Google has announced details of its first major above-the-line advertising push in the UK.
The Gone Google campaign, which has already appeared in the US, aims to encourage more businesses to switch to Google Enterprise apps such as email accounts, documents, mapping and security services. Google claims that more than two million businesses across 100 countries have adopted its branded apps so far, and the latest marketing push is designed to further boost uptake.
Ads will now appear in six more target markets – the UK, France, Singapore, Australia, Japan and Canada. In terms of UK campaign specifics, the Guardian reports that Google Enterprise is planning to hit external billboards, newspapers like the Economist and the Daily Telegraph and websites such as FT.com, Silicon.com and Times Online.
Google explains ad creative
Dave Armstrong, head of marketing for Google Enterprise for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explained the creative aspect of the marketing push. "It is the first and very highly visible integrated ad campaign that we have run," he said. "Gone Google is a concept that we are at a tipping point where you [businesses] need to move to a new model."
Confirmation of Google's advertising campaign came just days after it posted better than expected financial results. America's most popular search engine announced that revenues reached £3.65 billion in the third quarter of 2009, which is a seven per cent increase on the same period of 2008. Commenting on the results, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that "[we] now feel confident about investing heavily in our future".
In the following video, Google gives a taste of what to expect in the Gone Google ad campaign:
Google ads targets UK market