Voice Pilot Success: Key Learnings from the PG Victoria 50+ Pilot

In August 2018, P&G’s Victoria brand, Voxly, and Pilot 44 concluded a voice pilot targeting the 50+ age demographic. The goal was ambitious: to understand the capabilities of voice technology, leverage it for competitive advantage, and create a superior Alexa Skill that drives new registrations and data enrichment.

The pilot aimed to define how to best evolve brand marketing and what specifically drives user download, engagement, and retention.

Voxly were greatful to be selected by Pilot 44 as the product partner.

Key Learnings and Positive Results

Despite a lower-than-targeted user base (277 vs. 1,500), the analytics provided valuable insights. Crucially, the pilot demonstrated a strong ability to hold user attention:

Retention: The average one-month retention rate for "Real Users" was 6%, which, while shy of the 7.5% program target, impressively doubled the industry benchmark of 2.5–3.5%. The Tea Break skill (focused on games and entertainment) was the top performer, achieving an 8% retention rate.

Engagement: All three skills—Assistant, Tea Break, and Magazine—exceeded the Average Session Time (AST) target of 2:00 minutes. Tea Break (3:49) and Magazine (4:42) showed the longest ASTs, indicating that article and gaming formats are highly successful in driving engagement.

E-commerce Potential: The pilot uncovered a powerful pathway to purchase: users were four times more likely to add an item to their shopping list after listening to a product review. Furthermore, popular content like articles about "Home" and features like coupon requests (involved in up to 44% of Real User sessions) proved to be strong content drivers.

Persona Impact: Switching the skill's voice from Alexa to a Human Voice persona dramatically increased the Assistant skill's AST for Real Users by 185%, suggesting persona plays a vital role in connection.

Areas for Improvement and Recommendations

Not all metrics were favorable, pointing to clear areas for iteration. The skills achieved high user ratings (4.6 out of 5.0) and exceeded the target number of reviews, yet the Net

Promoter Score (NPS) was not favorable, with all three skills missing the target of zero. The lowest score was recorded by the Assistant skill at -41.5.

The following recommendations are for the next phase of work

Iterate on Proposition: The overall proposition needs refinement to move the NPS into a favorable range, focusing on user pain points identified in qualitative research.

Double Down on Engagement Drivers: Given their high performance, continue to prioritize games and articles (especially "Home" content) as key content pillars.

Optimize the Purchase Funnel: Focus on integrating product reviews earlier in the user journey to maximize the strong correlation with "Add to Shopping List" conversions.

Adopt Human Voice: Further testing and deployment of the Human Voice persona, particularly in transactional skills like Assistant, should be a priority to replicate the significant engagement gains seen in the pilot.