“We’ve packed Google Search terms with charmingly surreal animations. Mix them up to create your own audiovisual mix.”
“We’ve always loved the no-judgement, come as you are nature of the Google brand. So it was fitting that we would do something so evocative, musically and visually led to celebrate the young German audience and the fluidity of that audience’s interests. Our idea takes search queries and turns them into abstract sounds – quirky, but totally fitting.”
The background
Google wanted to celebrate the diversity of young Germans and the unexpected discoveries they make while searching for information. So, in partnership with 72andSunny, we created Google Search Sounds, a mobile experiment that visualizes a mix of trending search terms and topics in Germany, in a way that’s never been done before.
The execution
Together with 72andSunny, we worked with a Berlin-based DJ and producer mobilegirl to turn Germany’s trending search terms into sounds. “Upcycling” became a saw cutting a wood board. “Cosplay” became swords slashing. “Zero waste” became the crunching of plastic bottles. We sampled sounds for ramen, true crime podcasts, and everything in between. Then, we turned them into a unique experience called Search Sounds that let people mix their favorites into music.
“For a lot of young people growing up with Google, they find the brand plays a vital role in their everyday lives. This campaign is an innovative celebration of young Germans’ diverse interests. It brings to life the magic behind Google products in a way that breaks through the marketing clutter and speaks to young Germans on their terms – through music.”
Much like the unexpected information we learn every day from Google searches, Search Sounds mashes up sound effects into unexpected combinations. Each sound effect is accompanied by a playful animated visual, making it a multi-sensory experience. Once people browse the library and choose three sounds, the experience mixes them together into a song and creates a video they can download and share.
With so many sounds, animations, and moving parts, we had to ensure any combination could work together and be layered on top of one another. After some trial and error, we found a way to make it happen and found a way to produce videos that could be easily downloaded and shared on social media.
The results
After playing with Search Sounds, people were reminded that even though they use Google every day, they never know what unexpected information they’ll uncover in their next search. They were also reminded that there’s always more to a search term than they might think.
“Collaborating with Bao (mobile girl), which we loved, was also an unexpected choice for such a big brand but, again, a perfect fit as she’s a young German herself and also plugged into an eclectic music world.”
Grab your mobile and create your own mix here!
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Release Date
2019-08-02
