On November 8, 2016, Dnyan Yewatkar left his home on a bicycle in search of human connection. For the next four years, Dnyan would circle the planet to spread Gandhi’s message, relying not on money, but on the kindness of strangers to complete his journey. When language becomes a barrier, Google Translate steps in to help Dnyan find a place to stay, a meal to eat, or a kind word to share.

While some might quantify a bicycle trek by the miles traveled or the nights slept on the road, Dnyan’s journey is better measured by the richness of communication he shares with everyone he meets along his journey. As Dnyan travels, he meets people, spends time with them, and shares his full self, with the hopes that some piece of him remains as he travels onward. Dnyan has a simple belief that friendship, love, and peace are sequential.

“Search On” is an episodic storytelling series, about the world-changing, life- saving, mind-boggling, heart-rending, human-connecting, faith-affirming, delight-bringing ways that people from around the world are solving problems with the help of Google technology. We create a short documentary and an interactive online article on Google’s main corporate page, about.google. Our mission is to tell the stories of people using Google technology to solve big problems, answer hard questions, and take action.

Our participants are ordinary people with extraordinary vision, with Dnyan being an exemplary human with such a vision. Our stories focus on people who had an idea, who saw an opportunity, or who weren’t quite satisfied with the way things were, so they asked a question and set out on a quest in search of better answers.

“Search On” pairs narrative storytelling and real-life users, who are doing incredible things with the help of Google technology. This creates a multi-layered relevance to the brand. First, it elevates and heroes ordinary Google users doing extraordinary things, which provides relatable characters for our audience to identify with and be inspired by. Secondly, it reinforces the value of Google products for aiding everyone in doing more with their time and talents. Lastly, the characters themselves show intimately how their own quest for answers and solutions to big problems reflect the same spirit by which Google was founded.

We launched “Pedaling for Peace” with a global press outreach and an integrated campaign across social, paid media, and multiple marketing activations. The 16-minute documentary film lived on YouTube, the about.google stories page, and in various social posts.

Our interactive online article, hosted on about.google, catalogues the highs and lows of Dnyan’s journey, and the critical role that Google Translate plays in helping Dnyan connect with people. Readers can also view a series of mini-stories that showcase some of the most important people Dnyan has met along the way.

Dnyan’s story came to life through a multi-channel campaign, including a five-part series across organic social (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), global homepage promotion, executive promotion, press, and paid social media across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Our paid and organic promotions drove users to our editorial and a cut down version of the film.

Since launch, we’ve received 7.8M views on YouTube, 1.3M editorial views, over 1.8M owned social impressions, and over 41.7K engagements on Instagram.