brands like apis

Hi, I’m @farrahbostic

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I run...

“You need to add value to people's lives, not just expect them to participate because you goddamn well asked them to.”

Mel Exon, BBH Labs

“Stop communicating products & start making communication products.”

Gareth Kay, Goodby

it’s cool in advertising to steal software development metaphors

Google #Firestarters: Agile PlanningDo Agencies Need to

Think Like Software Companies? Agile creativity,

think with google

execution is important. but figuring out what to build is hard.

so, uh, what’s an api?

you probably know this api the best

an api is something a lot of our brands could build or use.

An application programming interface (API) is a protocol intended to be used as an interface by software components

to communicate with each other.

An API is a library that may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables.

but - because this is still true:

Answer questions

Watch a Demo

Find a Retailer

Get your recommended

movies

Home Page

Create an event

Like the Facebook

Page

You end up doing something like this:

which isn’t bad. i suppose.

how brands (should) use apis

To identify & Learn about your customers !

To expand opportunities to transact with your brand !

To open up your value chain

skype & SINGLE SIGN-ON

Skype in the Classroom uses Skype’s single sign-on.

So not only do they know how teachers are using the education service, they also know how teachers are using the core Skype service - including their propensity to pay for services.

eBay used the BBYOpen APIs for its Gifts Nearby holiday program so eBay shoppers could find last minute gifts in-stock at retailers nearby, and complete a Best Buy purchase without leaving the site.

BE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE. DELIVER WHAT THEY WANT.

support your value chain & your customers

If an airbnb host hasn’t responded to a request, the twilio API is set up to send an automated SMS with information about guests, dates, and price. Hosts can reply via SMS as well.

3/17/13 Automated Customer Communications at Airbnb - Twilio Case Study

www.twilio.com/gallery/customers/airbnb 1/2

Case  Studies Projects Developers

Airbnb  is  an  online  marketplace  that  enables  private  residents  and  commercial  properties  to  rentout  extra  space  to  travelers  looking  for  a  hotel  alternative.  The  company  slogan  "travel  like  ahuman"  captures  the  essence  of  the  unique  experience  Airbnb  provides  to  travelers  looking  foraffordable,  creative,  or  unconventional  lodgings.

HIGHLIGHTS

Text  message  confirmations  increase  the  number  of  successful  bookings

Automated  messages  remove  the  need  for  customer  service  reps  to  manually  contacthosts

Flexible  integration  allows  Airbnb  to  easily  launch  new  features

WEBSITE

http://www.airbnb.com/

Pairing  travelers  and  hosts  for  unique  travel  experiencesAirbnb  enables  hosts  with  an  available  room  or  property  to  post  listings,  and  potential  guestslooking  for  a  place  to  stay  can  search  by  city  or  country,  utilizing  filters  such  as  price  and  roomtype  to  find  exactly  what  suits  their  needs.  From  there,  guests  and  hosts  communicate  throughthe  website  to  finalize  the  details  of  the  reservation.

When  travelers  make  a  reservation  through  Airbnb,  the  host  has  32  hours  to  accept  or  declinethe  booking  request.  Frequently,  hosts  are  not  at  their  computer  and  can't  respond  quickly,  eventhough  they  would  like  to  confirm  the  booking.

"We  often  had  to  resort  to  manually  calling  hosts  who  have  not  responded  to  ask  them  to  confirmor  deny  the  request,"  says  Naomi  Arnold,  Customer  Service,  Airbnb.  "Dedicating  staff  to  manuallycalling  hosts  takes  away  from  their  ability  to  handle  customer  support…a  costly  distraction."

Airbnb  chose  Twilio  to  automate  mobile  communication  between  rental  hosts  and  potentialguests  using  text  messaging.  If  a  host  has  not  responded  to  a  request,  they  receive  anautomated  SMS  message  with  information  on  the  guest(s),  the  dates,  and  the  price  for  the  stay.They  can  then  quickly  respond  with  a  message  reply.

"We  have  hosts  all  over  the  globe,"  explains  Naomi,  "and  they  always  have  their  phones  withthem.  By  allowing  them  to  accept  requests  via  SMS,  we  have  significantly  improved  thepercentage  of  successful  bookings  while  saving  countless  hours  of  manual  calling."

Enabling  hosts  to  confirm  a  reservation  with  their  mobile  phone  has  increased  the  number  ofsuccessful  bookings,  and  improved  the  user  experience  for  potential  guests  because  they  don't

ENHANCE CUSTOMERCOMMUNICATIONS

Connect  with  customers  in  innovativeways  using  voice  and  SMS  messages

Enable  detailed  exchanges  for  schedulingand  collaboration

Boost  customer  satisfaction  with  hightouch  updates  and  information

MORE TWILIO CASE STUDIES

Streamline  NotificationsMedia  Temple

Call  Tracking  for  Lead  GenerationAvvo

Tree

Outreach  &  PromotionsMobile  Commons

Sony  Music

Sprint  &  Goodby  Silverstein

Enhance  Customer  CommunicationsAirbnb

Automate  WorkflowseBay

Juma  Ventures

Duke  University

Engage  with  Interactive  PollingSurvey  Monkey

Salesforce

Identity  Verification

To  match  travelers  and  hosts  with  ease,Airbnb  turned  to  Twilio  for  efficient  mobile  communications  withSMS.

VOICE SMS CLIENT SOLUTIONS DOCS HELP LOGIN+

open up the value chain

Inventory & fulfillmentPayment processingHosting & analytics

but some brands actually behave like apis. !

and more brands should.

so what does it mean to ‘act like an api’?

For a brand to act like an API, it must make available to its

[users/consumers/customers] a set of common assets and instructions that the [users/consumers/customers]

can use to create something of value for themselves.

i’m not talking about ugc or ‘participation’.

UGC/participation are designed to extract value from your audience,

not create (or co-create) value for your customers.

IKea

Consistent retail experience.

Modular, flat-pack furniture and parts.

You build it.

And you can hack it, too. (I did)

ideas that spread

operationalized culture

WHAT THIS COULD MEAN FOR YOUWhat if more brands embraced the ethos of an API

and created or worked with them?

start with small experiments

ifttt.com

look at existing partnerships

Starbucks meets Passbook

American Express meets Foursquare

Spotify meets Blue Note Records meets iTunes Store

MTA meets Google Maps meets Augmented Reality

we could transform marketing into ‘MAAs’

Marketing could become a service for customers.

It could make [buying, using, owning] a product or service easier, more rewarding, or just better.

It could make the brand experience a more successful one.

thanks - this was fun.