Conversational Marketing: 16 Examples of WhatsApp Messenger Marketing

Posted June 9, 2021

Here you can find WhatsApp marketing examples from all over the world. Campaigns from Adidas to Unilever – we took a closer look at 16 successful conversational / messenger marketing examples.

Since the end of WhatsApp newsletters, if not earlier, messengers like WhatsApp have been seen more as a dialog channel than for classic marketing. And that’s a good thing. Companies that succeed in transporting the service and dialog idea into messenger marketing campaigns are rewarded with high engagement!

Examples of Conversational Messenger & WhatsApp Marketing Campaigns:

1 ) How Adidas positions a soccer boot via WhatsApp

Adidas is helping amateur soccer teams in London solve the vexing problem of unreliable playmates or those who fall ill at short notice with its latest ‘Rent-a-Pred’ campaign. How? If a player cancels for a match, the undermanned soccer team simply sends a WhatsApp message to the ‘Rent-a-Pred’ WhatsApp hotline, answers a few basic questions about the location and time of the game, and then finds out on the morning of the match day whether they will receive “100% unfair support” from a substitute – fully kitted out and sponsored with Adidas Predator20 Mutator gear, of course. As Adidas substitutes, some of the best soccer players in town were recruited to support the undermanned team in a “100% unfair way” at the game. World star Kaká was also part of the substitute team!

💡 More info on the WhatsApp campaign: How Adidas positions a soccer shoe via WhatsApp

‘Rent-a-Pred’ Adidas uses WhatsApp

2 ) How Unilever launches a new detergent via WhatsApp

During the launch of Unilever’s new fabric softener brand “Comfort” in Brazil, the company was looking for a new and unique messenger marketing approach. With the help of the WhatsApp campaign “I’ll bring you back your beloved clothes,” sales increased 14-fold!

In August 2019, the brand put up more than 10,000 billboards around São Paulo with teaser messages and the WhatsApp number. Once interested consumers contacted the number, a chatbot called “MadameBot” gave advice on how to care for the clothes and introduced the new products using multimedia content such as audio messages and memes. At the end of the chat, customers received a 50% discount on the new products as well as free shipping.

3 ) How Nivea sends content via WhatsApp for Mother’s Day

NIVEA Switzerland developed a WhatsApp bot for Mother’s Day. Via pull (see point 2 at “ WhatsApp offers and content marketing for retrieval “), the target group could retrieve special content such as videos, pictures, sayings and forward them to friends and, of course, their mothers.

Nivea Messenger Marketing campaign for Mother’s Day

4 ) How ADAC reaches a new target group via WhatsApp

ADAC wanted to establish itself as “cool and helpful” in the young target group. What is the core of WhatsApp? Direct dialog, exactly! ADAC recognized this and created a real added value with this campaign. Users can ask ADAC all kinds of questions via WhatsApp that they would never ask their parents. A community team from ADAC answers the questions directly and personally in a 1:1 chat.

🏆 Silver in the category: “Digital Advertising Formats – Video Formats” at the “ German Digital Award ”

5 ) How Mercedes promotes the new X-Class via a chatbot scavenger hunt

Gamification is a popular and effective means of conducting brand building campaigns. Mercedes-Benz Austria Vans came up with something very special for this: A scavenger hunt over the course of a week with 8 questions all about the new X-Class – all via Facebook Messenger chatbot sweepstakes.

Every day, a question was asked about the new X-Class, which the user had to answer directly in the Facebook Messenger chatbot. If you had taken part in the chatbot competition on all days and successfully answered all the questions, you could put together your code. The code contained geographical coordinates that provided information about the final event location.

Brand building campaign by Mercedes in Germany

6 ) How the Federal Employment Agency used the “WhatsMeBot” and influencers to advise young people on choosing a job

Using a WhatsApp chatbot, young people were able to get quick and easy advice about their skills and interests.

The result:

After six weeks already more than 180,000 users
89% answered the questions to the end
64,000 participants sought direct contact with the Federal Employment Agency
20,000 young people were advised per day, more than usual in the whole year

7 ) How S-Bahn Munich used WhatsApp for a simple competition

“The most successful participatory campaign ever” The S-Bahn Munich modernized its mobility services. To communicate this to customers in a contemporary way, a three-month selfie campaign took place in which every participant who took a photo of themselves in one of the already modernized S-Bahn trains was entered into a prize draw. The selfie was sent via WhatsApp with the keyword “selfie” to a telephone number that was communicated in many trains and stops. In addition to the chance to win, the selfie was also displayed in a gallery on the S-Bahn Munich online magazine. In the first three and a half weeks, around 250 selfies had already been published.

