We were briefed to create a UK launch experience for a product that had already been launched in North America. There was nothing that press and influencers didn’t already know about the Google Home and its features. What’s more, Amazon’s Echo already had a significant head start in the market. So, instead of competing head-on and repeating a familiar story, we decided to change the conversation to something that is increasingly on people’s minds… A conversation about how, until now, our relationship to the internet has been a solitary one, with only a remote connection to others.

Building on our insight, we developed the idea of this tech launch being less of a one-way screen based presentation and more of a social experience. We broke the traditional tech launch rules by creating a beautiful, aspirational home in which people were encouraged to put their phones down and be more ‘in the moment’. It was informal, human and warm, full of design details that were designed to bring a smile to the face and enjoyed together.

The main presentation was screen-free – just the presenter and product - with guests seated at round tables, enjoying a social dining experience. And the product demonstrations were more like informal conversations, conducted in the ‘rooms’ of Google’s stylised home, allowing guests to experience first-hand this social application of the internet in a variety of settings.