I loved reading the January 1, 2012 New York Times article by Claire Cain Miller: Google Bases a Campaign on Emotions, Not Terms. Her article explains Google's distinctive philosophical change towards marketing and advertising. For Google to acknowledge investing more time and resources to actively promote its products and services stands in stark contrast to the image of "cold engineers" hating anything related to marketing, advertising, or public relations as described in Ken Auletta's great book, Googled.
Why Google Reinvented Its Marketing
"A Remarkable Transformation." What's driving this "remarkable transformation for Google" as noted in the article by Peter Daboll, chief executive of Ace Metrix, a firm that evaluates TV and video ads?
Ms. Cain Miller's article cites two business drivers:
Finding New Revnue Sources Beyond Search Ads. Google needs new businesses like the Chrome browser and the Google Plus social network to succeed.
Focusing, Paring Down, and Integrating Google's Offerings. This is part of Larry Page's mission as CEO to pare down Google's product offering and make these products more attractive, intuitive, and integrated with one another.
Does This Sound Like The Voice of a Cold Engineer?
Marketing Emotion. Even more revealing is that Google acknowledges both a change in marketing strategy and increased advertising investment. Here are two direct article quotes from Lorraine Twohill, Google's vice president for global marketing:
"As we got bigger, we had more competition, more products, more messages to consumers, so we needed to do a bit more to communicate what thse products are and how you can use them."
"If we don't make you cry, we fail. It's about emotion, which is bizarre for a tech company."
Sounds Like Marketing From the Heart. But, make no mistake Google still bases its decisions on rigorous, fact-based data analysis. And, the article further describes the significant data analyses and testing that went into planning its first Super Bowl commercial (e.g., dozens of tests) and a 140-tab spreadsheet used in location planning for Google Zeitgeist (the company's annual conference for it's biggest advertisers).
Don't Pitch. Tell a Story.
The Google Video Advertisements Cited in the New York Times Article. The article mentions the following successful advertising videos because Google uses storytelling versus product pitching. I've pulled them all together in this post.
It's Not About Features and Benefits. Notice how we can all relate to each of these stories. In particular, the two (2) Google Chrome videos mention nothing about Chrome as the world's fastest web browser.
These stories are moving, emotional, and entertaining. What's their emotional impact on you?
- Parisian Love: The 2010 Superbowl Ad
- Dear Sophie: Google's Advertisement for Google Chrome
- Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory: Another Google Chrome Advertisement
- Circles Love Story: Advertisement for Google+
- The Muppets Rock Out in a Google+ Hangout: Advertisement for Google
- Search Stories: An Introduction
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.