Above all, the intuitive user interface on WhatsApp played a key role in the success of the selfie campaign.

Mario Schmid, DB Regio AG – S-Bahn Munich

S-Bahn Munich: Send selfies via WhatsApp and win!

8) How Hellmann’s Mayo is positioning itself as a practical helper in the kitchen (Brazil)

Users sign up for the WhatsApp service through the website and then receive a WhatsApp message from a human chef. The chef then asks them to send a picture of the ingredients they have on hand. He then gives advice on what to cook with these leftover ingredients (always in conjunction with Hellmann’s, of course).

Hellmann’s Conversational Marketing campaign is a bit older. Nevertheless, it is a good example of a successful Messenger Marketing campaign! We recognize all the ingredients of a successful WhatsApp marketing example here:

A real added value for the user
The added value consists not only of the product – but also of the brand’s “thought leadership” know-how
A use case, as it could also be the case in a WhatsApp chat among friends
A direct relationship between brand and customer
The use of media in the WhatsApp chat
The (further) utilization of the created content on all possible platforms

And the success of the WhatsApp marketing campaign proves Hellmann’s right!

Unilever – to which Hellman’s belongs – presented the Messenger Marketing results at the SM2 conference. The brand prompted 4 million people to visit whatscook’s website through various channels. This resulted in 13,000 people registering on the site. On average, users interacted with the cook for 65 minutes. Engaging with a brand for 65 minutes via WhatsApp is what we call true brand loyalty!

9) How Absolut launches “Unique Access,” a new vodka (Argentina)

Probably one of the very first conversational marketing examples is Absolut’s WhatsApp campaign. In 2013, Absolut wanted to sell limited edition vodka bottles. What could be more natural than throwing a big party! The company invited celebrities and reserved 2 tickets exclusively for the winners of their WhatsApp marketing campaign.

Idea: What stops people from going to a hip party? The Doorman. Absolutely Sven created the bouncer that people had to convince to get into the party (“Conversational” that is – just like in real life…). The video of this Messenger Marketing classic shows how creatively they did it!

10) How Netflix recommends suitable series via WhatsApp notification (UK & India)

Not exactly an example of Conversational Marketing, but you just watched Stranger Things or Dark on Netflix and are now up for something similar? What do you do? You send a WhatsApp message to your friends and ask for recommendations. But Netflix can do it even better and saves you the trouble! Since 2017, Netflix has been using this WhatsApp campaign in India and also in the UK.

Netflix’s recommendation algorithm is probably the best of all streaming providers. What could be more natural than to send you the next recommendations not via email (who actually reads emails anymore?) but via WhatsApp. Assuming a clean WhatsApp DSGVO opt-in, Netflix matches your number in the Netflix app with your WhatsApp number and then sends you the appropriate recommendations directly via WhatsApp notification .

11) “Hero of the Night” by Beck’s: a particularly creative example of a WhatsApp marketing campaign

Certainly not a normal and classic WhatsApp marketing campaign – yet it shows how you can deal with the topic Conversational the other way around!

We all have countless WhatsApp groups. Whether family, sports or even parties, bachelor parties or festivals. These chats unfortunately disappear then and yet again. How would it be if we could also give these legendary events the status they deserve and let them live forever as comics?

As a brand, we’re constantly looking for new ways to connect with our consumers. For me, “Heroes of the Night” is an app where a combination of technological know-how and creativity results in a highly relevant consumer experience.

Susanne Koop, Marketing Director Germany Anheuser-Busch InBev

With the “Heroes of the Night” app, Beck’s launched an initiative true to the claim “It’s only with you that it becomes legendary.” WhatsApp users could easily turn their chat history into a comic via the app and, for example, bring their legendary party night with friends back to life in a very special way. The app transformed each member of the group chat into a comic character and then synchronized the WhatsApp chats into the comic.

Serviceplan Campaign International , the parent agency of Beck’s, as well as Plan.Net Campaign and the Plan.Net Innovation Studio were responsible for the idea, conception and implementation of the “Heroes of the Night” app.

12) How Saffola helps you to lose weight with “Beat the Crave” (India)

When the little cravings come, every diet is difficult. The best thing to do then is to distract yourself. For example, with music, jokes or funny videos. This is precisely the use case that Indian nutri-shake manufacturer Saffola is targeting with its “Beat the Crave” WhatsApp marketing campaign.

Users enter their WhatsApp number on the campaign microsite and create an official #BeatTheCrave account. Then the user receives the first WhatsApp voice message. From then on, whenever this craving hits, the user sends a message to #BeatTheCrave and receives a motivational text or WhatsApp voice message. The content ranges from rap music to comedy sketches to expert advice from a celebrity nutritionist.

An impressive 950,000 requests were answered by the WhatsApp marketing chatbot and sales increased by 483% within the first month.

👉 Nestle’s OPTIFAST also launched a similar campaign: OPTIFAST’s Personal Coach is a six-week loyalty program via WhatsApp that accompanies customers on a daily basis as they lose weight, motivates them, and supports them with appropriate tips. We have already described this case in the article “ Conversational Commerce: Messenger along the Customer Journey ” – under the point “Loyalty”.

13) How Makro uses “Dear Santa” to send WhatsApp wish lists (South Africa)

Makro, an international department store chain, used WhatsApp for a Christmas campaign. Customers could simply copy their Christmas wishes from the website / online store via WhatsApp message and send them to Makro’s WhatsApp number. Makro raffled off valuable prizes among all participants. The department store chain was thus able to retain Makro customers who participated in their campaign and draw attention to their useful WhatsApp services such as “Check My Order Status”. Returning to the main menu after users registered for the Christmas WhatsApp giveaway encourages customers to engage with Makro via WhatsApp Business beyond the promotion and hopefully for their future customer service needs.

14) How Wish is boosting Christmas sales with a WhatsApp shopping chatbot

In order to offer Wish customers a playful orientation and inspiration, Wish has developed a WhatsApp chatbot for Christmas shopping together with MessengerPeople. Customers text the chatbot, who they are looking for a gift for and Conversational Marketing Chatbot Willi then sends matching gift ideas via WhatsApp with a direct link to the online store.

15) How Magenta TV advertises with innovative WhatsApp storytelling

“The world’s first interactive WhatsApp comedy series” by Telekom Deutschland GmbH. How can Christian Ulmen and Fahrid Yardim be established as testimonials with innovative storytelling and thus adequately extend the Magenta TV campaign in WhatsApp? Via WhatsApp, users become “eyewitnesses” to the chat between Christian and Fahrid, who talk about their advertising contract with Deutsche Telekom. Innovative media forms are used, from images to videos and voice messages. A chatbot also provides additional content.

16) How Amazon Music is keeping its TKKG radio play alive on WhatsApp

Over Easter 2021, Amazon, together with the publisher Europa, launched a new promotion around the popular characters of TKKG – a German Junior detective series of audio dramas and novels created by Stefan Wolf. It started with the radio play “TKKG – Das verfluchte Osterei” (TKKG – The Cursed Easter Egg), which is published exclusively on Amazon Music. The special highlight: Once the radio play is over, an interactive WhatsApp puzzle about the episode begins. The detective gang needs the help of the listeners to solve the case together in real time. In the WhatsApp Business API channel, in which the four famous detectives are also members, you become part of the TKKG X team, exchange clues and solve the mysterious riddles.

Successful WhatsApp Marketing Examples – powered by MessengerPeople Software!

If you adapt to the characteristics of WhatsApp and Co. and develop suitable and attention-grabbing campaigns for them – you can still run successful messenger marketing today!

All use cases that we have shown you in this article can be implemented with our software solution in compliance with the GDPR. It is immediately usable, browser-based and used by hundreds of customers every day. On the one hand, your company is available 24/7 for your customers on the most popular messengers like WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, Facebook Messenger, Viber or Telegram. On the other hand, you can process the requests of customers and interested parties from the various messengers centrally via our tool. In addition, you can use our software solution to implement push communication via Messenger Newsletter on channels such as Notify, Telegram or Apple Business Chat. Finally, the Chatbot Builder helps your company make the collection and processing of customer data as well as customer consulting more efficient and cost-effective through targeted automations via chatbot.

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Katharina Kremming

Always looking for new ways of communication I ❤️ PR & Marketing I Communications & Event Manager I My heart beats for traveling 🌍