A Year In Search (Google Zeitgeist 2014)
Issue 34 | March 2015
Agency
R/GA London
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Rodrigo Sobral Group Account Director: Remi Abayomi Creative Director:Ricardo Amorim Associate Creative Director, Design: Paris Lawrence Associate Creative Director, Copy: Emma Lightfoot Copywriter: Luke Wicker Designer: Wilf Eddings Senior Visual Designer: Clara Tudela, Muriel Bougherdani & Craig Jones Creative Director, Film: Paul Kennerley Senior Copywriter, Film: Pete Brown Group Director, Film: Alex Wills Junior Creatives: Abdou Cisse & Akwasi Poku
Production Team
Executive Producer: Jai Tedeschi Senior Producer: Souad Setti, Ali Proctor-Walsh & Nicola Spence
Other Credits
Senior Planner: Lachlan Williams Technical Director: Phil Hawksworth Senior Open Standards Developer: Andy Shora & Dom Geargeoura
Date
December 2014
Background
Google had lost a little of it's brand love in the last few years. People saw the business more than the personality and lack a powerful emotional connection. Every year, Google made a campaign to be a part of the world's reflection on the year that was. Increasingly, other brands were cluttering up this space making it imperative that Google stood out and delivered something genuinely unique.
The goal was to increase brand love, be a part of popular culture at the end of the year and to turn Google's utility and function into an emotional connection.
Idea
In 2014, we made trillions of searches. Hidden in these searches is a little bit of who we are. The small everyday things sit right next to the biggest global sporting events. When you look at it properly, search data is a valuable survey of humanity. The strategy was to use this rich source of insight to offer a unique and never before seen view of the times that we are living in.
The team worked with Google Engineers and Data Analysts to organise and synthesise millions of lines of data, crafting them into insights. They were actively digging beneath the obvious layers that other media, brands and social can already tell us.
These data insights were turned into short stories of search, taking them out into the world and sharing them through a fully integrated campaign.
First, an inspirational film was produced that brought people into the idea. Then, they were invited to explore the stories in greater depth in a responsive site translated into 42 different languages. Then the stories were released out into the world through social, media and partners. Finally, the celebrations during NYE in the middle of New York city were joined with the biggest digital screen in the northern hemisphere. A monument to the year in the middle of the collective emotions of 1million people.
Results
Positive sentiment for Google was increased by 26% during the campaign.
The stories became a part of popular culture with over 30M views of the film, 10M site visits, 2.6B social impressions, coverage in every major media globally and participation from some of the most influential pop culture figures and brands including Justin Timberlake, Nicki MInaj, Game of Thrones, Miami Heat and Lego.
They set out to offer a perspective of the year that only Google could tell, and they ended up creating a totally new storytelling platform.