Every marketer worth their salt knows that if they wish to make an impact on their target market, they need to provide the audience with creative content when they are in a state of mind that leaves them open to receiving such content. Straightforward, common sense even. Yet, time and time again, we’re subject to ads that make little to no sense in their particular placement.
If nobody is going to take notice of your advertising, then why even bother? Google took that notion a step further and created an incredible ad that not only made its viewers take notice, but taught them how to use Google better. For all intents and purposes, the success of Google is dependant on the success of its users.
Success Is In The Hands Of The End User
The better a user can find what they’re looking for on Google, the more they will use it. If you never find what you’re looking for, you’ll try another search engine. So the more accurately Google is able to provide you with information that you’re looking for, the better they can serve you relevant ads. The more Google can serve you relevant ads, the more companies will advertise with them. The more advertisers on Google, the more money they make. Simple enough, right?
Making a Mundane Task Emotionally Gripping
You’d imagine that teaching people how to search for information would prove to be a dull task. How do you capture the attention of an audience when your objective is simply to teach them how to use your product? It should be no surprise that Google can do this better than anyone – Most of us didn’t even know it was happening.
Google’s new commercial titled “Here to help” hit the air during the NBA finals and depicts an array of Google search queries to the soundtrack “Win” by Jay Rock. Before reading on, watch it below if you haven’t seen it yet. Let’s peel back the layers to this one.
Why We're Ready For This Content
First of all; the setting. The NBA finals, everyone who is watching – particularly the 3.3 million Canadians tuning in who are especially susceptible to motivational content. Fans of the sport and of either team can taste triumph. We watched these athletes-turned-superheroes fight, scratch, and claw their way through 82 games of regular season basketball and battle through adversity to make it to the finals. In the pregame show, the announcers talk about personal adversity that many of the players had to overcome just to make it out of extreme poverty or other adverse conditions. During the game, we hear of further hardships endured, and then all of a sudden – a timeout is called. We’re going to a commercial break; the table is set.
Let The Teaching Begin
The ad starts off with a few “how to” search queries, the user changes the keyword until eventually, they settle on “How to get motivated”. On the screen, we see a few options, but they select a YouTube clip of the legendary John Wooden success speech. Chills.
[note: John Wooden is one of the all-time winners in sports. He coached the UCLA men’s basketball team to 10 NCAA Division 1 title in 12 years].
Google has now engaged us emotionally, we’re gripped and we’re watching intently. The guy who stood up for a refill and was heading towards the kitchen just slowed his pace, and now he’s dead in his tracks staring at the TV once again. Watch closely at how the search queries change and evolve. Google is teaching us how YouTube is a great solution for “how-to” questions.
Google wants you to make smart search queries – they want you to search “how to” related questions and they want you to look for “gyms near me.” They’re teaching us how we can use Google better by showing us exactly what types of search queries will give us the most satisfying results.
Flawlessly Incorporating Complimentary Products
Google flawlessly implements some of the most clever uses of short copy I’ve seen in a TV ad. The evolution of a search query reading “gyms open tomorrow,” only to be ever-so-slightly altered to “gyms open now,” is a powerful piece of copy. While teaching you, Google also wants to motivate you. And once you’re motivated Google will be here to help.
They are able to show off the Google Maps feature and bring you right to the gym. Without most of the audience being explicitly aware of it, Google has now introduced two of its other complimentary products to the teaching aspect of the search engine. Maps and YouTube compliment your searches because they are often the solution.
After the commercial comes to an end, we feel more empowered ourselves. We feel more motivated. Ready to pick up our phone and search for that 10km race next month. We’re motivated, and Google is here to help.
In 60 seconds Google taught us how to search better using more accurate search queries, use maps to find our desired locations, and utilize YouTube for all of our how to needs. Most importantly, they motivated us to do it.
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