Google – This Is Family For the 2018 PRIDE Goole Pixel 2 lounched a challenge: "Question Your Lens." We answered that challenge by questioning the most traditional image of all—the family portrait.
LONG STORY SHORT
The Insight:
In the LGBTQ+ community, "family" carries a double meaning. Asking "Are they family?" is code for "Are they one of us?"… ’a password’ for safety and belonging.
The Execution:
For the Google Pixel 2, we used the "Question Your Lens" platform to validate this hidden truth. We challenged the traditional definition of a "Family Photo Album" by focusing entirely on the concept of Chosen Family. THIS IS FAMILY campaign turned the Pixel 2 into a tool for cultural validation during Pride.
My role:
I served as an Art Director for Google Pixel’s #ThisIsFamily campaign, supporting the creative vision from concept to execution.
While I helped with the massive effort to launch the message, my passion truly came alive behind the camera, capturing authentic reactions to this campaign on the new Google Pixel 2. The work resonated instantly: on June 25, 2018, a carousel featuring those images captured with the Pixel camera phone became Google’s highest-performing Instagram post of all time."
The work was a massive success, adding a new dimension to the "Question Your Lens" series and generating Google’s highest-performing Instagram post to date.
The campaign was a creative embodiment of one of Google’s brand pillars: “Build for everyone.”
Instead of “rainbow washing” their messaging, we leveraged the brand to expand conversations on inclusivity.
Collaborating with a cross-functional internal team, and Illustrator @HeyRooney, this award winning campaign was a true celebration with color, parties through Price parade around the US.
AWARDS
#ThisIsFamily by Google and Firewood Marketing, has been selected as an honorable mention in the Creativity category as part of the 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards.
The campaign was featured on fastcompany.com on April 8 and appeared in the 2019 May issue as well.
Google’s highest-performing Instagram post
Shortly after its publication, a carousel post featuring the campaign became Google’s highest-performing Instagram post at the time. (June 25, 2018)
CREDITS
Agency Network: Firewood Marketing
Published/Aired: June 4, 2018
CD: Laurel Stark Akman
Lead AD: Angelina Springer
AD: Orlando Bogado
Lead Copywriter: Ryan Rogers
Copywriter: Eli Johnson
Illustration: @HeyRooney
RESULTS
From T-shirts and full-scale parade floats to social media content and stickers, the campaign spanned multiple platforms and six languages, focused on creating a sense of belonging and community, and sought to redefine what it means to be connected.
Within eight weeks, the campaign generated 2.5M video views, 833K site visits, and 600K social interactions.
For the 2018 Pride, Google’s #ThisIsFamily encouraged everyone to post on social media about the people who make up their family (no matter how they defined it) and to donate to nonprofits like PFLAG, It Gets Better and GLAAD. Google.org pledged to match up to $100,000 in total in donations to these three organizations during the month of June.
That’s not the only way Google celebrated Pride. In typical Google fashion, we had a bit of fun across Google products:
In Google Maps, Pride parade routes were paved with rainbows.
Rainbow "easter eggs" were scattered through Google Search and G Suite, and users could join the fun from thier desktop by switching your Gmail to a Pride theme for the month of June.
Google Play Newsstand had a special feature page for Pride-related coverage.
On YouTube, we celebrated the LGBTQ+ creators who are #ProudToCreate a better future with their imagination, creativity, talent, and truth through Google’s YouTube Spotlight Channel, Twitter, and Instagram.
Google helped businesses declare their establishments "LGBTQ+ Friendly" or "Transgender Safe Space" on their business listings in Google Maps and Google Search.
One year on from our initial donation to the LGBT Center of New York in collaboration with the National Parks Foundation, Google.org is contributing another $500,000 (for a total of $1.5 Million) to the Center to help with the digitization of LGBTQ+ history. The project is called Stonewall Forever, and we need your help to find, preserve, and share the untold stories of LGBTQ+ history.
Google Arts & Culture had a dedicated Pride collection celebrating LGBTQ+ history, with 20 exhibits and over 2,700 artifacts, part of which comes from the Stonewall Forever project.