Helping her fellow entre-prenuers in a mini mockumentary.
Google, via Emotive, has turned to Australian icon Sharon Strzelecki to showcase a suite of new AI-powered tools.
Strzelecki, played by comedian and actress Magda Szubanski, fronts the new campaign which shows her using a range of ad tools to find customers for her ‘Bowled & Beautiful’ hairdressing business.
It comes as challenging economic conditions make doing business and finding new customers more difficult for many businesses.
"We know that SMB owners are among the most time-poor people on the planet, and in today’s economic climate they also need their marketing to deliver more with less. That's why we're so excited about the integration of Google AI into our Ads solutions - it's delivering better performance and making it easier to manage," Google Australia director of ads marketing Mark Wheeler said.
New research from Google and Kantar has found that almost two thirds (61%) of Australian small and medium businesses (SMBs) saw acquiring new customers as their ‘number one’ challenge.
To help businesses address this challenge and get more from their marketing spend, Google has newly launched a range of AI-powered tools in Australia, including a smarter AI powered sign-up process that automatically pulls text and images from a website, saving time and getting people started faster.
There's also Performance Max - a simpler AI-powered campaign type that's now the default campaign for new advertisers. Performance Max has been found to deliver 27% more conversions at a similar average cost per acquisition than a standard Google Ads Search campaign.
Free Tools also includes Product Studio and Asset Generation that help people quickly and easily create ads to use in their campaigns using Generative AI.
Research from Kantar showed that among marketers who’ve adopted AI tools in their campaign management, 82% say it’s improved marketing performance and efficiency.
Szubanski said Shaz is a very special character and she wanted to ensure that her evolution into a business owner was true to her spirit as an everyday Australian who is giving it her best crack.
"Working with Emotive and Google across long form content ensured that we could tell an authentic story. The fact that Shaz is helping her fellow entre-prenuers… well I think that’s exactly the type of person she is!” Szubanski said.
The campaign creatively conceived and produced by Emotive sees a mini mockumentary film and 60s, 30s, 15s ads complemented by in-depth ‘how to’ video where Sharon walks us through the steps of setting up Google Ads. There’s also a cameo from ex-Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist.
Blurring the lines between fiction and reality further, Strzelecki also makes an appearance on David Koch’s "Kochie’s Business Builders” program on Channel 7 and has launched her very own Bowled & Beautiful website.
David Koch of ‘Kochie Business Builders’ said being successful with Digital Advertising is a must for SMBs.
"And marketing is always the no.1 challenge SMBs talk to me about. So it’s fantastic to see Google Ads harnessing AI & continually improving, plus, launching the message to the masses with Sharon in such an engaging way has been a real blast," he said.
Emotive Production director Zane Pearson said it’s been a thrill working with a comedic genius like Szubanski.
"When we set-out creating the ad, we knew it was critical that building an authentic world for Sharon would mean that the audience would engage deeply with the story we were presenting," Pearson said.
"Plus, since we knew this would be a YouTube led campaign, we weren’t timeboxed to a classic ‘15 or ‘30 second Ad. This meant we had the creative licence to tell the story in the most engaging way and not squeeze it into a specific time frame.”
The campaign is rolling out across digital ATL, social and select media integrations from July 1.
Credits:
Google AU : Mark Wheeler, Duncan McGrath, Martin Dowling, Dana Markovic
Emotive Creative & Production: Ben Keep, Ben Sampson, Hayley Ritz-Pelling, Jess Ameduri, Michael Dawson, Michael Hogg, Monika Vidovic, Rebecca Love-Williams, Rory Pearson, Sam Gadsden, Simon Joyce, Sophia Delimihalis, Tyler Ronaldson, Zane Pearson
Research & Insights: Pollinate & Kantar
