How Diageo is using Amazon Echo and Google Home

The idea of the effort is to experiment with spoken calls to action in the emerging area of voice activation, said Benjamin Lickfett, head of digital innovation at Diageo.

“We realize that the voice ecosystem is in its early days, but we are determined to continue to test and learn and explore where we can use voice to create great experiences for our consumers,” said Lickfett.

The campaign, which launched launched on Sept. 5, generated more than 6,000 sample requests in its first week, according to Diageo. More than two thirds (75 percent) of available Bailey’s Almande samples were redeemed in the first 48 hours of the campaign, said Lickfett and 10 samples were redeemed per minute at its busiest time.

Numbers like that highlight why attribution tracking for voice campaigns will be tricky for a while. Diageo doesn’t know how many people who requested a sample went on to select Bailey’s Almande on their voice activated shopping list, for example.

Attribution at the moment is not possible if the user voice searches to a traditional web search result and then proceeds to purchase, said John Campbell, head of SEO at Roast.

“One area where there is clarity is if the journey is entirely conducted via a Google Action or Alexa Skill then it can be tracked,” said Campbell. “Out of the box analytics on those platforms allow you see how many users open the action or skill and which journeys are taken, so it should be technically possible to see how many users reach the ‘thank you page’ part of the application.”

The number of people in the U.S. to use a smart speaker will rise by 48 percent between 2016 and 2020, from 16 million to 77 million, according to eMarketer. Around 91 million, or 28 percent of the U.S. population, will use a voice assistant via any device at least once per month in 2018, according to eMarketer.

“Many big brands will start to test and learn ways of using voice and the various voice delivery platforms to aid sales and awareness, but we are still a way off from voice-only activated devices campaigns,” said Howard Bareham, co-founder of specialist audio media and creative agency Trisonic. “But there are immediate gains to be made, and not just in the mobile environment — the majority of voice interaction is in the home.”

Image courtesy of Diageo.