Avon Institute: Speak Up, Angela

In a campaign built by Wunderman Thompson Brazil, hundreds of women provided their voices to create the sound that will be used by Angela, the social arm of Avon. The virtual assistant created by the Avon Institute to support the fight against domestic violence – Angela – has gained a voice. More than 500 women, including Avon Beauty Representatives, consumers, collaborators, partners and followers of the Avon Institute and Avon on social networks were invited to donate their voices to the project. Together, they were used to build the chatbot audio sound for Avon's social arm, 'Speak up, Angela', developed by Wunderman Thompson Brazil. The campaign 'Speak Up, Angela' is part of the 21 days of activism, initiative created to fight to end violence against women and that takes place annually between November 20th and December 10th when International Human Rights Day is celebrated. How Angela got her voice: In early November, audio clips from women were collected on the website. Together, they comprised Avon Institute’s chatbot’s unique voice, enabling it to say any type of word or phrase. Angela's voice will be used on the Avon Institute's social networks on relevant topics for women, such as leadership, equality, politics and women's spaces. It will also show how speech can be used as a tool of protection and inspiration for others. The 'Speak up, Angela' campaign aims to amplify women’s voices, so that their experiences and perspectives are heard in traditionally male spaces. Angela will be an important means of communication for the Avon Institute to call on society to rethink silencing, repetitive and naturalised attitudes that exclude women from public debate. Created by producer Bolha, the voice was developed through a system that teaches machines how real people speak. In this system, five hours of audio were used to create Angela’s good intonation, human-like timbre and understandable voice. Angela's role in combating violence: Using WhatsApp, Angela supports girls and women facing domestic violence, putting them in contact with a wide network of legal, social and psychological support. From the very first contact, the chatbot evaluates the degree of risk the person is exposed to in order to provide support, based on a questionnaire inspired by international protocol. Since its launch, more than 30,000 consultations have been carried out on the platform.