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Creating flash briefings and Actions

It’s still early days, but brands are starting to catch on to the idea of creating mar-
keting apps for smart speakers as a way to easily connect with their audience.
These apps come in the form of flash briefings for Alexa and the equivalent Actions
for Google Assistant. These apps take the form of short audio commands such as
“Alexa ask Grubhub to order food” or messages that users can hear by asking their
device to connect them to a company. For example, a local business can set up a
way for people to hear about their spa treatments.

These promotions can be placed in your emails, on home pages, or even in
YouTube videos. For example, when presenting a new product in an email you
could have a line of copy that says, “Hey Google, talk to <brand name>.” or “Alexa,
tell me about <brand name>.” When they do that, they hear more about the
product and can ask additional questions in a conversational way. There is less
competition for voice searches right now, so if you have an excellent idea for an
app, you might want to explore this option further.

Looking at brand examples

Some brands have created flash briefings or Actions to promote their brand with-
out explicitly advertising. These are apps that when invoked, provide information,
tips, and other messages.

For example, Unilever has created a recipe app called Best Recipes for Hellman’s
Mayonnaise (https://www.amazon.com/Unilever-Best-Recipes/dp/B01MRISWRV/
ref=sr_1_5?keywords=recipes&qid=1569528182&s=digital-skills&sr=1-5),
as shown in Figure 19-1.

REMEMBER MY NAME?

Companies are starting to experiment with ways to get their products in front of voice
searchers when they don’t specifically ask for a brand name. The Wall Street Journal
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-consumer-brands-dont-have-an-answer-
for-alexa-1519727401) reports on this problem that affects smaller or less well-known
companies. If users ask Alexa to put tissues on their shopping list, they are given one or
two choices. That’s great for Kleenex, who is likely at the top of the list, but bad for a
smaller brand. If users searched Amazon directly on screen, they would see a multitude
of brands and price choices.

CHAPTER 19 Disrupting with Voice Search 285