Nestlé is the latest business to announce it will use AI to streamline its operations, and has revealed it is set to launch an AI-powered in-house service that will create product content at scale for eCommerce and digital media channels.
The service is based on digital twins, which are exact 3D virtual replicas of physical products, allowing product packaging to be adjusted or localised digitally. This means new creative content can be generated using AI, negating the need for product reshoots.
It has been developed in partnership with Accenture Song, built on NVIDIA Omniverse for advanced digital twin creation and using NVIDIA AI Enterprise. It is hosted on Microsoft systems.
Nestlé’s suite of global coffee brands include Nescafé and Nespresso, while it also distributes Starbucks-branded coffee products in markets outside of Starbucks retail stores. It also acquired a controlling stake in specialty coffee roaster and retailer Blue Bottle Coffee in 2017.
Nestlé Head of Strategic Business Units, Marketing and Sales David Rennie says the introduction of the new software will allow the business to more effectively engage with consumers in different markets.
“We want to connect with consumers where they are and how they want, with the right message at the right time. That means providing engaging content in multiple formats to fit the wide variety of online media platforms and formats available,” Rennie says.
“Our new content organisation means we can do more with the talented teams we have, leveraging their skills to produce high-quality, consistent, scalable content supported by AI digital assistants and digital twin technologies.
“This is a big step forward in our journey to reimagine content creation and deliver exceptional digital experiences.”
Nestlé says it already has a baseline of 4000 3D digital master products and harbours an ambition to extend that figure to a total of 10,000 products converted to digital twins in the next two years across global and local brands.
The time and cost associated with scaling digital twins is reduced by more than 70 per cent with the new service.
The integration of digital twins into Nestlé’s digital capacity is the latest step in its ongoing transformation. The company says it has more than doubled its sales from online in the past five years and is moving towards 20 per cent of total sales coming from online channels.
“This roll-out scales up the technology in-house at Nestlé and makes it faster and more cost-effective, putting it at the fingertips of content creators across the company,” a company statement reads.
“That includes Nestlé’s Integrated Marketing Services (IMS), with 250 marketing experts in seven marketing hubs who work on the digital twins scaling and localisation of content, as well as the 45 content studios around the world that deliver creative assets for Nestlé’s global and local brands.”
