Posted 27th April 2012

Google Project Re-imagines Digital Advertising

Google re-imagines America’s most iconic advertising campaigns for the web.

Project Re: Brief re-imagined iconic campaigns from four global brands, using the latest web technologies to bring the original ad concepts to life for a modern audience.

The project began with Google, Johannes Leonardo and Grow Interactive consulting with the creatives behind the original ads – Alka-Seltzer’s “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” commercial ad, Avis car rental’s “We try harder” print series campaign, Coca-Cola’s “Hilltop” commercial, and Volvo’s multimedia “Drive it like you hate it” project. The original creatives brainstormed about how to take the essence and insight of the original ads, and express it via modern technology, while still preserving the emotional resonance of the classic work.

The results are showcased on a sleek, interactive website – designed and developed by Fantasy Interactive – that balances the original ads – created by Grow Interactive and Johannes Leonardo – alongside their re-imagined counterparts. This challenge was unique, but necessary to solve in order to preserve the integrity of the project. This work not only highlights Google’s products, like Google Maps, Google Translate and YouTube, and services such as contextual targeting – it also nods to advertising’s earlier, and equally innovative days.

The technology behind the project is gracefully highlighted on each brand’s page, while smoothly demonstrating the complexity and individualization each updated campaign offers.

The creators of the original campaigns who agreed to participate in the project: for Alka-Seltzer, Howie Cohen and Bob Pasqualina, who worked at Wells, Rich, Greene; for Avis, Paula Green of Doyle Dane Bernbach; for Coca-Cola, Harvey Gabor of McCann Erickson; and for Volvo, Amil Gargano of Carl Ally Inc., later Ally & Gargano.

Project Re: Brief is “an experiment, like how automobile companies build a concept car or clothing companies put on a runway fashion show. It’s about what it inspires everyone else to do,” said Jim Lecinski, Vice President for United States Sales and Service at Google. The project was announced at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas.