I was tasked by Jellyfish with leading Google UK‘s transformation on social media, from a bulletin board of product announcements into a much-loved brand, rooted in social media culture.
As social lead, I oversaw the implementation of a new social strategy for Google, including launching the brand on Instagram for the first time.
Google is a massive organisation – one of the biggest companies in the world. There are always products being released, features being unveiled, and updates to share.
It’s easy to see how you’d be tempted to turn Google’s social accounts into a news service.
However, the vast majority of users on social media are looking for entertainment and excitement and, when you think about it, so much of that can only happen because of Google.
Whether it’s answering questions, helping to keep our lives organised, or providing us with the tools and skills we need to achieve our ambitions, Google doesn’t power the functional (and slightly boring) stuff – it helps with the fun and exciting things in our lives too.
We shifted the focus from technical content and admin-based announcements, to identifying the ways Google plays an important (and underrated) role in the joy in our lives.
We then took these helpful moments, and dropped them right into the middle of internet culture.
The result was a playful reminder that Google isn’t a formulaic and functional business. It’s an exciting, creative brand, which plays a key role in so many areas of our lives.
After one year of the new approach, we’d increased engagement by 200% YoY, increased the number of posts beating our engagement rate benchmark by more than 2,500%, and driven a 35% increase in views for long-form video content on YouTube.