• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 21, 2016

At a time when the field of conversational marketing is heating up on Madison Avenue, Google officially launched its latest entry into the field: Allo, a messaging app festooned with high-energy emoji features that appears to be crafted to attract the youth marketplace (see demo video below).

Style aside, a post on the official Google blog describes it as a new smart messaging app for Android and iOS that “helps you say more and do more right in your chats. Google Allo can help you make plans, find information, and express yourself more easily in chat. And the more you use it, the more it improves over time.”

It’s far from Google’s first foray into machine learning and intelligent recommendations, but it comes as the new practice area is gaining a fever pitch on Madison Avenue and as rivals such as Apple, Facebook and others are investing deeply to become the dominant platforms in the emerging field of peer-to-bot marketing.

MediaPost’s OMMA conference series will devote a day to the subject -- OMMA Bots & Chat -- Sept. 29 during Advertising Week in New York City next week.

While Allo’s emoji-oriented interface appears carefully designed to appeal to young users, Google makes no bones about the endgame, noting, that Allo is powered by powerful utility dubbed “Google Assistant.”

“In Google Allo you’ll also be introduced to a preview edition of the Google Assistant. With your Assistant in Allo, you can have a conversation with Google — ask it questions and let it help you get things done directly in your chats. You no longer need to leave a conversation with friends just to grab an address, share your favorite YouTube video, or pick a dinner spot. Just type @google to bring your Assistant into any group chat. And of course, you can also chat one-one-one with your Assistant in Allo.”

While the post does not explicitly describe the brand marketing implications of the new platform, it describes features that will enable users to receive recommendations for products, goods and services while chatting with others:

“You can easily move from discussing dinner with friends to making plans for the night, right in your chat. Just add the Assistant to your group chat and ask for movie times, local restaurants and more. You can also research travel destinations, flights and hotels together with friends.”