FrieslandCampina wins Singapore Technology Excellence Award for its AI, chatbot integration

The company transformed its digital ecosystem to provide moms with a more connected, seamless journey.

Being a mother is never an easy journey, from juggling a career and chores to parenting and other commitments that demand immediate attention. The past few years of the pandemic have also brought new challenges for mothers, such as health concerns and remote work, which have ultimately changed their buying behaviours.

With moms having very little time for themselves, FrieslandCampina’s Friso has lent a helping hand with an exclusive offering that provides a personalised experience which can anticipate their needs and offer related resources that they might require along the way.

Friso updated the structure of its digital ecosystem to meet the needs of each mother, to enable greater personalisation. Through the Friso Hong Kong CX Innovation project, they created an NLP AI chatbot that integrates with the company’s online platforms, tools, data and content to provide mothers with a more connected, seamless journey.

Amongst the integrations done was to their CRM program called Friso Club, as well as other content that is relevant to mothers.

The Friso chatbot is accessible at any time, any day, so mothers can find solutions to their specific needs whenever they require it. For a more personalised experience, it even sends the moms relevant articles and offerings that shift based on the stage of motherhood that they are in or the growth stage of their baby.

Meanwhile, Friso also faced the issue of the rising cost of new user acquisition from paid media sources. For instance, there was a 54% increase in the Facebook cost per new lead in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the second half of 2021.

The company also had to address significant business pressure brought on by the pandemic’s border closures and cost inflations.

Despite these, Friso’s chatbot aims to improve user journeys based on individual needs so that it can increase engagement and improve the public’s perception of Friso as a brand. It provides recommendations to help mothers buy products that she needs directly from the Friso site and allows access to TrackEasy for tracing her tin’s journey from farm to store.

This initiative did come with some complications, especially since Cantonese and its colloquialisms are tricky to translate for a chatbot platform. Therefore, it took innovative tech, content, and training to make the Friso chatbot successful. The company looks forward to huge growth opportunities in the future, both in terms of scaling and adapting for other markets and using moms’ interactions to improve the chatbot further and create a more meaningful relationship.

The project’s initiative was able to achieve success by exceeding KPIs in sales conversions, new user acquisition (NUA), and engagement. Operational costs were also reduced thanks to the efficiency boost from the chatbot.

For its commitment to creating long-term relationships with mothers whilst providing quality services and products, FrieslandCampina was recognised for its initiative on AI and chatbot integration in the AI - Consumer Products (Non-Durables) category at the recently concluded Singapore Technology Excellence Awards.

The prestigious awards programme recognises exceptional companies in Singapore that are riding the digital disruption wave and leading the technological revolution and digital journeys of their respective industries.

The SBR Technology Excellence Awards is presented by Singapore Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2024 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in pursuit of technological innovation, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].