Google is taking a new direction with their phones this year, rather than developer focused handsets, Google is taking a shot at the high end and what better way to tell people about their new phone than talking about it on the homepage.
There’s no link on the page, rather users of Google are getting a notification popping up asking if users want to pre-order the Pixel phones. I’ve had it show up regularly on mobile, and once on desktop with a couple of other users also seeing the alert on mobile. The alert looks like this:
If you choose the No Thanks option you’re free to use Google, if you decide you want to know more about the Pixel you’re taken to the Australian MadeByGoogle site.
With a premium price, Google is going all-in on the Pixel advertising in a physical sense as well with physical and electronic billboards all over Australia:
Google is also heavily investing in TV advertising as well, including spending up to $3.2 million USD in two days according to a report from Reuters. Google also plans to expand that TV advertising presence with Google Vice President of Product Management Mario Queiroz telling Reuters they may even purchase ad-space during the Superbowl, where a 30-second commercial can cost $5 million – and their current commercial clocks in at a full minute:
Though, hand it to Google, there are now two new video ads:
Google has a big sell on their hands convincing customers to give them a go when it comes to the high-end phone market, though with Samsung’s Note 7 currently not in the best of positions, that could be a positive factor for Google. Google has baked in a number of exclusive features to the Pixel phones including unlimited full resolution photo/video backup to Google Photos and camera features like Smart Burst and Lens Blur, the infamous Google Assistant, 24/7 customer support and an easy switching feature to help new users bring all their data over to their new phone, whether these exclusives are enough though is the question.
It seems in the enthusiast market there’s not a lot of love for the Pixel phones, whether Google can convince more everyday mobile customers into giving the ‘Google Phone’ a go remains to be seen. With this much money being invested into customer awareness programs, whether their strategies work or not we’ll find out in one of Google’s financial calls down the track.
Where have you seen Pixel adverts? Send us a photo
