The Challenge

Having launched one of the first Alexa skills “The Bar” with Voxly Digital in 2018, alongside a range of other branded chatbots, Diageo has a strong record of innovating new ways for consumers to interact with their brands.  In 2021, the Global Digital Innovation team were looking to establish a longer-term strategy for Voice. They wanted a partner to help them navigate the rapidly shifting landscape of Conversational AI and stay ahead of the curve. 

The Approach

Over several months, we worked closely alongside the Diageo team to develop a robust strategy and pilot roadmap to help them navigate the next 3 - 5 years of Conversational AI.  Considering 4 x key areas of Voice (Search, Commerce, Media/Advertising & Experiences) this project pulled together:

• Stakeholder interviews and workshops; pulling together brands, data, legal, technical and innovation leads.  
• User surveys and research.
• Competitor benchmarking.
• Platform & Technical reviews & forecasting.
• Voice Search Visibility Audit.
• Financial and Business Case.

The Results

The final strategic output was an approved Global Strategy which included:

• Summary of key findings (internal & external).
• Strategic principles and market-entry points.
• A robust test and learn roadmap and number of prototypes.
• Clear recommendations for organisational & funding support to ensure success.

These helped unlock programme budget and established Conversational AI as a key focus area moving forwards for Diageo. In parallel, we also built clear stakeholder alignment across the business and support for the roll out of a number of pilots in 2022+.