Braatzy’s Thoughts

Google’s Superbowl ad speaks to the net generation

Not many would have predicted that Google would launch an ad during the Superbowl.  The hints, yesterday, from Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, built curios expectations, but there was still a lot of mystery around what the ad would feature. Not surprisingly, Google told a digital story focused on their bread and butter…Search. 

As @ChrisBrogan tweeted, Google did it in a way that was Illustrative, told a story, demonstrated features, and maintained simplicity. 

The story Google told, is what brings this ad into a category of “elite marketing”.  In 52 seconds Google was able to tell a story about adventure, love, and passion that the Net Generation can relate to and wants to relate to.  Google understands their target audience and developed a story that excites, inspires and provides hope for the net generation.  Enjoy! 

Google - Search on

 

Dan Zarrella's recent blog post resonated with me. I always discuss the importance of entertainment, value and relevance in viral marketing because many companies and marketers rush to put together viral campaigns that are shocking, evoke emotion, reaching millions of people without considering their target market, and the product/messages they are trying to sell. A viral campaign that is entertaining with no relation to the brand or audience is not going to have the intended effect.

Relevance also increases the likelihood of a msg going viral. Founding netgen was a direct result of dissecting viral marketing and social media success, realizing the power that this tactic and medium harness.

Social media provides us with the tools to pool information with our friends and others who are interested in similar things (relevance). We always take great pleasure in being the ones who find the video, picture or website that will bring value and entertainment to our friends and followers.

The net generation is very receptive to this form of marketing due to the credibility of the sender; someone they trust, follow and friend. The targeted audience is much more likely to pay attention to the message, pass it on and have a more positive view of your brand.

Overall, viral marketing is one of the best tactics to connect with the net generation, but companies and marketers must always consider how they are offering entertainment, value and relevance to their intended target.

PS - Dan Zarella is a huge Zombie fan. This is how he can show the importance of combined relevance in marketing messages that will resonate with him.

My chart would have cycling replace zombies...

Braatzy