Hello Ara launches user engagement tool
October 11, 2022
Hello Ara, which conducts research through conversations rather than surveys, has officially launched a 360-degree AI-based methodology called #Explore, to help brands engage “future users”. A discussion of the approach won the best paper award at the ESOMAR 2022 conference, held in Toronto last month.
South Africa-based Hello Ara uses a wide range of approaches – including signs, social media, SMS, WhatsApp and QR codes – to allow people to express themselves freely in their own words, chat and share voice notes, photos or videos. The company uses custom chatbots to enable these conversations at scale, with this and TikTok analyzed using structured and unstructured natural language processing tools and image AI tools, “rooted in human understanding”.
The new #Explore combines traditional research techniques with separate AI systems for image, audio and text, to provide in-depth understanding for audiences over 30. The methodology provides in-depth thematic analysis as well as practical actions on how to be more relevant and ambitious.
Hello Ara co-founder Karlien Kriegler (pictured) explains that #Explore uses a personality-based chatbot, Kia, to hold conversations with social media users aged 18-24. During these conversations, Kia also gathers “handfuls” of influencers that respondents follow, with a focus on TikTok. TikTok videos are then uploaded, and then several AI techniques, including audio analysis, speech and image analysis, are used to identify successful, category-specific communication opportunities and patterns . Kriegler adds, “It feels like TikTok is shining a light on how this young audience expects to be communicated. However, despite the use of AI, we ensure that human understanding is always at the heart of the analysis”.
Website: www.helloara.io .
All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, unless otherwise noted.
