IPHONE PEOPLE TALKING PIXEL 2

TitleIPHONE PEOPLE TALKING PIXEL 2
BrandGOOGLE
Product/ServiceMOBILE
Category A03. Online: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Entrant GOOGLE CREATIVE LAB London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation GOOGLE CREATIVE LAB London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production ANYWAYS CREATIVE LIMITED London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Google Creative Lab Google Creative Lead

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

iPhone People Talking Pixel is a collection of bite-sized animated films, featuring the unscripted opinions of long-standing iPhone users, who’ve decided to try out Pixel 2. We took the traditional notion of the testimonial and turned it on its head to create entertaining content.

Background

Although lots of People continue to ask more of their phones each year, many of them sleepwalk their way into annual upgrades without knowing what other options are out there. Our brief was to increase consideration of Pixel 2 among iPhone users.

Describe the creative idea

We gave 9 iPhone users a Pixel 2 for a week and captured their feedback on key differentiating features - like camera, stereo speakers and ease of switching. Because nobody likes to listen to a testimonial we set out to reimagine how we could do this. We invited world-class animators to bring these voices to life, capturing the spirit of the speaker in a variety of styles from 2D to 3D, stop motion to papercut.

Describe the strategy

We wanted to give potential phone switchers a glimpse of the Pixel 2. Knowing potential switchers trust people like them over traditional ads or paid influencers, we gave iPhone users a Pixel 2 to try for a week to see what they thought. iPhone People Talking Pixel is a collection of short animated films, featuring the unscripted opinions of iPhone users, who’ve decided to try out Pixel 2. The films aim to open the minds of iPhone users to reconsider which phone to buy next. To do this effectively, they needed to feel authentic and impartial. But to capture the target audience’s attention in the first place, they also needed to stand out from all the other tech reviews and testimonials. We set to turn the testimonial on it's head and make them into something more engaging and even shareable.

Describe the execution

We invited an eclectic mix of animators to bring the opinions to life. The challenge was not to imitate the actual person (they were only given the audio), but instead capture the spirit of what was being said and interpret it in an engaging way, whilst keeping it warm, human and relatable. The result was a diverse range of work - from stop motion to papercut, from witty to whimsical. Although each film had its own distinct style, they all worked together as part of the same campaign.

Describe the outcome

The first 4 films of the series launched as 4x 30s YouTube pre-rolls on 7 March 2018. The pre-rolls target people accessing YouTube from older phones who are more likely to be thinking about an upgrade. After 4 weeks of being live (7-14 March), the 4 films had been viewed a total of more than 2 million times. A brand study showed the films increasing consideration among iPhone users of Pixel 2 by up to 9%.