Challenge:
AI has quickly become the difference-maker in business. And while Google is a challenger in the consumer AI category, there's one audience that prefers the AI built right into all their favorite Google apps: small businesses.
We saw an opportunity
to shift the AI narrative from the technology or output to empowering the humans behind the 34 million understaffed, under-resourced small businesses in the U.S
Small business owners
need AI's value more than anyone, and only Google Workspace gives them the tools to overcome challenges, achieve their goals, and do more of what they love.
Idea:
What small business owner expects to be featured in a Super Bowl commercial? Certainly not the 50 we talked to. But on February 9, there they were.
The approach
put people at the heart of "50 States, 50 Stories," with small businesses as the local heroes of each state.
Instead of one national Super Bowl ad,
we went hyper-local. One local broadcast media buy in each U.S. state.
Then we amplified beyond broadcast, throwing the full weight of Google behind local businesses through our social channels, digital takeovers like NYTimes.com, a national print campaign, and multiple PR efforts.
Results:
"50 States, 50 Stories" generated 91.3 million impressions across national and local media.
This resulted in 183,000 unique visitors to the microsite in the first week, with much better engagement than usual. The campaign got 160,000 unique mentions on social media and a ton of positive press coverage.
And beyond reach and impressions, the campaign delivered real business results. Trial conversion rates for Google Workspace increased by 20x vs. past campaigns.
But the best part? Our 50 small businesses saw significant exposure and growth too.
Texas' Bison Coolers sales doubled and web traffic more than tripled. Ohio's Sweets and Meats had a record week in sales. And Tennessee's Delgado Guitars got so much web traffic, their site crashed.
The campaign achieved significant impact:
91.3
Million Initial impressions across national and local media
71
Million+ Social media impressions
180
Thousand+ Social engagements
249K+ Unique visitors to our microsite
10x Higher engagement
20x Higher trial conversion rate
130+ Earned local stories