WhatsApp Automation for Esther Perbandt: From Event Activation to Customer Engagement

How can a fashion brand use WhatsApp to create more connected customer experiences?

As part of the broader Digital Esther initiative developed with Jenna AI, founded by Lucca Elwood, I worked on implementing WhatsApp integrations and automation workflows for Esther Perbandt.

The project explored two complementary applications of WhatsApp: enhancing the guest experience at Berlin Fashion Week and creating an ongoing channel for customer engagement through newsletter subscriptions and exclusive privileges.

My role focused on the technical implementation, including Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API, webhook configuration, and workflow orchestration with n8n.

The result was an exploration of how messaging automation could connect real-world brand experiences with longer-term customer relationships.

1. Event Activation: Welcoming 300+ Guests

For Berlin Fashion Week, WhatsApp became part of the guest experience itself.

The objective was to create meaningful digital touchpoints around the event without relying on manually managed messages for every guest.

The activation centred on two key moments:

• Welcome message: Guests received a message as they entered the venue.

• Goodbye message: Guests received a follow-up message containing a discount code for Esther Perbandt's latest collection, Blackhearts.

This created a connection between the physical event and the brand's digital shopping experience.

The goodbye message was particularly valuable because it extended the interaction beyond the venue, giving attendees an incentive to explore the collection after the event.

Behind the scenes, I worked on the WhatsApp integration and automation workflows that supported the messaging experience, using Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API and n8n.

With more than 300 guests involved, preparation and testing were important. I refined the workflows, troubleshot integration issues, and simulated a 50-user concurrent scenario to test the system under anticipated event conditions.

2. Marketing Automation: Turning WhatsApp Into an Engagement Channel

Beyond the event, we also explored how WhatsApp could support Esther Perbandt's ongoing customer engagement.

One feature invited customers to subscribe to the Esther Perbandt newsletter through WhatsApp, offering access to special privileges.

The idea was to make the transition from a casual brand interaction to an ongoing relationship more natural.

Rather than treating WhatsApp solely as a messaging channel, the workflow created an opportunity to connect interested customers with the brand's wider communication ecosystem.

This represented a different use case from event automation. While the Berlin Fashion Week activation focused on timely messages around a specific occasion, the newsletter initiative focused on continued engagement beyond a single interaction.

Together, these use cases illustrated how messaging automation could support both immediate experiences and longer-term customer relationships.

3. The Technical Implementation

Both use cases relied on connecting WhatsApp with the systems and workflows needed to support automated communication.

The implementation involved:

• Meta WhatsApp Cloud API: Connecting the brand's messaging experience to WhatsApp.

• WhatsApp Business Account configuration: Setting up the business messaging infrastructure, authentication, and permissions.

• Webhooks: Enabling communication between WhatsApp and the automation workflows.

• Workflow Automation: Orchestrating message processing, routing, and automation logic.

• Supporting integrations: Connecting the workflow to relevant services and data sources.

My contribution focused on the technical integration and workflow logic that brought these components together.

Working with messaging APIs requires more than successfully sending a message. The surrounding workflows need to handle incoming events, process requests correctly, and support the intended customer experience.

For the event activation, reliability under live conditions was especially important. For the marketing use case, the focus was on connecting customer engagement with the brand's broader communication strategy.

4. From Individual Messages to Connected Customer Experiences

What interested me most about this project was the opportunity to apply the same underlying technology to different business objectives.

At Berlin Fashion Week, WhatsApp helped connect a physical event with a digital follow-up.

For ongoing marketing, it provided a way for interested customers to discover the brand's newsletter and learn about additional privileges.

These are different customer journeys, but both demonstrate the potential of automation to make brand interactions more timely, accessible, and connected.

For businesses, the opportunity extends beyond fashion. Similar approaches can support event communication, customer onboarding, follow-ups, and permission-based marketing engagement.

Promotional messaging should always respect customer consent and applicable WhatsApp policies, with clear distinctions between event communications and ongoing marketing.

The Bigger Picture

This work was part of the broader Digital Esther initiative developed with Jenna AI, founded by Lucca Elwood, exploring how technology could extend Esther Perbandt's brand experience into new digital interactions.

My contribution focused on the technical implementation behind these WhatsApp experiences, bringing together APIs, webhooks, and workflow automation to support both a live event and an ongoing marketing use case.

The project reinforced my interest in building technology that connects technical systems with real business objectives.

Automation is most valuable when it does more than reduce manual work. It creates better experiences for the people interacting with a brand.