Google: Parisian Love
PW: This 2010 Superbowl ad proves Google knows itself better than any of its users. Having done very little paid advertising, Google entered the fray with this landmark ad using a soft sell technique. The reason Google was doing very little advertising prior was, well, they didn’t need to. It is the online destination for search, and their adwords program comprises over 80% of the paid search market share. So why do a commercial?
The one thing that Google had not become was human. Sure, it had loyal customers, but only because it was/is the best search engine available. Its ad revenue rises substantially each year, but only because marketers see more value in digital spending on Google’s Adwords and Adsense programs. But how does a brand convince their loyal customers to stay loyal? This is where branding played its hand, and Google showed a straight flush. Telling the touching story of love abroad, Google became more than a search engine, it became a dream maker. The ad provides us a new perspective on using Google. It is more than just a means (query) to an end (results), it is our trusty online companion, a guidebook for life. The search engine “understood” human connection and understanding the consumer’s desires is key to retaining his/her loyalty.
P.S. This campaign’s message continues with Google’s newest campaign: The Web Is What You Make Of It
SM:Honestly, my main beef with this add is the tagline, “Search On.” Really google. You just spend millions of dollars on an ad to create an emotional connection with the user and the take away message is “search on.” What emotional connection does “search on” garnish? How does “search on” maintain its relevance across Google's many product lines? This is by far one of the cheesiest taglines I’ve heard in awhile and don’t really understand what purpose it serves. I think its the equivalent of Verizon or AT&T having the tagline “Keep Calling.”
Otherwise, I’m just not a huge fan of Google’s attempt at creating this emotional connection because I think it sells the search giant short. Don’t get me wrong, despite my dissatisfaction, the campaign was a great success and definitely achieved it’s goal of showing the average internet user how much easier Google makes their lives. However, being Google, I’ve learned to hold them to a higher standard, and I believe this ad limits itself to focusing only on the search engine part of Google. Google is THE leader in the Internet industry because of how it is constantly innovating and adding new services to its portfolio. I personally feel that the same people the Parisian ad is targeting don’t know that Google owns blogger, youtube or for that matter have ever tried using Google Calendar or Translate. I think featuring those product in this ad could have better served Google's purpose.
My takeaway from this ad is: a simple tagline is not always better. Let us know what you think by voting below. We’ll be back tomorrow with a new blog post and ad of the day because we are ADding to the Argument, “Debate on.”
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