DETROIT -- As part of its Find New Roads media campaign, Chevrolet has enlisted the cognitive capabilities of IBM’s Watson computer platform to develop the Chevrolet Global Positivity System (GPS)—technology that evaluates users’ social-media presence to gauge their positivity.
And in a move that shows how the concept could point to the future of convenience-store loyalty programs, the automaker took over three gas stations to illustrate how it works …
Using IBM’s Watson Personality Insights and AlchemyLanguage interface, GPS builds a detailed personality snapshot based on criteria that includes a social-media analysis to evaluate sentiment and character.
It also issues a score based on Watson’s sentiment analysis capability, which provides an interpretation of the positivity of consumers’ Facebook and Twitter posts. The platform also identifies each person’s most positive and least positive posts, as well as his or her most frequently used positive words. The snapshot highlights a person’s top three personality traits, such as excitement and self-expression.
The snapshot then guides a consumer toward activities that would appeal to those traits, tying into Chevy’s promotion “to help guide users toward activities for their next adventure,” such as touring a museum or taking on a new hobby.
“One of the key pillars of cognitive computing is the ability to surface valuable insights. People may use those in varying ways—to engage with a customer, to make a business decision or to reveal hidden value,” said Stephen Gold, vice president for IBM Watson.
To demonstrate how GPS works, Chevy took over three gas stations across the globe to inspire positivity among customers.
It gave customers in Buenos Aires, Cape Town and New Orleans the chance to pay for gasoline with positivity by experiencing Chevy GPS. It gave each customer free gasoline based on his or her positivity score—the higher the score, the more free fuel he or she received.
“Partnering with a locally owned gas station was key to allowing tighter integration into the pump itself,” Craig Daitch, senior manager of social media and brand communications for Detroit-based Chevrolet told CSP Daily News. “We built a form-fitting shell around the pump to hide existing graphical design and with a single touchscreen interface we replaced all user interaction. After our functional ‘hero’ pump was constructed, we dressed the remaining pumps, as well as the station, to blend into the overall aesthetic of the Chevrolet brand. Through a private wireless network, the pump transmits to our server rack out of view, allowing communication with IBM Watson and monitoring of the entire system remotely.”
“In addition to the technical and graphical work, we worked closely with station employees to guide drivers through the experience and to ensure the proper amount of gas was received,” he said.
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