Author: Sapna Maheshwari / Source: New York Times
Kim Salt
Heading into last year’s holidays, marketers at HBO were eagerly experimenting with how to use technology like augmented reality and virtual reality to promote their shows. But then, celebrating with their families across the country, they watched as everyone from children to elderly aunts unwrapped smart speakers from Google and Amazon and started barking orders.
When they got back to work, the marketers had a new priority: Figure out how HBO, whose product lives on screens, could create a space for itself in the world of voice.
“We saw, partly because Amazon discounted the devices so deeply, that they exploded,” said Sabrina Caluori, HBO’s senior vice president of digital and social marketing. “Very quickly, we realized that we really needed to dig in.”
Google Home and Amazon Echo speakers do not run paid advertising, so brands have approached the devices in two ways. Some are trying to crack the code on search results and make sure that their products are mentioned first when users say they want to buy a specific item. Others are creating games that entertain people or tools that provide some sort of service (like directions for how to get a wine stain out of clothes) in order to build loyalty or name recognition.
The devices are still largely used for simple tasks, like checking the weather or listening to the news. But marketers want to be ready for the future, particularly as the voice assistants that power speakers are built into products like appliances and TVs.
HBO has created applications — known as “skills” on the Amazon Echo devices — to promote its shows and characters. This year, it introduced Westworld: The Maze, a choose-your-own-adventure-style game for superfans of “Westworld.” (A dramatic trailer for the game ends with a narrator intoning, “Alexa — open Westworld.”) More recently, it introduced a skill starring characters from its new show from Sesame Workshop, “Esme & Roy,” in which children can use the speaker to answer questions and play along. Both games can be played without the aid of screens.
Unilever has created a recipes skill under its Hellmann’s label, while Procter & Gamble has introduced features from Tide and Oral-B. Those using the Tide application can ask Alexa how to remove juice or grass stains from clothing, while Oral-B’s offers a tooth-brushing timer.
On Google Home, where the term “skills” is replaced by “actions,” Estée Lauder has one for personalized beauty advice and Disney has some games for children.
“The majority of our clients are now asking us for help with a voice strategy,” said Abbey Klaassen, president of the agency 360i.
Marketers have been rushing to figure out where their brands fit in a world populated by voice assistants and smart speakers. While questions remain about privacy and security, data from Comscore in October showed that more than 20 million homes in the United States, or 22 percent of those with Wi-Fi, use the devices. By 2022, more than half of American homes will have a smart speaker, according to Juniper Research.
“We’ve hit the point where the majority of our clients are now asking us for help with a voice strategy,” said Abbey Klaassen, president in New York of the agency 360i, which works with HBO. “It’s gone from an interesting kind…
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