In August 2016, we leveraged Facebook’s newly launched live chat API – to build Kamal, our Messenger Chat Bot. A global first within the automotive industry!

Through his virtual showroom, Kamal invited customers to visit, interact, and experience the forefront of auto innovation, taking the Mercedes-Benz lifestyle for a spin. By offering responses in the first person, he created an intuitive and reassuring sense that the user was having a conversation directly with one of our expert salesmen.

Utilizing an intelligent workflow within a conversational platform, Kamal provided an interactive bilingual medium for consumers to explore our full range of cars, receive personalized recommendations based on their driving preferences and instantly book a test-drive – all without the need to download or visit any additional apps/sites.

Launched using ‘Click to Message’ Facebook ads, Kamal was easy to use and already installed on the devices used by 82% of the region’s adults. With the push of a button, the community can start chatting with him in English/Arabic and start a single-thread history of communications, allowing him to become smarter with each interaction.

1) Offer a personalized car recommendation based on the consumer’s driving preferences,

2) Assist with booking a test drive, by collecting consumer’s contact/location information and sharing this as encrypted data directly with distributors across the region.

3) Allow users to opt in for notifications on new car launches/brand events.

4) Enhance engagement with a younger audience, by activating a gamified conversation when prompted with a secret code.

Furthermore, when sensitive situations would arise, he was able to seamlessly hand-off the conversation to a human agent at the agency, ensuring the user’s experience was never compromised.

Since Kamal’s launch in August 2016, he has gone through 120+ iterations, getting smarter with every build. His streamlined approach to community management has resulted in increased levels of accessibility, engagement and personalization - impacting both brand and business metrics.

Over the course of 7 months we have generated 50,073 conversations (unique chat bot sessions), an increase of 6,263% compared to the previous period and converted in-app chats/engagement into 2,008 test-drive bookings!

This innovative use of Messenger’s chat APIs has also helped the Mercedes-Benz Cars Middle East Facebook page achieve a 96% response rate, moving from a brand that 'typically replies within an hour' to brand that 'typically replies instantly.' A huge achievement when competitor brands average an 81% response rate and 'typically replies within a few hours,'

…Making Kamal the perfect salesman and an inspiration on the power of conversational-commerce in fueling brand experiences and powering business growth.