Hellmann’s delivers cooking lessons on demand via WhatsApp

The mayonnaise brand has launched WhatsCook in Brazil, a campaign that provides instant recipes and cooking advice from pro chefs via the popular WhatsApp messaging service.

Regular readers of Springwise will know that the Brazilian arm of Hellmann’s mayonnaise is determined to find new ways to engage its customer base, whether it’s through NFC-enabled touchscreen shopping carts that deliver meal suggestions as customers walk through the store, or

printing recipes on the back of receipts, tailored their shopping bill. Now it’s returned with WhatsCook, a campaign that helps anyone get instant recipes and cooking advice from pro chefs via the popular WhatsApp messaging service.

Mobile has already taken over a huge stake of the digital market and one reason is chat apps. WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users and Facebook has shown how important it thinks such platforms are by purchasing the service for USD 19 billion earlier this year. Created in collaboration with marketing agency CUBOCC, WhatsCook demonstrates how brands can penetrate the market by offering a service through chat. Amateur cooks simply enter their phone number into the campaign website and arrange a time to chat with a professional chef about a meal they need help with — so long as it involves mayonnaise. As well as real-time chat, the service takes advantage of WhatsApp’s photo and video capabilities. Users can show chefs what’s in their fridge, and chefs can take video to demonstrate a particular technique.

WhatsCook offers an interactive alternative to cookbooks and video instructions, while also leveraging mobile. Are there other ways brands can connect with their customers on a one-on-one basis through chat apps?