Meet Mystique, the AI-powered copywriting tool that helps Grab communicate effectively

Raghav Garg, Akanksha Sharma, Alson Ang, Yangyang Xie, Sulin Lau, Srivatsa, Hassan Alsagoff, Huiling Lin, Mitali Kumar

. September 6, 2024 . Regional

Did you know that some of the push notifications, emails, and in-app nudges you receive from Grab are tailored to your needs? Grab’s copywriting teams ensure the way we communicate is concise, engaging, and specific to the diverse user groups we serve.

That’s because personalised texts are more likely to be read or clicked on, compared to standard templates.

But with the diversity of user groups and high volume of messages that’s required to communicate effectively, things can get really busy.

That’s why we conceptualised Mystique—Grab’s in-house, AI-powered copywriting tool.

(Read more: The tech behind Mystique explained)

It harnesses large language models (LLMs) and draws from Grab’s wealth of data to craft highly personalised content.

For example, if we encourage a new Grab user to try out our Saver Delivery option, it would sound different than when we send this to a frequent Grab user. By tailoring the message to their behaviours and needs, we are more likely to see higher engagement rates.

We also want our creative teams to spend more time on what really matters, like understanding our audiences’ preferences and coming up with fresh ideas.

Let’s take a closer look at how Mystique came about and is transforming our operations.

The evolution of Mystique

The way Mystique was developed is an example of Grab’s collaborative culture. It was initiated as a passion project by a few of us on the Grab Data Analytics Team. We were keen to explore how content writing tools can boost productivity.

We brought the initial prototype to the Marketing team to gather feedback and soon realised that the first version of Mystique wasn’t intuitive enough.

For instance, the tool gave copywriters a lot of flexibility to personalise their prompts—but this led to inconsistent outputs which didn’t align with our internal brand guidelines.

So we combined forces to build a version of Mystique that worked well for our copywriters. This new version replicates Grab’s internal creative brief form. You can set parameters such as the target audience, content type, and channel.

We required little to no onboarding for the teams to start using the tool, because it was very similar to the way they were already working.

Now, teams across the region use Mystique for their daily content production and their ad campaigns, in multiple languages.

Enhanced user engagement

Early results from experiments conducted with long and short form content were positive. There was a significant increase in engagement for content generated by Mystique.

At Grab, we define engagement as the product of Open Rate (how many users open our messages) and Clickthrough Rate (how many take the next step and engage with the content, for example by clicking on a link contained within.) This metric provides a comprehensive measure of how effectively our content drives user interaction.

Mystique has consistently demonstrated the ability to uplift engagement across various communication types, including push notifications, email direct marketing, and in-app communications. We found engagement rates in our communications with Grab users increase by 25-50 per cent across these channels, when compared to content created without the help of the AI copywriting tool.

25- 25 %

increase in engagement rate among Grab users

For Grab merchant communications, Mystique has achieved engagement uplifts of up to 117 per cent. This success is due to Mystique’s ability to highlight unique selling points and tailor the tone to fit different communication types, from engaging promotional messages to concise operational updates. Mystique also extends merchant communications to off-app channels like WhatsApp.

0 %

increase in engagement rate for merchant communications

Efficiency gains

As a cherry on top, Mystique has also been instrumental in improving internal productivity.

We saw that Mystique was able to reduce time required for content creation significantly. In our series of experiments, Mystique achieved an impressive 98.5 per cent reduction in content creation time.

0 %

reduction in content creation time

The tool has turned into a productivity powerhouse. Mystique has changed the way we communicate with our diverse audience. It has not only streamlined the content generation process but also ensured that our messages remain personalised and consistent with the Grab voice.

A glimpse into the future

As Mystique continues to evolve, we anticipate even greater impact. For example, we are running pilots to test its capabilities in visual content generation.

Despite initial challenges, continuous feedback and improvements have made Mystique an integral part of our creative teams’ workflow. It is set to further enhance the efficiency and creativity of our communications.

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