How to spice up summer barbecues with a WhatsApp Grill Advisor chatbot
Key points of the project
- Industry: FMCG
- Use case type: Real-world implementation
- Channel: WhatsApp
- Primary goal: Branding
The challenge
Barbecuing is a summer ritual in Switzerland — and ALDI Suisse wanted to add real value to its customers’ experience while positioning the brand as a smart, helpful companion. The question: how can you make sure customers not only buy their grill products at ALDI, but also think of ALDI when they prepare and enjoy them at home?
The approach
Enter Sam Smoke, ALDI Suisse’s very own WhatsApp Grill Advisor.
At the point of sale, shoppers discovered a QR code on in-store materials. Scanning it opened a WhatsApp chatbot branded entirely in ALDI’s CI.
From there, users could:
- Select the type of food they wanted to grill — beef, chicken, fish, vegetables and more — and receive a clear, step-by-step cooking guide directly in WhatsApp.
- Browse through a curated selection of grill recipes, all highlighting ALDI’s private-label products in a tasty, inspiring way.
This digital “second screen” turned WhatsApp into the perfect companion by the grill: simple, intuitive, and always available on the device customers use most — their smartphone.
The solution delivered all the benefits of an interactive app — without the need to build or download one, keeping the costs lean and the user experience seamless.
The result
The WhatsApp Grill Advisor created a fun, branded experience that turned summer barbecues into a direct touchpoint with the ALDI brand. Thousands of users engaged with Sam Smoke over the summer months, exploring both grilling tips and recipes. The recipes highlighted ALDI’s private-label products in an appealing way, leading to strong brand recall. The project clearly showed that WhatsApp can deliver genuine utility and entertainment for customers — not just act as a channel for promotions.
What you can learn from this
Everyday moments, such as barbecuing, can be transformed into powerful brand experiences with WhatsApp. By adding real utility for customers, companies create stronger affinity than they ever could with pure promotions. Showcasing own-brand products within value-added content like recipes helps build awareness naturally, without feeling forced. At the same time, WhatsApp delivers the benefits of an app-like experience — without the development costs or the barriers of asking users to download yet another app.
