Despite Google being a household name, Pixel is still a challenger brand in the mobile phone category. So to insert ourselves in the conversation and generate interest in our devices, we created content that gets people talking and reframes Pixel in a mass audience’s consideration set as premium and different from other OS’.
Leaning into upcoming priority brand moments and key differentiating features, we created a series of engaging and irreverent videos that were anchored in our YouTube channel and surrounded with paid media, influencer tactics and real-time community engagement. For the series’ initial launch, five videos were all released on the same day across Pixel’s social channels to create a true launch moment for social media users and press to react to. Since then, day-of publishing operations are treated as true launches with cross-functional collaborators in the same room to oversee operations and work together on timely engagement opportunities, including an impromptu reaction video that celebrated our favorite user comments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2WHvJdx0fs&list=PLnKtcw5mIGUR-aMBz9AphxHzEH7Kt-azY&index=10)
And to acknowledge our international audience, we leveraged Google AI to dub select #BestPhonesForever videos in both Mandarin and Japanese so they could be published from both @GoogleJapan and @GoogleTaiwan channels.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UTIf0OAc1M
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7T2kjKi-B0
#BestPhonesForever saw incredible results and was met with a warm reaction from both our loyal #TeamPixel base, as well as a mass audience.
The campaign increased Pixel interest and primed switchers by driving substantial increases in online search activity (+191%), owned followers on Google Pixel social channels (+8X WoW), consideration (+2.12pts), and Pixel + Apple discussion/comparisons (+199% v. social baseline, +63% search comparisons).
The campaign well exceeded other competitive campaigns in positive+neutral sentiment (+15 pts), even after comments remained on for paid boosting. Both press and consumers applauded Google for the friendly tone of the ads and reactions.
And lastly, it broke Pixel social engagement records across the board with viral content that debuted a friendly tone among competitors, including the top three TikTok videos by any Google handle, ever. To-date, #BestPhonesForever videos have received over 495M views and 5.8M engagements across Google social channels.
