Should Your Chatbot Have A Personality?

Today, we spend an average of 2 hours per day on social networks and messaging services. But even if we are technically competent people, we are looking for even more human interaction. The same goes for technology. The trend of artificial intelligence is spreading more and more. This is supported by the McKinsey report which states that in 2016, companies invested $ 26 billion to $ 39 billion in artificial intelligence.

This branch has an important effect on many branches of technology, including web design or application development, but especially on communication between brands and their customers. This is also one of the main reasons for the growing popularity of chatbots. Most brands do their best to create more and more customized bots.

By creating a chatbot, many focus primarily on the subject of a conversation. We think about the questions that need to be asked and the meaning of the answers. Many companies forget to adapt the scenario to a particular situation with a specific customer. Although customers are different, they have something in common: each requires a completely natural form of interaction with a brand. We are more likely to visit sites or applications where customer service is efficient and personalized.

Currently, the main problem with chatbots is that customers tend to treat them like robots and do not feel comfortable during their conversations. As a result, sometimes customer service that uses robots is not necessarily faster or more attractive than other methods.

Creating a chatbot with a specific character is easier said than done. However, this is a crucial point for modern brands. On the other hand, only chatbots with a clearly defined personality are able to prove their intelligence and convince customers to speak with them honestly.

Let’s take the example of a robot with a specific character. Once we had an experience with my colleague and I asked Siri if he was Cortana … Siri seemed to get jealous. Now, we know he does not like users to confuse him with another artificial intelligence assistant. In addition, Siri’s reaction is consistent with the Apple brand, known for its individuality. Therefore, we can certainly say that Siri has a character.

Best Practices for Creating a Chatbot with a Character

Before you start designing your chatbot, you must thoroughly analyze all the conversations that have taken place with your customers. Use all the sources you have, such as your live chat archive, contact center records and correspondence if necessary. The scenario of the basic conversation should be based on your customer knowledge. Otherwise, your bot will not be useful to them.

You must be fully aware of your customer’s language, questions and expectations. Choose the conversations where your customers were most satisfied with your customer service. The preparation of branches in a conversation tree must be based primarily on these positive experiences.

There are many ways to ask a chatbot to make a reservation for a movie at the cinema. But this number is unlimited and some keywords remain repeated. If the film is primarily aimed at young people, try adding a few common words for that target audience to the scenario.

Do not try to create a chatbot that completely imitates your brand image. The chatbot must be your brand ambassador but not a member of your board. By analyzing past conversations with your customers, you should know exactly what features your customers love most about their conversations with your customer service employees. Then, do your best to implement them in your chatbot scenarios. When you have designed your robot, check several dozen times how the conversation works. You must be completely sure that the scenario is correct before making it public.

By observing the progress of artificial intelligence, we can predict that in the near future, chatbots will be one of the main things to manage when creating a business brand. They even have the potential to replace the traditional “user interface”, becoming something more crucial for the interaction between brands and customers.

A Bot For a Cause

Oh my Bot! has created a Chatbot for the Singapore Red Cross along with Mullenlowe Singapore.

Singapore currently has over 41,000 seniors who live alone with no assistance and support. The Red Cross Community-Led Action for REsilience (CLARE) program helps this community by providing them medical and social support and sending volunteers that regularly check in on them and also respond to emergencies.

To ensure that the senior citizens can always reach out for assistance, Red Cross partnered with Social & Mobile Agency KRDS Singapore and MullenLowe Singapore to develop a Chatbot on Facebook Messenger.

The Chatbot asks the senior citizens how they are feeling at the start of the day. If the user responds with ‘I’m not okay’, the Chatbot automatically sends an email alert to the Red Cross CLARE program so the volunteers can reach them immediately. The Chatbot will also be useful for users to sign up as volunteers for the program.

The CLARE Bot is a great example of how technology and specifically Chatbots can be used in social service to lend a helping hand to those in need. Facebook Messenger being one of the most used platforms has the potential to uplift and empower senior citizens in Singapore using this program.

See the video that describes the project:

 

 

Case study: Chatbots in Bollywood

The agency Oh My Bot! Works with Fox Star Film Studios, a subsidiary of the 20th Century Fox giant and STAR, a film producer in India.
The Fox Star Studios gave Oh My Bot! To create an interesting concept of Bot seeking to engage the Facebook community on the occasion of the release of the film M.S Dhoni – The Untold Story.
So this is the first bot Messenger entertainment on the Indian market that is born! It is dedicated to the promotion of Mr.S Dhoni, The Untold Story, the film that all the aficionados of Cricket were waiting impatiently. This biographical film unveils the destiny of the incredible MS Dhoni, a passionate little boy born in Ranchi, India and became the most famous Captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
The wish of Fox Star Hindi, the representative of Fox Star Studios on social networks (Facebook and Twitter), was to create a strong commitment by looking for the biggest and most faithful fan of Dhoni!
Oh My Bot! Has developed a Chatbot on Facebook Messenger that interacts directly with users and confronts them in a duel during a quiz on the highlights of Dhoni’s life.

This Chatbot is currently hosted on Messenger and on the Facebook page of Fox Star Hindi and is accessible on PC and mobile. To play this game, users can directly write to “Fox Star Hindi” on Facebook Messenger or simply visit the Fox Star Hindi page and click “Message” to start a discussion with the bot. The Bot is a Trivia Bot ie it asks a suite of 10 questions to the users. With each correct answer, the user gains 6 additional points and with each incorrect answer, the user loses a wicket (one of the wooden stakes used at Cricket).

When the conversation with the Bot begins, he introduces himself quickly and proposes to start the quiz or to watch the trailer of the film M.S Dhoni – The Untold Story.

fox-star

If the user answers “Take up Quiz”, a catch phrase appears:

The questions posed to Internet users can also be related to the maximum number of points scored by MS Dhoni during an innings, or general cricket statistics or MS Dhoni’s teammates in his most important matches. At the end of the quiz, the user receives a personalized message with the signature of MS Dhoni announcing to him that it is his biggest Fan!

Users can then post this last message on their Facebook wall to share the game with their friends and see the trailer for the movie.

This Bot was accessible on messenger or by sending a message to the Fox Star Hindi page.