A new digital dawn for the public sector
Heralding transformation
Namibia Media Holdings, through its marketing agency Synergi and its digital solutions provider InTouch, brought its AI Chatbot and digital RSVP system to public sector stakeholders.
Digital transformation has been knocking at the doors of Namibian entities for some time, but very few have had the courage to answer. Synergi, a marketing and advertisement agency under the Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) umbrella, recently unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to various public sector stakeholders.
This chatbot, accessible to users via WhatsApp, can provide regular weather updates, keep shoppers up to date with the latest deals and special offers and share vital information with subscribers.
InTouch Interactive Marketing, another agency under the NMH umbrella which specialises in a plethora of digital services including the creation of apps and websites as well as a driver of digital solutions, also introduced stakeholders to its RSVP system, which allows users to digitally manage guest lists.
For Paula Olivier of the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), the digital solutions offered by Synergi and InTouch could herald a new age for the NTB.
“This can drive us into the new age. We want to host more events and engagements and the InTouch RSVP system could help us to do it more professionally,” she said.
"The fuel price is regulated, but we have more convenience than our competitors. This can help us to share the latest deals at our petrol stations and stay competitive," Paulo Coelho, the manager for marketing, communications and public relations at the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), said.
Synergi chief marketing officer Hennie Geldenhuys said the chatbot will not only allow clients to reach their audiences wherever they are, it also extends the shelf-life of an advertisement by complementing a brand's print strategy.
"Newspapers still trump everything, but they only have so much shelf-life, meaning an advertisement will only reach a large number of readers on a particular day. But with the chatbot, that content is available to subscribers on demand," he said.
The Synergi chatbot is available at 085 785 6231 and can be prompted with various short codes including 'financials', 'shopping' or 'airlines'.