Saatchi & Saatchi Creatives Unveil How AI Chat Bot Will Spark Summer Spirit In Gen Z
British summer may be a washout this year but that’s no excuse for not getting out and embracing summer living. Saatchi & Saatchi is behind a new campaign for Deutsche Telekom which encourages gen z to actively pursue activities with friends and make memories away from the screen.
The team created an AI chatbot for roll out across Whatsapp groups in Europe, infiltrating the chat with witty comebacks to friends’ poor excuses. The No Excuses bot creates automated responses that roast friends for making excuses to not join group events while also providing them with the opportunity to win tickets to various popular European festivals.
The idea is to get young people to confront their behaviour and make them more inclined to make the most of their summer and commit to making plans with their friends. We spoke with Saatchi & Saatchi senior creatives Alex Kosterman and Avani Maan as well as The 5Gs’ executive producer Emma Jackson to find out what led to its production, why Whatsapp was the right platform for the campaign, and where the value exchange lies.
The No Excuses bot can be downloaded here.
LBB> What was the brief that you received from Deutsche?
Alex & Avani> Last year, we had the insight that you can’t grow up if you’ve never been young. Gen z were feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders and acting like adults, so we put on a series of parties allowing them to have a break, for once. This year, we wanted to continue the mission – giving them a summer to remember, forever.
LBB> And what inspired the thinking behind the No Excuses AI Chat Bot?
Alex & Avani> Gen z love making plans, but they’re terrible at following through – on the day, it always falls down with 'my cat’s sick', 'I have gym', 'I’m feeling meh'. They prioritise everything over going out and having a damn good time. Well, you’re not going to live an exciting life if you do that… So we decided to make ‘meh’ the enemy.
LBB> Why did you decide to roll out the campaign on WhatsApp, given that it's not a popular space for brands to operate in?
Alex & Avani> Whatsapp isn’t easy to operate in because, let’s be honest, most people don’t want brands in their WhatsApp chats. But it’s exactly where gen z are making, and bailing on, plans so it felt like we had to be there. To do well in Whatsapp, you’ve got to act like the best version of yourself, especially as a brand – you’ve got to be on-point tonally, helpful and generous – it’s the only way to get into and stay in the chat.
LBB> Did you encounter any difficulties throughout the campaign's execution and how did you work around them?
Emma> The complexity in the project was twofold. Taking the creative ambition and turning it into a prompt that operated the bot’s personality and core functions was a wild ride. We suspect we might hold the record for longest functioning prompt! The technical challenges, outside of artificial intelligence wrangling, mainly involved building the WhatsApp connector from scratch. To give you an idea, most code has references that have been written well before inception. We either had zero references, or references that were mere hours or days old – or only vaguely existed in academic or student whitepapers. And all whilst ensuring compliance and data security.
LBB> The campaign aims to inspire gen z to make the most of their summer, how open-minded and receptive have you found them to be? Tell me about the process of making the app engaging and actually useful for this demographic.
Alex & Avani> One thing we figured out quite early was that gen z wanted the bot to make fun of them, which it can do, but they also wanted it to be helpful. They want to know about free events in their cities, and where to go to have a good time. We forget that when you’re young, you're still discovering nightlife – and that’s what this bot helps young people do. We also know that gen z struggle to say what they feel sometimes, and with the bot – they don’t really have to. It’s a lot easier to add a bot to your chat than to say to your mate, “you suck, stop cancelling on me".
On top of the bot, we’ve also put on a series of events to make this summer one to remember – which kicked off with the Sugababes playing a Späti, a German corner store, in a surprise pop-up. The streets were absolutely rammed with some of the coolest Berlin kids I’ve ever seen, and when you think about the fact that it’s a party put on by a telco… It’s mad.
LBB> The app uses humour to roast gen z (hopefully) into action, why did this feel like the right approach to take?
Alex & Avani> Can you imagine how awkward it would be if it wasn’t funny? Nobody would add it to their chat. Only brands with solid banter can break into the sanctity of the group chat.
LBB> What role do you think experiential marketing plays in today's market and how effective do you think it is among gen z?
Alex & Avani> It’s not about immersing people in a brand (something that only marketing people want), it’s about a value exchange. We will give you the best experiences we can, and you will probably like us if they’re good. I think Gen Z understands this trade, and respects brands who show up to do things in the world, which essentially is what experiential is.
