Reinvigorating Search With AI-Powered Bing Chat
Microsoft
Creating a cultural conversation about tech's next era.
PROBLEM
Microsoft has been shaping the future by reimagining how AI could benefit society through its software and services. It wanted to show how the AI shift could change the way people find information, learn, work and communicate.
But how do you launch something most of the world hasn’t experienced and kickstart one of the biggest tech revolutions since the mobile phone? Microsoft would start with the largest software category of all — search — with the launch of the new, AI-powered Bing*.
Its research uncovered a universal pain point. Billions of people were asking questions but not finding what they needed, with nearly half of all online searches going unanswered. Microsoft’s new, AI-powered Bing could reinvent search and make the user experience engaging again.
But the ask was much bigger than re-launching Bing. The campaign needed to set the tone for Microsoft’s continued productization of AI and show the world what’s possible in a new era of technology.
Connect With
WE Communications
SOLUTION
WE’s approach was to illustrate how the new Bing improved something people do daily, while also ushering in a new era of technology. Here’s a snapshot of what our team did:
- Created a custom “ripple influence” strategy leveraging how media across tech, business, social creators and mainstream broadcast influence one another, and employed that strategy with every pitch, invite and storytelling touchpoint
- Hosted 85+ opinion leaders, reporters, analysts and creators at the first large-scale, in-person-only media event in Redmond, Washington, since the pandemic
- Orchestrated 35+ top-tier interviews with various executives, curated hands-on demo access, and provided in-depth education to ensure attendees had personal experiences with and a solid understanding of the new technology
- Ensured top international influencers were in attendance, provided amplification for local markets to magnify the news and created a playbook for international comms leads to scale the news globally
- Blended informational and fun owned content to help people both understand and participate in the moment and in turn drive awareness, engagement and higher click rates
- Turned a launch moment into a movement with a plan that extended the conversation across audiences by strategically timing additional product integration announcements and expertly managing reactive issues
RESULTS
The launch solidified Microsoft’s generative AI leadership and propelled Bing into the cultural stratosphere, with media dubbing it the “new iPhone moment.” Bing trended No. 1 on Twitter and LinkedIn, appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and was featured in a cartoon in The New Yorker.
- 37K+ pieces of global earned media coverage, including cover stories in The Economist, The New York Times, TIME and more
- 100 million daily active users on Bing
- Over 5 billion chats and 5 billion images created with Bing
- 8x increase in daily downloads of the Bing mobile app since launch
- 3x the benchmark views of owned channel assets with 900K views in the weeks following launch
- 73% of 2023 Q1 global brand AI conversations about Microsoft and its partner OpenAI
*Bing's AI search was rebranded to "Coplilot" in November 2023
