‘Google Assistant’ is Google’s digital assistant, helping people get answers and achieve things throughout their day with just their voice or a few simple taps. Launching in 2016, Google Assistant entered the category as a second-mover. Thanks in part to the launch of Google Home and its ongoing marketing spend, Google Assistant put itself on the map. In addition to awareness of Google Assistant, it is important that people understand the Google Assistant ecosystem, that it works on the phone and many other devices - both Google owned and brands like JBL, Lenovo and Sony. It is compatible with over 1,000 devices.

Our challenge was two-fold: (1) Grow awareness of Google Assistant and (2) grow comprehension of the Assistant as the core ingredient in an entire ecosystem of devices.

Awareness of digital assistants is growing, but comprehension is still low. People don’t understand the benefits, availability and ease of use of the Google Assistant, nor do they realise the breadth of devices it can be found on.

The only way we could really make someone care or understand the Google Assistant was to get them to trial it themselves in an environment that would be forever memorable.

People wanted a digital assistant to be local – it’s simple behavioural economics; we trust something that gets ‘us’, and it’s why two previous locally targeted campaigns of Google x Pride and Google x World Cup had performed so well – activating around passion points cut-through.

This time though, we needed to take it to the next level.

Winter Wonderland (WW) – London’s largest winter event - presented an opportunity to reach a large audience of 3.7M attendees (45% families).

We leveraged data from WW rights holder, IMG, to understand where Google products could enhance and add value to consumer’s experience.

From handy travel tips to where to eat nearby, Google Assistant would be available helping on the journey to WW. However, the partnership would culminate with the integration of Google Assistant into the event’s most popular and iconic attractions, The Big Wheel.

With high dwell time and several consumer touchpoints, the sponsorship of The Big Wheel allowed us to deliver product engagement showcasing Google Assistant’s capabilities through a range of hardware devices.

We extended the partnership to enhance the event’s payment system with Google’s Google Pay. As an event that’s usually 70% card payment, Google Pay set out to make payment across the event faster and simpler.

We created a first-ever voice activated experience, transforming The Big Wheel’s queue into an experiential attraction. Visitors could make it snow by saying “Hey Google, make it snow”, customise a hot chocolate and change the colour of the ride’s lights.

After exciting and educating visitors in the queue it was time for guests to try Google Assistant themselves. We created bespoke commands so guests could ask a fun fact about WW.

Google Pay’s integration streamlined payment across WW. 2019 saw the introduction of contactless payment and creation of ‘Tap n Ride’ access to rides, replacing tokens. The partnership launched to a guestlist of 220 Google press, influencers and hardware partners.

To drive awareness of the partnership, we ran DOOH in nearby Piccadilly Circus featuring WW related queries such as, “Hey Google, which way to Winter Wonderland?”. A digital partnership with TimeOut amplified the experience through video content and social.

We delivered brand and product engagement to 180,000 people. Google’s Assistant was asked 72,000 questions.

The activation increased awareness of Google Assistant from 84% to 96%, and future usage consideration rose from 60% to 80%. 80% of our exposed sample stated that the presence of Google Assistant added to their enjoyment of the ride.

Our campaign earned 17 pieces of coverage across national, local and trade press with a combined editorial reach of 127m. Our influencer engagement gathered more than 4m impressions and 100k Likes.