Brief:

• Moët Hennessy USA, the importer and marketer of luxury wines and spirits, created a skill for Amazon's Alexa voice-activated digital assistant, per a news release made available to Mobile Marketer. The "Bottles and Bubbles" skill aims to help consumers become champagne connoisseurs, just in time for New Year's Eve.

• By saying "Alexa, open Bottles and Bubbles" to an Alexa-enabled device like an Echo smart speaker or the Alexa app on a mobile phone, consumers can engage with six areas of conversational and educational content. The skill provides basic information about Moët Hennessy brands and suggestions on how to enjoy champagne with food pairings and social gatherings. It also has champagne-inspired playlists and ambient sounds for a "perfect champagne moment."

• Creative agency Rehab Digital developed the "Bottles and Bubbles" skill, which must be enabled through the Alexa app or on Amazon's website before using it. This skill is currently only available in the United States. 

Insight:

Moët Hennessy is among the brands that recognize the potential growth in the market for voice-activated digital assistants like Apple's Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Samsung's Bixby. Just as the dawn of the commercialized internet triggered a rush to build websites, and the growing popularity of smartphones led to a massive push into app development, voice-activated platforms are becoming another key way to interact with consumers and reach them directly in the home. A recent Juniper Research report forecast that marketers' ad spending on voice-powered digital assistants will reach $19 billion by 2022.

But digital assistants do face challenges in overcoming the reluctance of some consumers to use voice-activated devices. More than half of people in the U.S. said they don't use digital assistants and don't find them useful, according to a survey by researcher Ovum. Adoption of the technology is expected to grow, though, to 7.5 billion active devices by 2021 from 3.6 billion last year, its forecast shows. Those devices will include smartphones, tablets, wearables and smart home devices, among others.

Moët Hennessy's activation demonstrates the ways in which marketers can leverage these technologies to deliver on the type of practical and educational value that can be difficult to achieve with straightforward brand advertising. The effort is timely and fun coming ahead of the New Year's Eve holiday, when plenty of consumers are sure to be uncorking champagne and other spirits and might be looking for suggestions. 

The food and beverage category has been quick to capitalize on the surge in voice search as a means to offer on-brand recipe suggestions, tips and other forms of content.