Google Expands “Going Google” Enterprise Ad Campaign

Oct 19, 2009 at 9:51am ET by Greg Sterling

Google has decided to extend and pick up the pace of its “Going Google” (Apps and enterprise products) traditional media campaign. The ads were first launched in August in four cities with billboards. Now Google says the campaign will be expanded globally to “the U.K., France, Canada, Japan, Australia and Singapore” and appear “in train stations such as Paddington, La Défense and Shinagawa, and at airports in Singapore, Toronto, Dallas and beyond . . .”

Here’s a promotional video (”campaign preview”):

The campaign seeks to establish the credibility of Google’s enterprise offerings by naming companies that have adopted them, that have “Gone Google.” And, yes, it’s about stealing customers from Microsoft’s more traditional software products. But that’s obvious.

What’s more interesting to me is that Google is now much less inhibited about doing traditional media advertising, which it has done for Maps, Transit, the LBC, Chrome, Book Search (court-ordered) and AdWords/AdSense. There’s also a ton of advertising going on for Android phones, of course, although that’s being paid for by Google’s partners: T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, HTC, Motorola and others. Every ad for Android is indirectly an ad for Google.

Now that Google acknowledges traditional media spending and promotion are often important to build awareness, we’re likely to see the company do more of this sort of thing in the future. In my mind, it marks a significant change in Google’s attitude toward media and advertising. It’s also consistent with the “maturation” of the company.

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, and writes a personal blog Screenwerk, examining the broader world of media and advertising. He also posts at a Local Mobile Search, which is focused on the mobile Internet.

See more articles by Greg Sterling >

Share, Bookmark & Discuss This Article
More:

See more stories like this in the Members Library! Check out the Google: Apps For Your Domain, Google: Business Issues sections of the Members Library where this story is filed. Members also get access to exclusive video content, a members-only weekly & monthly newsletter, plus more. Check out all the benefits!

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!