Google has made ads before, some of the amusing, a few of them bewildering. The two new ads for its Google Pixel smartphone falls squarely on the latter group. But more than the fact that these videos have nothing immediately related to the Pixel, other than the fact that they are supposed be about the Pixel, they do point to the one unsaid thing: that Google is really gearing up to take on other OEMs in the smartphone market rat race.
Never before has Google been known to pour this much marketing muscle, not to mention money, on a single product. It immediately calls to mind the amount of marketing that the likes of Apple, Samsung, LG, and other have been doing for similar devices. The sizable investment in this not so cheap avenue clearly shows that the Pixel is no Nexus.
Ironically, the ads really do nothing to inspire interest in the Pixel, much less a burning desire to wait in line for hours just to get one at launch day. The ads are ambiguous at best but do try to convey a subtle message: that the smartphone is less a hard, cold, device and more an extension of your humanity.
The tag lines are also somewhat ironic. No part of the smartphone is actually done “by you”. Neither the final design, unlike say, a Moto Maker smartphone, nor the experience. Instead, everything is actually dictated “by Google”. It’s as if Google simply picked “by you” just so it could have a marketing phrase to parallel “by Google”, which is really what it wants to emphasize on.
The minimalist ads that basically say nothing is almost reminiscent of some of Apple’s ads, which usually try to inject a human touch to its devices. Of course, Apple ads have the advantage of people already knowing what an iPhone is. If you haven’t heard of a Google Pixel, however, this add will tell you nothing. Except that it’s made by Google. Not by you.
