Since the social age of cancel culture, BLM & #MeToo, many people are afraid of what asking certain questions says about them. So Google wanted to build understanding and allyship by providing a space for people to explore identity and difference on behalf of themselves and others. Every user’s quest for knowledge is a step towards a kinder, more united UK.

We identified two key product insights. When people turn to Google with their “confessional” Searches, (e.g. ‘is it ok to say wagwan’) it's a moment of vulnerable curiosity. While Autocomplete, Google’s drop-down suggestions of other related common questions, opens the door to introducing other issues. Together, the two formed an opportunity to create wider understanding around issues of identity and inequality particularly.

The brief was to create a social video that got people adopting an ‘allyship’ mentality, while driving social views and engagement and shares.

We created ‘Ally Complete’, a mini series where the nation's most loved, diverse voices demonstrate allyship by tackling common Search questions about each other’s race, religion, gender and sexuality, proving #ItsOKtoask.

Occasionally they would know the answer, often they’d turn to Google to check, highlighting the role of curiosity in allyship. As evidence of the powerful part Google plays, all of our talent commented on how glad they were people were asking these questions about minorities, and how they hoped more people would come to Google with these questions.

We researched, selected and prepared carefully to ensure our talent pairings would have organic chemistry and feel comfortable taking on the challenge together. As you can see in the films, their chemistry turns the awkwardness around the questions into moments of understanding and connection, demonstrating exemplary allyship.

Talent played a fundamental role in the campaign strategy, from using recognisable faces from diverse communities featured in the YouTube Hero videos to drive clicks and views, to using more niche talent to tap into their communities, adding credibility and authenticity when discussing more specific topics and themes such as sexualty, gender and race.

We enlisted a cast of 11 micro-influencers to carry the campaign message across Twitter & Instagram; tasked to create content that felt authentic to their communities around issues that mattered to them.

Assets were created for platforms; natural production, typography for sound-off viewers and utilising specific formats to drive deeper understanding of the campaign whilst sustaining engagement in channel.

The first phase of social campaign assets across owned and talent channels were synchronised alongside offline ATL spots, with supporting social content to sustain engagement from Sep 24th - Nov 22nd.

We opted for a broad mix of placements, focusing on formats that drove views and engagement:

YouTube - Trueview ads, alongside organic longform video - which was supported with media.

Facebook - Video, motion and statics highlighting the Searches from our talent.

Instagram - Video, Stories and Polling ads exploring the answers behind the Ally Complete hero films.

Twitter - Static & GIF questions from the Ally Complete and ATL film, prompting active participation in the campaign conversation.

Snapchat - Interactive SnapLens that challenges users on their knowledge alongside talent led reactions and responses from Ally Complete films.

On average our audience watched over 3 minutes across episode 1 & 2 totalling 410,158 hours, which equates to over 17k days of viewership. This view duration was +422% higher than our YouTube channel average.

Both episodes drove a combined 62k engagements, 2.5m impressions and 1,319 shares, more than doubling the average engagement we receive on these channels.

During the campaign we saw substantial increases in conversation (+213%), authorship (+200%) and impressions (+380%) on Twitter vs non-campaign periods.