I was recently asked to contribute 250 words for an article on Virtual Assistants (and how they applied to Brands), in the wake of Mark Zuckerberg’s aim to create his own ‘Jarvis’.

Not surprisingly I got carried away, and even edited struggled to keep my thoughts to 500 words! Guardian, I’ll be more succinct next time, I promise!

The full article by Joanna Goodman, can be found here.

My printed contributions are below:

“The real value of a virtual assistant on any device is its ability to encompass a wide array of services and apps,” says Martin Hollywood, lead creative technologist at Razorfish London. “Then it listens and from that point it’s mapping data and contextualised machine learning.” As the digital assistant responds to requests, the focus shifts from brand promotion to brands responding to customers’ specific needs and preferences. 

…

The fact that a digital assistant is a potential platform for multiple brands raises opportunities and challenges for advertising and marketing. Hollywood uses the example of a connected fridge that includes the capability to re-order products as they run out. This could create challenges for competitor brands. “The connected fridge could suggest alternatives based on cost and rankings, but to make customers change their habits, brands will need to cut through the noise and remain authentic and relevant.” In the same way as post-purchase marketing messages can annoy customers, brands will need to differentiate between customers’ habits and brand loyalty.