How to Use WhatsApp for Business: 6 Creative Customer Case Studies

Hellmann's Whatscook: Increasing Customer Interaction

Mayonnaise is more than just a condiment – that's what Hellman's Brazil wanted consumers to understand. They started a creative WhatsApp campaign that involved consumers' sending pictures of their fridge contents to real chefs to achieve this. In just two weeks, 8000 people joined the campaign for Whatscook - the first live recipe service using WhatsApp. The campaign eventually reached millions.

How did it work?

"Don't know what to cook? With Hellmann's, there is a way!"

After sharing your number on Hellmann's website's specific campaign page, one of their chefs would reach out to you.

Consumers were asked to take a photo of the inside of their fridge. Based on the ingredients available, the chefs came up with a recipe using Hellmann's mayo and other ingredients from the refrigerator.

No worries about the recipe being too tricky; the chefs would take the consumer through the recipe step-by-step using pictures, video and even illustrative drawings.

As a result, participants - on average - spent over an hour interacting with the brand.

Absolut’s Bouncer Sven Boosts Brand Engagement

As a campaign for the Absolut Unique Limited Edition, Absolut launched a creative and fun WhatsApp campaign in Argentina.

An exclusive Absolut party was announced. Absolut needed to build awareness and achieve close communication with people, drawing them to the party. Being the most popular messaging channel, WhatsApp Business was the communication channel of choice.

To get into the party, people would have to convince the imaginary bouncer called Sven to grant them access. By sending WhatsApp messages to Sven, people would try to convince him to get them free entry tickets.

But, Sven wasn't easily persuaded. So, people got creative. And this creativity not only caused a big buzz around the campaign, event and the brand, but this campaign also led to 3 days of uninterrupted chats with consumers and over 1,000 types of user-generated content like images, videos and audio files created to engage with Absolut's Sven.

X-Travel Group’s Holiday Challenge

"Create brand activation with a high level of fun."

This was the challenge of the Dutch youth travel agency X-Travel. With WhatsApp being the most popular channel to interact with friends and families, X-travel decided to become part of that friend-to-friend interaction within the channel.

X-Travel created the Group Challenge, a 4-weekly competition where 100 teams of 4 friends would compete for a free summer holiday.

To win a free holiday, groups of friends received challenges to tackle together. For example, taking a cold dive or taking a photo in a bathing suit outside in cold weather.

Participants shared proof of completing their challenge in the WhatsApp group and got the chance to win a free vacation together with their best friends.

Travel agents from X-Travel would send out and coach the challenges.

Watch the video here.

Prime Meridian Direct: Decreasing Turnover Time with Rich Media

Since 2009, Prime Meridian Direct has offered affordable motor insurance in South Africa. As a first for the insurance space, Prime Meridian Direct introduced the WhatsApp Business solution to submit per-vehicle inspection and claims photos as simple as possible.

The solution adds immense value in getting more clients to submit their photos at both inception and claims. In turn, it allows more clients to be covered with the right insurance, which is the main goal of Prime Meridian Direct.

With WhatsApp Business's introduction, claims are processed quicker - saving Prime Meridian Direct time whilst offering the best possible service for their clients.

The Result

Turnaround times within existing processes was reduced from days into minutes, without the need for any backlog.

"The great part about WhatsApp as a channel for Prime Meridian Direct is that it's scalable and will be able to support our clients as the business grows in the future." - David Holliday, Shared Services Manager, Prime Meridian Direct.

Hello Paisa Increased Accessibility and Greater Inclusivity

The main problem facing the migrant workforce in South Africa is the complicated process of sending money home and the inherent high costs of doing so.

Hello Paisa's solution to the problem is its easy-to-use money remittance app that enables customers to send cash to countries worldwide. With the Hello Paisa app, all you need is an active account and your mobile phone to create a transaction and send money home instantly easily.

However, the high cost of data remains a factor that prevents many customers from accessing the app. And that's where WhatsApp Business comes in.

From the comfort of an already utilised platform, Hello Paisa customers can now conveniently, easily and cost-effectively initiate transactions, obtain exchange rates, view transaction history, create or delete a recipient, and refer friends.

The Result

The ability to initiate transactions through WhatsApp not only solves the problem of prohibitive data costs but also translates into increased accessibility and greater inclusivity of Hello Paisa's customer base. Solution-focused thinking at its best!

The Possibilities Are Endless

These are just a few examples of how WhatsApp Business can help you strengthen your brand and improve customer satisfaction.

These examples will help tap into your creativity for engaging campaigns with your own WhatsApp Business account. If you are wondering how to promote WhatsApp Business as a customer support channel, there are a few ways in which you can collect customer opt-ins for WhatsApp Business.

Request your valid WhatsApp Business account at CM.com to find out what else is possible