2023 was the moment to make a concerted effort to drive potential switchers to Google's suite of devices. Pixel was the best that it had ever been, picking up industry awards like CNET’s “Editor’s Choice” and Android Authority’s “Best Phone”, and we had seen increasing apathy towards a stagnating iPhone, however, for a lot of people primed to switch, Pixel still wasn't even part of the conversation.

We wanted to insert Google Pixel into the conversation and generate interest in our devices. We wanted to create content that gets people talking and reframes Pixel in a mass audience’s consideration set as premium and different from other phone manufacturers. And we wanted to do it in a fun way that was different from other brands - without promoting hostility or tribalism.

So, how do we insert Pixel into the conversation with iPhone? By literally inserting Pixel into conversations with iPhone. We personified both Pixel and iPhone as best friends, placing them in a series of videos against culturally relevant and everyday scenarios which highlight Pixel’s technical superiority in a lighthearted way. And we made sure that the friendship wasn't limited to the runtime of the video(s) - once #BestPhonesForever was made public, we engaged with excited members of #TeamPixel, engaged iPhone owners, and everyone in-between with the same friendliness that Pixel displayed in our videos through community management.

To insert Pixel into the greater mobile device conversation with a competitive campaign, we knew that we needed to follow three key rules: 1) we have to place iPhone right alongside Pixel so our device could be seen as a viable alternative 2) we have to recognize iPhone as the category defining device that it is and 3) we have to celebrate Pixel’s inarguable strengths so they can not be refuted. Social video was identified as the ideal format to communicate the campaign’s nuanced humor in a sharable and engaging way with a mass audience.

Five #BestPhonesForever videos were created at the outset of the campaign that each spoke to differentiating features that were exclusive to Pixel. To create a conversation-worthy moment, those videos were all published on June 21st across Google Pixel channels on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X. Our go-to-market strategy accounted for the various potential reactions that this would incite, as we planned for positive comments from #TeamPixel, negativity from iPhone fans, and everyone in-between. Community managers then engaged with users across all platforms, supported with an AI-powered reply generator that was trained in the campaign's same friendly tone, whether they showed excitement, confusion, and/or displeasure. We quickly observed that audiences across all platforms were clamoring for more content, so we supported the campaign with paid media, and created nine additional videos throughout 2023 which spoke to both culturally relevant moments and key moments for Pixel.

#BestPhonesForever saw incredible results and was met with an effusive reaction from both our loyal #TeamPixel base, as well as a mass audience, as we engaged in over 18K conversations around the campaign.

The campaign increased Pixel interest and primed switchers by driving 4x more social mentions/comparisons of Pixel + Apple, along with substantial increases in online search activity (+191%), consideration (+2.12pts), follower growth (+148K) and positive sentiment + neutral sentiment (+15pts, when compared to other competitive campaigns).

Not only did #BestPhonesForever see more than 530M views (+72% more than Pixel’s 2023 Super Bowl campaign) and 5.9M engagements across Google social channels, it also supported year-over-year market share growth for Pixel.