DENVER, Nov. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bang Holdings Corp. (OTCQB:BXNG), through its wholly owned subsidiary Bang Digital Media, today announced its “Donald Bot” is delivering impressive real-world productivity test-market results, and proves artificial intelligence (“A.I.”) bot technology could render human staffed call centers obsolete. Today’s news follows the Company’s October 25, announcement that “The Donald Bot” had reached the beta-test stage.
During Week One of market beta-testing, 5.7 percent of The Donald Bot’s 776 conversations on Facebook resulted in sales, indicating the bot’s closing ratio compares favorably to results obtained in call centers staffed by humans. The Donald Bot is an A.I. chatbot that was programmed to sell its fans a self-annotated copy of the US Constitution. It currently has over 450,000 followers, the largest following of any Facebook Messenger chatbot in the world.
The US call center industry generates around $21 billion in revenues each year.1 The Company believes that with advances in natural language recognition, speech software and A.I., it could see A.I. bots take a multi-billion dollar bite out of that industry within five years. Further, Bang sees bots being used as a highly valuable aid to social media engagement and sales. Bang Digital Media’s The Donald Bot is proof of concept for what the Company calls a Digital Social Influencer, or “DSI.”
$21 billion is a huge addressable market, and Bang aims to eventually capture a piece -- initially by deploying more advanced AI bots in its proprietary cannabis digital marketing network.
“The Donald Bot is literally a sales machine. It never gets tired, takes lunch breaks, or calls in sick. Its focus is absolute," Steve Berke, Bang Holdings Chief Executive Officer said. "It is the perfect salesperson. We believe The Donald Bot is the first A.I. persona on Facebook to sell products to humans without the customers realizing they are speaking with a machine.”
“The Donald Bot has opinions to express on a range of topics from politics and domestic policy to celebrities and billionaires,” Berke added. “It’s the first Digital Social Influencer we have created and, in its future iterations, we are confident our A.I. bot will be able to endorse various products and services. DSIs can be as powerful as human social influencers, as they can aggregate and engage audiences in a similar way.”
Berke sees a bright future for celebrity branded DSIs. “Take Kanye West for example. Kanye has over 50 million fans and can’t possibly have a customer service rep answering all of his Facebook messages. But if he had a Kanye Bot speaking in his voice and engaging his fans, he could be selling music and merchandise 24/7 while building the Kanye brand through the holy grail of all social media: engagement. The cost of developing such an A.I. bot could be recouped in a matter of weeks, and it would become highly profitable thereafter."
To meet The Donald Bot in person, visit www.TheDonaldBot.com.
1http://www.firstresearch.com/Industry-Research/Telephone-Call-Centers.html
About Bang Holdings Corporation
Bang Holdings Corporation (OTCQB:BXNG), through its subsidiary Bang Digital Media, provides brand management, cannabis related digital content and influencer-based marketing for the cannabis industry. While major media providers restrict online marijuana advertising, Bang Holdings’ marketing networks allow cannabis companies to directly reach cannabis and cannabis equipment consumers.
Since launching its first digital channel 4TwentyToday across multiple digital platforms in 2014, Bang Digital Media’s network has grown to reach more than a million engaged enthusiasts and has generated hundreds of millions of content views. Bang’s expanded network of cannabis-friendly social influencers reaches an additional twenty million subscribers. For more information, please visit www.bangholdings.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release may contain statements, estimates and projections that involve risks and uncertainties in Bang Holdings' business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such statements, estimates and projections constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Bang Holdings undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The recipient of this information is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. No representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy of such forward-looking statements or whether any of the projections included herein will be realized.