Black-owned Friday, a collaboration between Google and the U.S. Black Chambers Inc., emerged as a vital initiative to support Black-owned businesses during the busy holiday shopping season. This year we want to sustain support for Black-owned businesses throughout the year.

Brief:

Our goal was to expand Black-owned Friday's influence beyond a single day in a single year, transforming it into a long-lasting movement that provides assets for Black-owned businesses and support for them from consumers.

Objectives:

1. Build a moment for Black-owned businesses to tap into, giving them access to the star power normally only available to big brands

2. Drive measurable growth for featured businesses through increased traffic, sales, and brand recognition

3. Shift consumer behavior, inspiring consistent support for Black-owned businesses beyond calendar moments

4. Enhance Google's reputation as an ally to Black-owned businesses, bolstering its commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the marketplace.

Creative Idea:

We collaborated with Grammy-awarded artist Ludacris, and rap superstar Flo Milli to create a song that inspired consumers to support Black-owned businesses every day. The song formed the basis of an interactive music video, allowing viewers to decide which Black-owned business our heroes would visit next, while simultaneously enabling them to shop 100+ products from 70+ featured Black-owned businesses.

Influence on Brand Message Amplification:

The creative insight emphasized the power of choice and personalized engagement in driving support for Black-owned businesses. Showcasing real small business owners, influencers, and celebrity cameos, the film was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, a city with a significant Black-owned business presence. The interactive music video placed control in the viewer's hands. Each option was a Google search that viewers could use in their own day-to-day lives when they’re deciding to shop. This creative approach effectively amplified the brand message, encouraging consumers to embrace the

With a 30% increase in Black-owned businesses over pre-pandemic numbers, we identified a pattern in search interest for these businesses, peaking during Black Friday, Juneteenth, and Black History Month. We targeted conscious shoppers and the broader consumer demographic, aiming to connect with organizations promoting diversity and inclusion in the marketplace.

Leveraging social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where users discover new brands and create content using music, our interactive music video and original track were perfectly suited for engaging users on these platforms.

To transition seasonal support for Black-owned businesses into a year-round habit, we crafted an interactive music video featuring Ludacris and Flo Milli, showcasing products from 70+ Black-owned businesses. We utilized Google's Black-owned business badge to highlight the ease of finding and supporting these businesses. Additionally, we engaged influencers and celebrity talent to amplify our message, drive social conversation, and create a lasting impact on consumer behavior.

While Black-owned businesses typically receive heightened support during Black History Month and Juneteenth, they struggle to maintain consumer attention during high-spending periods like Black Friday. Our challenge was to strategically redirect a portion of the massive spending potential ($9B+ online in 2022) during Black Friday towards these businesses.

The Black-owned Friday campaign creatively repositions Black Friday, a historically discount-driven and big-box store focused shopping event, into a call-to-action to support Black-owned businesses. By leveraging the power of compelling creative that is helmed by well-known musicians and that puts real businesses at its core, this initiative has successfully driven awareness and shifted consumer behavior.

Creative challenge: devise a compelling and sustainable campaign that makes supporting Black-owned businesses an exciting and easy choice for consumers — particularly challenging during the crowded holiday season.

Solution: We rebranded Black Friday as Black-owned Friday, a day dedicated to searching, shopping, and supporting Black-owned businesses. To cut through the noise of the holiday season, we worked with high-profile musicians to develop original musical tracks about supporting Black-owned businesses, brought to life with engaging and interactive videos. We developed comprehensive social plans to amplify the campaign and increase engagement. All of our visuals were built around Google’s Black-owned business badge, building equity in how businesses can self-identify as Black-owned, making it easier for consumers to find them.

Execution:

Amplifying Small Business Voices Through Celebrity Partnerships:

Recognizing the need for celebration over pity, we chose music to bring this campaign to life. We enlisted the talents and star power of Wyclef Jean, Ari Lennox, T-Pain, Ludacris, Normani, and Flo Milli to create original songs encouraging consumers to shop Black-owned. Many of the musicians are business owners themselves, strengthening their connection to this campaign and making them perfect spokespeople for the cause. Real businesses are the heart of the creative — whether the subject of jingles from Wyclef Jean (Vibez Juice & Vegan Cafe in Jersey City, NJ) and Ari Lennox (Grounded, an ecommerce plant store) in 2020, or one of over 100 businesses whose products were shoppable in the videos in 2021 and 2022. The music and videos were a celebration of the breadth and creativity of Black-owned businesses, while also leveling the playing field by giving them exposure typically reserved for larger brands with deep pockets.

Evolving Messaging for Sustained Impact:

The campaign's messaging evolved to encourage consumers to not only turn Black Friday into Black-owned Friday, but also to support Black-owned businesses all year round. Our guiding insight in 2020 was that Black-owned businesses were closing at over twice the rate as white-owned businesses during the pandemic, but by 2022, the number of Black-owned businesses was 30% over pre-pandemic levels. This shift allowed us to expand our message from being focused on a single day into one that focused on searching and shopping Black-owned every day. Our music videos in 2021 and 2022 showcased products from a wide-range of businesses to reinforce that whatever you’re shopping for, you can find it from a Black-owned business.

We employed an immersive approach that allowed viewers to actively engage with our interactive music video, guiding them through various Black-owned businesses, such as a Yoga Studio, Bookstore, and Burger spot. This offered a genuine, experiential connection with the featured businesses and products, which were available for purchase.

The campaign took place over a concentrated period surrounding Black Friday, with continuous support from over 70 Black-owned businesses, musicians, athletes, and influencers, all of whom actively promoted the campaign.

To achieve broad reach and impact, we placed billboards in LA, NYC, and ATL, featuring not just the artists but featured businesses. The website itself was promoted on the Google homepage. Any by leveraging the artists' fanbases and social media presence, we encouraged user-generated content and inspired influencers to share their own experiences supporting Black-owned businesses.

This execution emphasized the power of choice, motivating viewers to consciously support BOBs all year round.

The campaign garnered significant attention, with 429M+ reach across 80+ publications, 14M+ YouTube views within two weeks, and 200k+ social engagements—a 267% Y/Y increase. This led to an amplified conversation around Black-owned businesses.

And people were shopping, too. 1.2M+ visited the Black-owned Friday interactive video microsite with 30K+ clicks to learn more about the featured products and businesses. Moreover, 1.3k+ videos and posts shared on social media utilized the "Buying All Black" track, contributing to a 99% positive sentiment.

During the two-week campaign, the query "shop black owned" saw a 104% increase compared to the previous week, marking the second-highest spike in 2022. Viewers embraced the campaign's message, supporting Black-owned businesses beyond Black Friday and throughout the holiday season, fostering long-lasting behavioral change.