My favourite campaign is Google India's 2013 'Reunion': NetElixir CEO

Which is your favourite campaign and why?

My personal favorite is Google India’s 2013 “Reunion” campaign for Google Search in which the next generation utilises its digital prowess to identify precisely a location in a different country to reach out to her grandfather’s friend. The sensitivity with which Google entwined its sophisticated search capabilities around the sentiments of the characters was a real heart stealer.

On what parameters did you base your decision?

The video takes the “risk” of dealing with a sensitive theme and pulls it off with elan, thereby creating poignant and impactful messages that convey the core product value in an elegant manner. It is moving to see how the doubts of the seeker convert into an affirmative search with local terms like jhajhariya. The campaign is a complete package as it combines engrossing storytelling, direct customer connect, clarity on the product features to be communicated and the intended target audience.

Udayan Bose, CEO and Founder NetElixir

What do you think was the key idea the campaign was trying to drive home?

In my opinion, the campaign clearly highlighted how digital is ushering in a boundaryless world; internet search bridging geographical borders and bringing hearts together. One subtle idea which the campaign carried was taking offline into an online mode. Here we have a grandfather sharing his childhood memoirs and prized photograph with his granddaughter who in turn seeks the digital search validity of these memoirs. It is the perfect epitome of “phygital” customer experience.

Did this campaign inspire any of your work? What are your takeaways from the campaign?

We are a premier partner of Google, and I remember watching the campaign with my Google agency team in New York. Some of the key inspirations from the campaign have been that one should never overlook the human element, understand one’s target audience well and invest in the social fabric of one’s target audience. 

Since the message was so powerful, do you feel the campaign overshadowed the brand?

The theme is close to most of our hearts, the situation is one that all of us can relate to and the ad leaves the viewers with a positive and a happy feeling. The campaign also highlights the human face of data and technology.

What else could have been done to make the campaign better?

If we could have time-travelled the ad campaign for 2020s, we could have seen a larger virality for the ad. It would have been very interesting to gauge the responses from our digital natives. 

The power of ‘phygital’

MY TAKE: It combines engrossing storytelling, direct customer connect & clarity on product explanation

Brand: Google India

Year of launch: 2013

Agency: Ogilvy India