If you saw the Superbowl, you might have caught the commercial for Google. While it wasn’t the flashiest or funniest, it was notable for one reason–Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, has long argued that this kind of advertising is a waste of time.
Years ago he dismissed brand advertising, declaring it, “The last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America.” So what was Google’s commercial doing?
Promoting the Google brand.
Schmidt must have been pretty excited about it because he even went so far as to tweet a tease about the spot writing, “Can't wait to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter (someone said "Hell has indeed frozen over.")
Of course after it ran he minimized the whole effort blogging:
If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you'll have seen a video from Google called "Parisian Love". In fact you might have watched it before, because it's been on YouTube for over three months. We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact. But we liked this video so much, and it's had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience.
Yes, it wasn’t really advertising or promoting the Google brand. Google just had an extra three million dollars lying around and wanted to share their video. Sure.
Sometimes the fantasy that traditional media are irrelevant and no longer work collide with reality. Search is maturing and Google is a maturing brand within search. It needs to work to remain top of mind. Brand advertising on a reach-oriented medium can help.
Preliminary estimates suggest that an estimated 107 million people watched the game. Estimates put the game’s television share at over 50%, perhaps surpassing the M*A*S*H finale in 1983.
Turns out the spot was a good investment. Perhaps when it comes to Internet CEOs, it is do as they do, not as they say.
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