexa good morning or good night 11,520 times every day
Asking Alexa ‘how are you?’ 10,000 times every day
7,200K requests every day to receive compliments from Alexa
Telling Alexa ‘I love you’ 5,700 times every day.
