Another call center analytics company, called CallMiner, classifies consumers' spoken words into categories like "dissatisfaction" or "escalation".
"We don't tend to enter many" product award competitions, said Simon Lowden, chief marketing officer at Pepsi Beverages North America, but "to have more than 50,000 consumers speaking to you, voting for you, it's a good thing".
"One of the basic tenets of any advertising is to speak in a way that is empathetic to your target," said Michael Zambrelli, president and creative director at Zambrelli, "really understanding the consumers, speaking their language".
At a time when anxiety over dependence on Middle Eastern oil has sent other energy companies scurrying for cover, BP is rushing to center stage, betting that, as Michael Kaye, who worked on the campaign as an associate creative director at Ogilvy, puts it, "BP can be a friend -- listening to consumers, speaking in a human voice".
This means the consumer can speak to Alexa again later in their same shopping session, and the assistant could remember who that is, and be able to answer follow-up questions more easily.
As of the 2016 holidays, the most purchased gift for the season was Amazon's Echo, a smart-device that the consumer can speak to back and forth to control other smart devices, stream music and audio, and receive updates on news, sports, and weather.
The company also sponsors specific ads for black consumers as well as consumers who speak Spanish and those who are gay or lesbian.
Producers and consumers alike speak of their desire for stable oil prices.
That was true for African-Americans, gay men and lesbians and, most recently, consumers who speak Spanish.
But she said social media had proved valuable by allowing consumers to speak directly to Bari Jay.
"The rise in the repossession queries experienced by Shelter Cymru shows that the message to consumers to speak to their lender and get independent debt advice about mortgage payment problems is getting through".
