Mansi Khanna of Google India & Prateek Bhardwaj of Lowe Lintas share the process that went into making the ad both relatable and distinct After a gap of two years Google has come up with an ad campaign for their smart speaker, the Google Nest Mini. While ‘voice integrations’ through smart speakers are becoming an important tool for advertisers, Google is using a fair bit of advertising to further sell its smart speaker range, this time through a digital campaign. They are positioning the Google Nest Mini as a tool for the entire family and one which makes switching from one language to another when it comes to voice commands easier. Talking about the brief given to the agency Mansi Khanna, Head, Consumer marketing for Assistant, devices and services, Google India says, “We wanted the ad to be both relatable as well as distinct. Usually we do a lot of emotional storytelling, but our brief to the agency was to make it more fun and non-linear, and show the product magic along the way. And, Lowe Lintas team led by Prateek did an amazing job of coming up with the creative idea of a middle class Goan family helping their daughter prepare for an online school event. It's so relevant these days. I have a three-year-old daughter, and I personally could also relate to it so much. But more importantly, Lowe Lintas also brought the creative to life by incorporating fun moments. It's not an emotional story. It's a fun story which very smartly incorporated the product.”

Prateek Bhardwaj, CCO, Lowe Lintas says, “The brief was really sharp. Unlike other voice activated speakers it's the ecosystem behind the Nest which is its strength and that is what we tapped into. A story like this allows us to use the speaker and the whole Google ecosystem in so many ways for the entire family. All of Google for all of you, that is the differentiator. We went through quite a few lines before settling on this one. The line perfectly captures the edge that the product has, and who it is for. For us, the campaign had to have enough spread to be able to do justice to all the advantages of Google Nest. So, while the main story is of a family coming together to help a little girl play Jhansi ki Rani, within this main theme are many little moments and subplots that allow us to showcase the varied functions of the Nest.” Lowe Lintas has worked on Google campaigns like Pixel, Google Pay and Google Search prior to this. Talking about the behind the scenes action and finding the right ‘Rani of Jhansi’ for the film, Bhardwaj says, “We shot the ad in Goa over two days. We knew that casting was key and could make or break the campaign. We considered a lot of people but when we found the girl we just knew that she was the right fit and that we have hit a sweet spot. The moment we saw her audition, we knew we had a great film on our hands. Each of the scenes is about her acting as Jhansi Ki Rani. The entire audition was awesome especially the way she got herself into that little warrior frenzy. The angrier she got, the cuter she looked.” With work from home becoming a norm, the need for a smart assistant or a smart speaker has increased manifold. Google has in the past been criticized for being slow on launching newer models of the smart speakers unlike its counterpart Amazon, which also has had the first mover advantage in the domain in India, but Khanna feels that today they have a quality range of offerings between Nest Mini, Nest Hub, Nest Audio. “There are so many people who prefer to give voice commands in their local language, which is 3X easier than typing. And at Google, we have been working on improving the experience for almost half a decade now. Google Assistant is currently available in nine Indian languages apart from English. We also remain committed to bringing innovative voice and language solutions across the products. Google Nest Mini can also be great for product integration,” Khanna adds.  Google was the first brand to bring in regional language voice assistance to the smart speakers in India. Interestingly, the campaign for Google Nest Mini was released in the same month as the launch of the next level and more affordable smart speaker range called Google Nest Audio that has also been well received in the market.