BLOCK WISH

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Case Film

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TitleBLOCK WISH
BrandS GROUP
Product/ServiceALEPA
Category A06. Retail
Entrant S-GROUP Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation SOK MEDIA Helsinki, FINLAND
Media Placement CARAT Helsinki, FINLAND
Production ACCENTURE Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 2 WÖRKS Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 3 BOUTIQUE Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 4 ZEELAND Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company HOK-ELANTO Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company 2 TBWA\HELSINKI, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Janne Lehtinen SOK Media VP, Head of Marketing Strategy
Teemu Äijälä SOK Media Design Principle
Krista Pihlhjerta SOK Media Marketing Strategist
Tuomas Ahola HOK-Elanto Director, Communications and Marketing
Merja Mustonen HOK-Elanto Director of Alepa chain
Annikki Rosander SOK Media Marketing Planner
Antti Rantalahti SOK Media Development Manager
Lauri Toivonen SOK Media SVP, Marketing
Markus Sillanpää SOK Media VP, Marketing Technology & Analytics
Jussi Lehtiniemi Accenture Technical Architect
Pinja Kuosmanen Accenture AI/ML Development
Tomas Linberg Accenture Head of Design
Arttu Laaksonen Accenture Sr. Technical Architect
Samu Teittinen Accenture Designer
Juha Halmesvaara Carat Finland Media Innovations Director
Kaisa Rissanen Carat Finland Account Manager
Kirsi Riipinen Carat Finland Operations Director
Jaakko Veijola Wörks Senior Art Director
Minna Kommeri Wörks Creative
Paul Nyman Wörks Creative
Tuukka Sinisalo Wörks Creative
Misha Lagerstedt Boutique CEO
Sallamaari Muhonen Netprofile Consultant
Juha Frey Netprofile Managing Director
Jyrki Poutiainen TBWA\Helsinki Chief Creative Officer
Erno Reinikainen TBWA\Helsinki Creative Director
Joni Furstenborg TBWA\Helsinki Associate Creative Director
Tuomas Perälä TBWA\Helsinki Copywriter

Why is this work relevant for Media?

Alepa Block Wishes transformed the way in which grocery stores determine their supply in Finland. With the help of a Facebook Messenger mobile phone chatbot, customers were able to request for their favourite products to be added to the shelves of their local Alepa store. By building Block Wishes inside of media that Alepa customers actively used. We managed to evolve from prehistoric Alepa store chain into a network of corner stores to hip local shops with unique selections.

Background

Increasingly personalized online shopping is changing the way we are wired. We have come to expect similar personalized experiences in the physical world as well. Even when buying our daily groceries. However, at Finnish brick and mortar grocery chain giants the service and selection have stayed the same for decades. Meanwhile switching staff for automatization and self-checkouts, the in-store experience in these stores becomes even more distant and impersonalized. The shoppers’ feedback and ideas go unheard down the empty aisles. S Group is Finland’s biggest grocery store chain. Their crown jewel – Alepa – takes pride in being the official corner store of local communities. Despite this, all Alepa’s and their selections, have traditionally been almost identical. To change the status quo, Alepa started a drastic customization of their brick and mortar to reflect the lifestyles and flavor palates of their surrounding communities.

Describe the creative idea/insights

Although Alepa offer most day-to-day grocery products, the stores are unable to stock every imaginable product in their selection and the absence of single missing product (i.e. the favoured coffee or oat milk brand) can result in losing the customer to other local suppliers. To tackle this issue, we introduced “Alepa Block Wishes” – a hyperlocal digital initiative and a logistics and production-line turnaround. With the help of a chatbot, customers could request their favorite products to be added on the shelves of their local Alepa straight from their mobile phones Messenger app.

Describe the strategy

All neighborhoods have their own flavors and unique mix of people. To match their grocery needs we wanted to give the power back to community and let them tell us what products to have in each store and stop guessing. We knew from the past that quiet Finns don’t feel comfortable asking anything from the shop personnel if they are not 100% certain what they are wishing. To lower the bar we wanted to create solution which allows Finns easily make their product wishes without talking to anybody. With this insight we built our solution "Alepa Block Wishes" inside of one of the most installed mobile apps - Facebook Messenger. To spread the word about the Block Wish we used our own channels: stores, personnel, customer emails with little help of bought media (mainly social media). From the day one the chat bot was instant success.

Describe the execution

We built Facebook Messenger chatbot with integrations to all S Group SKU level product data and shop locations. Customers could wish any products they imagined from the bot, which then searched matching product from S Group databases using meta data and returned best matching products within milliseconds to the chat. From these products customers could send their Block Wish to closest Alepa based on their location. If needed they could send the Block Wish to any Alepa based on the name of the neighborhood. The logistics and product line changes were made automatically. 70% of the wishes were fulfilled within 48 hours. After introducing Alepa Block Wishes, the selection in each neighborhood started to change rapidly. Block Wishes became an instant hit. In a time of retail revolution, the previously prehistoric Alepa store chain managed to evolve into a network of corner stores to hip local shops with unique selections.

List the results

- Alepa has received 150 000 product wishes since starting the Block Wish - 70% of wishes were fulfilled within 48 hours - Block Wishes has been expanded to over 90 neighborhoods - In most active neighborhoods up to 25% of Alepa store selection is customised by Block Wishes. - 9 out of 10 customers say that Block Wishes are beneficial for them - 22% customers have made block wish and 56% are about to do so in the near future - Brand measures sky rocketed (Selection fits my needs +12 points; Alepa actively improves it services +9 points)