Google, a week back, launched a new ad - Reunion. The ad is conceptualized by O&M Mumbai. It shows how somebody with a little help from Google Search can find almost anything and anybody.
A granddaughter reunites her grandfather and his long lost childhood friend who was separated due to the Indo-Pak partition. Thanks to Google. (of-course!)
Now we know that if an intelligent company like Google is releasing an ad for a market where it is already the largest player(Market Share ~ 97%), trust me, it must be upto something! But the question is, what?
The answer to this question according to me will come to surface eventually as I disclose a few more key insights.
The ad was first published on YouTube and it went viral, garnering 4 million views even before its debut on Television on 15th November, 2013. The web community responded by reviewing the ad, posting their comments & criticism, reviewing the India-Pakistan visa restrictions et al.
It's a heart-warming ad, says most of the people out there. It has struck an emotional chord. Some people are confused as to why the ad and are asking Google why? I believe the answer to why Google released an ad lies in the future and not present. The second largest country in terms of population is also the second largest in the number of mobile phones. Increasingly, these phones are not just phones but smart devices which are used to access Internet and other rich multimedia content from anywhere and anytime.
Also, a study finds that the online traffic generated by our country, 62% traffic is generated from smart devices and rest from desktops.
The reason lies here. The major way of accessing content on a handheld device is through apps and not via the browser. People used to search news on Google (which is relatively easier on a desktop, opening a browser and typing-in 'latest news' or 'finance news') but on a smart phone people generally access content through 'apps' like an app from TOI. This is because it is relatively easier to tap twice to open a news app and the in-app experience is much better and customized accordingly. These apps, which are downloaded majorly from the App Stores(or are sometimes native), are increasingly taking place of Google on smart phones. Also, the experience via an app is much more visual and rich. Now rather than firing up a browser and searching for ' a vegetarian restaurant in Aundh - Baner area in Pune which serves alcohol' somebody can do the same via Zomato app(Zomato is website listing the restaurants all over India) which can also use my dynamic location to give me more recommendations. This leaves Google out of the way.
Google via its 'Reunion' ad show how Google can help you with all its new services like Maps, travel bookings, weather etc. You need not open any other app. Google has started offering its services in an integrated manner. They call it 'Google Now'.
Previously, Google primarily targeted desktop searching. With the advent of mobile phones, it was evident to Google that mobile phone manufacturers can and will keep their own search engines embedded in their mobile phones which would be a great loss to Google. Google countered this by launching its own mobile OS, Android (One of the reasons). Rest is history.
Findings tell us that a certain percentage of people who are joining this mobile revolution are the ones who have little or no experience in using desktop computers. If these people get used to accessing content via the app experience, getting them back to Google would prove to be very difficult. And hence this ad by Google.
Out there its not an easy world. Its a tough competition and Google has always shown promise. Let's see how much this ad will contribute towards Google's long term mission.
This article takes excerpts from various articles taken from the internet.
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