Samsung is trying to catch up to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa by introducing Bixby. Bixby was already in development when the Samsung S8 came out but the personal assistant wasn’t officially rolled out until July 18th. Until the 18th, all that users could do by activating the Bixby button was see cards (i.e. snapshots of various apps such as Twitter or the Weather Channel).
Since Bixby is so new, the software is still learning. Because Bixby is likely to make mistakes, Samsung requests that users be patient as Bixby learns to adequately reply to requests. So how will Bixby learn? Through interactions with users.
How does Samsung entice S8 owners to use Bixby?
Samsung is offering Samsung Rewards points to users the more that they use the personal assistant (i.e. when the user levels up). Users can earn a varying number of XP based on how significant the interaction is. If a user asks Bixby to do something and it completes the task well, the user can rate that interaction as “Great!” This earns the user one XP. If the software fails at the task, the user can click the “Teach Me” button and specify what they wanted Bixby to do. Sometimes, Bixby just doesn’t hear the words correctly. In that case, users can manually correct the words for future uses. This earns users 5 XP. If Bixby heard you correctly and simply didn’t do what the user wanted, the user can change the appropriate action and earn 10 XP. When a user gets a specific amount of XP, they level up and earn Rewards Points. In essence, Samsung is enlisting its users to do free user testing.
How does this campaign do double duty?
Through this marketing program, Samsung is not only getting free user testing and increasing customer loyalty but it is also promoting its Samsung Pay app. In order to redeem Rewards points, the user must open Samsung Pay. Connecting Bixby to Rewards Points promotes Samsung Pay exposure and raises brand awareness for the software. Ideally, this scheme will increase the amount of Samsung users using Samsung Pay.
How could the campaign have increased Bixby consumer loyalty?
In my opinion, giving more points to users who interact with more apps using Bixby could have been one way to show users that using the software will simplify their life. The more the users interact with various apps, the more aware they are of what the software can do with the app.
I played around with the Bixby commands and have noted the more amusing ones below. Have you been able to find other ones?
