Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Signature Searches celebrates the Aussie foodie culture on a deeply local level, helping people rediscover local neighbourhood cafes and restaurants through signature drinks and dishes. We used Google data to uncover areas in Sydney & Melbourne that over-indexed in food related search queries and went deep on the Google Business Listing algorithm to identify the real, often random, string of keywords Aussies use to find the best dishes. We partnered with the businesses and heroed their signature searches, making them more ownable and discoverable than ever through a targeted channel plan. Delivering results for Google and the small business partners.

Background

Everyday, Google’s relevance and active usage is challenged. Research told us that it’s become so ingrained in our daily lives that the magic of Google search and it’s technology was something Aussies rarely thought about or advocated for. The vast majority of Google revenue derives from advertisers so ensuring businesses and the people within them find it valuable is critical to daily use. With over 2 million small businesses in Australia, our brief was to make the invisible magic of Google technology more visible to them and those searching for them. The key objectives to drive sustained growth in the platform were to increase advocacy and daily active users amongst ‘Aussies on Autopilot’.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Signature Searches. We helped Aussies discover unique eats worth searching for… with a little help from Google. Connecting unique searches like ‘Swedish prawn toast’, ‘Schnitty bao’ and ‘that motorcycle oil ramen place’ and the small businesses that serve them up. To uncover this we combined: 1. Neighbourhood pride for local places. 2. Small businesses with unique, signature dishes. 3. ONE Google search result for ONE Google search query. We created a new way to talk about, search out, and share great food. One that reflected the new ways people search and discover.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Search volume analysis taught us that Australians are a foodie bunch, with a large portion of daily queries having a big focus on food. And with over 85,000 cafes and restaurants in the country, they are a great representation of all small businesses. We then went deep on the Google Business Listing algorithm to identify the real keywords Australians use to find where to dine. It highlighted the way people search for cafes and restaurants is constantly changing. It’s not just about the business name, it’s about that trending dish - the ‘pixel avocado’ they saw on Insta or ‘that giant pho place’ their mate talked about. There’s one place they turn to search out the dish via that vague, almost random string of words - Google. So we set out to help cafes and restaurants celebrate the unique search queries that were all their own – their ‘Signature Search’.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We met our audience with the message most likely to drive action in that moment: • Search- We linked one signature search with only one business result. • Ambient- We put small business search queries on the plate, out the front of the store and more. • Out of Home- Created real-time, hyper local search results of nearby trending places and reviews. • Social content- Profiled small business stories with their unique searches and dishes. • Influencer activity- Arranged visits to local places to share #foundongoogle posts. • Events- Awarded local businesses at Time Out’s annual Food Awards. • Media partnership- Amplified stories in places where foodies discover their neighbourhoods. The campaign ran from July 14th to October 5th in Sydney and Melbourne.

List the results (30% of vote)

We made the magic of Google technology more visible in people’s lives and delivered on the key objectives to increase advocacy and daily active users. For attribution purposes the campaign effectiveness was measured through third party research firm, Lewers. And the results speak for themselves... +8.7% increase in advocacy This campaign was attributed with lifting the advocacy rating from 61.9% to 67.3%. +5% local search intent Search intent is the metric used by Google for attributing this campaign in daily active users, lifting it from 61% to 64%. All of which generated 20,000 more social engagements compared to Google’s benchmark… and a lot more signature dishes being served up by our partner cafes and restaurants.