Ogilvy & Mather Pushes A.I. with Bots

‘Bots by Ogilvy’- an A.I. led model, has been designed in-house at Ogilvy & Mather UK by a team of tech & innovation experts to place conversational interaction at the forefront of a brand’s marketing roadmap. With A.I. now a permanent fixture on marketers’ agendas, the rise of Chatbots has emerged as the next pioneering step in consumer-facing artificial intelligence. Brands & advertisers are now looking to these digitally-engineered messaging bots to help remain at the forefront of the digital revolution – a development Ogilvy has led with its recent Chatbot launches both for PHE (Stoptober) & Mondrian London.

Grown from the demand to ‘make brands more human’ the Bots by Ogilvy model will allow brands to develop bespoke Chatbots and connect with customers through opt-in, direct conversations across a range of messaging platforms, delivering data and insight in real-time back to the brand. 

The bot framework, created in-house, saw its first model to market rolled out earlier this month for client PHE to coincide with their Stoptober Campaign. The Facebook-messenger bot was created to provide around the clock instant practical support & daily messages to smokers throughout the 28-day campaign. Most recently, Ogilvy were invited by Mondrian London to create a Chatbot for guests that would act as both a tour-guide & showcase the hotel’s vast range of hospitality & entertainment services on offer. 

Led by James Whatley, Planning Director - Innovation & William Godfrey, Digital Product Director, the customised A.I.  is a further nod to Ogilvy’s commitment to innovation following the recent announcement of Makerspace. 

James Whatley, Planning Director – Innovation: “Chatbots offer a huge opportunity for brands to provide utility, service, and branded experiences in a space where consumers are increasingly spending more and more time. Bots by Ogilvy is about capitalizing on this and creating smart solutions to client business problems. New stuff, made useful.”

Will Godfrey, Experience Designer: “Chatbots are in their infancy but with that we see the opportunity to define the space with great work for our clients. We are at the start of a sea-change in how consumers interact with brands and, with Bots by Ogilvy, we want to help our clients profit from this.” 

The birth of Ogilvy’s first Chatbot (Ogilvy Roombot) was developed following the agency’s move to Sea Containers, having sought a way to better connect employees and clients with the new building & its various benefits. With over 75 rooms, across 13 floors, servicing 1800 people, the Ogilvy Roombot was built to allow staff and clients to confidently navigate their way throughout the building, & remain up to date with various events & initiatives within the agency.