There is something almost theological about a technology company telling you that its latest product will help you stop using technology so much.
Google, which has spent two decades perfecting the art of capturing and monetizing human attention, is now positioning its Pixel 11 smartphone as an escape hatch from the very digital overwhelm that its core business depends upon. The campaign, called "Reclaim The Moment," was unveiled alongside the new device at the company's Made by Google showcase, and it makes the case that the smartest phone is one that lets you ignore it.
"People feel overwhelmed by the constant tapping, scrolling, pings and digital chores," said Adrienne Lofton, the global vice president of product and integrated consumer marketing for Google. "They want their phones to do more for them, but they fundamentally want to spend less time looking at a screen."
The campaign is the first major work for Shayne Millington, who joined Google Devices as global executive creative director after serving as chief creative officer at McCann, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Ms. Millington described Pixel as a challenger brand — a designation that requires some squinting, given that it is manufactured by one of the world's most valuable corporations, but which reflects the phone's modest market share against Apple and Samsung.
The hero spot, directed by Craig Gillespie of the production company MJZ, depicts notifications as a mob of characters literally pounding on a coffee shop window: a local politician seeking donations, the basketball star Stephen Curry with a game update, a mascot holding a sign featuring the "This Is Fine" meme dog. (One imagines the legal clearance process was brisk.)
The chaos resolves when the protagonist notices a soft green glow from her face-down Pixel — a feature called HiLight that lets users color-code priority contacts — and answers a call from her babysitter. The crowd vanishes.
Additional spots arriving August 20 will feature a retirement community resident managing her social calendar, a concertgoer photographing a performance without raising her phone, and a husband rescued by artificial intelligence after forgetting to book a dinner reservation.
Whether consumers will accept the premise that the solution to phone addiction is a newer, smarter phone remains an open question. But as pitches go, it is at least more interesting than "faster processor."
Original story published in campaignlive.com: "Google Pixel’s challenger brand pitch: ‘The smartest phone lets you look away from it’ | Campaign US"