The Campaign

The Build Your Own Adventure with Google campaign was created to inspire global coverage of Google’s largest world heritage imagery launch to date - Angkor on Street View and the Cultural Institute. To help media understand the magic of Google tools, and the scale of Angkor, we designed a global press event, on location, in Siem Reap, together with a virtual press kit, enabling simultaneous media outreach across the world. Bringing Angkor online wasn't easy, we had to hand carry internet cables into the jungle to connect the ancient temple complex, manage wild monkeys and convince 90 handpicked press from 12 countries and 3 continents that this wasn't a local story but a global moment. With incredibly supportive Government partners, we held an experiential full-day event, encompassing five unique events across different locations in Siem Reap. We also managed the distribution of a virtual press kit to media in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Global searches for Angkor increased by 50% on launch day and to 181% within the month of April. In just four weeks, the campaign saw over 200 global stories and over 255,000 social actions. This campaign helped Cambodia tell a new story to the world, full of hope and beauty in hi-resolution, while overcoming significant logistical challenges to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime experience that media were compelled to share.

The Brief

Our PR objectives were to inspire global coverage that captured the usefulness and magic of Google tools in discovering, learning about and sharing cultural moments with the world. We also wanted to showcase how emerging countries, like Cambodia, are building a web that works for them using Google tools to bring their cultures online and proactively preserve and share them. Success was contingent on delivering the most unique, immersive Google Maps and Cultural Institute experience for media to date, which relied heavily on connectivity, while simultaneously executing a virtual media outreach program on a global scale.

Results

On April 3 - 4, 2014, worldwide searches on Google for Angkor increased by 50% and to 181% by the end of April, shining a global spotlight on Cambodia. Even with just 5% of the population online, domestic searches for Angkor also rose. Our coordinated digital and onsite PR campaign resulted in over 200+ global stories across leading broadcast, print and online outlets in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia; over 255,000 social actions across Google+, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, in just 4 weeks. Media consistently reflected our messaging on the evolution of travel; the role of technology in preserving and sharing cultures and helping countries like Cambodia, come online. Coverage did not focus on Cambodia's past, but told a new, positive story. Cambodians, from senior Government partner representatives to a noodle seller, were grateful for this initiative that made the world see Cambodia and its peoples' true potential.

Execution

The global launch of Google's largest world heritage imagery collection, Angkor, and the Build Your Own Adventure with Google press event were held on April 3, 2014. From a Google Maps breakfast and two hours of sunny demos at Angkor Wat, to dinner at Bayon temple with Cambodian Ministers of Tourism and Commerce, the launch event gave journalists an in-depth view of the local love that went into building this project. In the two months leading up to the launch, we laid 25 kilometers of internet cable to connect Angkor, despite 40 degree heat and wild monkeys (!); we designed and delivered five unique experiences for five locations that let journalists get hands on with Google technology and; we pitched travel, tech and culture press, under embargo, in parallel across Asia, Europe and America. Lastly hosted 17 press briefings over 72 hours with spokespeople onsite and virtually from Angkor.

The Situation

90,000 hi-res 360 degree panoramas of over 100 temples of Angkor and nearly 300 pieces of Angkor art. This was Google’s largest world heritage imagery launch to date. We wanted a PR campaign that did justice to the scale of Angkor by telling three congruent narratives: how technology is changing the travel experience, how the web has a role in democratizing cultures and how Google is helping digitize countries. Build Your Own Adventure with Google gave Cambodia a global platform to tell a new, positive story, juxtaposing Angkor, an ancient symbol of innovation, with modern technology.

The Strategy

Our strategy had two key components, a virtual press kit and a global press event onsite in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Initially shared under embargo, the Virtual Press Kit was a central press site housing pre-recorded sound bites, breathtaking b-roll and behind-the-scenes footage, animation files, photos, a blog post, speeches and the product fact sheets. We ditched a press conference setup for a full-day experience - 5 events, 5 locations, 1 unforgettable day. We wanted to show rather than just tell media how Google tools are helping change the way countries, as well as people, build their own adventures online. We also wanted to surprise people with what could be achieved in a country with just 5% connectivity. So we requested approval to bring the internet into the Angkor temple complex; we handpicked 90 journalists from 12 countries and we simultaneously ran a virtual media outreach program.