Google+Local

Neon sign of a location marker with the word "OPEN" in blue text.

Originally called Google Places, Google+Local helps you find the places you love—restaurants, cafes, bookshops—and it'll recommend new places to you the next time you search.

The project was two-fold B2B and consumer-facing to get people involved in ranking small businesses and helping put them on the map.

First, we created various assets for businesses to take ownership of the partnership worldwide. The kits were rolled out in 38 languages and used for events.

Second, we created a consumer campaign that was aimed at using Google’s new tools that worked as both local and social. Encouraging people to vote on local places, pick their favorites and build a sense of community.

Client
Google

Project
Small Business

Portland, Oregon

We tested the campaign by taking over the city of Portland, Oregon—everything from the bike delivery carts to a Blazer's game. 

Cookies shaped like bonfires with chocolate coating, decorated with yellow icing crosses, red hearts, and googly eyes.
Stacks of Google Places cards featuring a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Portland, Oregon.
Nighttime cityscape with illuminated buildings, string lights, a red hot air balloon, and a bright yellow sign with the words 'Spirit' and a landscape illustration.
Two transparent glasses with logos: one with a red location pin and 'Recommended on Google' text, the other with the DeSchutes Brewery logo featuring a mountain and river design.

BLAZER GAME TAKEOVER

Woman wearing a white apron and black shirt showing decorated reindeer-shaped cookies with red and yellow icing in a bakery.
Crowd watching a basketball game in an arena, many wearing red shirts.
Inside a packed basketball arena with players on the court and fans celebrating, as red and white streamers fall from above and a scoreboard shows a victory for the home team.
A screen displaying an advertisement for Google Places with the slogan 'Rate like it's 1977'.

Google Getting More Personalized, More Local

Digital screen displaying a message to rate a place on Google, with the text 'Rate in the 503.' and the Google places logo, along with instructions to download the app at google.com/places.
Three delivery couriers in orange jackets with helmets, standing with their bikes and delivery carts in a parking lot with wet ground and leafless trees, promotional signs on the carts advertising Google Places and local food delivery.
A paper cup filled with small red plastic stir sticks or swizzle sticks on a red countertop.
Close-up of a red chair with advertisements for Hotpot Jackpot at a sporting event, with many similar chairs in the background.

(For non-locals, this is a nod to the last time the Blazers won the NBA Championship.

 I wasn't born yet, but I remember my dad talking about the good old days).

A group of eleven cheerleaders posing on stage, wearing matching red T-shirts and black shorts, with red pom-poms on the floor in front of them.
A red, circular, modern-style outdoor table with matching curved seats on a black metal base, placed against a dark gray wall under a large, brightly lit screen with a Google Places advertisement.
Five urinals lined up in a men's room with white tiled walls and a concrete floor, with signs above them asking questions about ratings and racehorses.

Consumer Campaign

Driving awareness and usage of Google’s tools.

A Recommendation Engine for Places.

  1. The places you like

  2. The places your friends like

    “ Local Recommendations on Your and Your Friends' Ratings”

    To get people involved, we created OOH messaging with local, specific ads asking them to participate and to rep their area by rating and recommending.  

Two side-by-side Google Places advertisements. The left ad has green text reading, "Rate 400 places to match the square footage in your apartment." The right ad has red text reading, "Better the burrito you know, than the one you don't." Both ads include small Google logo and a map pin icon with the URL google.com/places.
Two posters with Google Places logo at the bottom. The left poster has red text saying 'Whip your ratings into shape.' The right poster has blue text saying 'Rating doesn't have to be monogamous.'
Two digital posters with motivational messages, one in blue text asking if your mother knows you rated, and the other in green text encouraging to come out in the Castro and rate.
Three Google Places survey prompts on a white background, each asking about rating attractiveness or a place.

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is a city that identifies by neighborhood. Playing on the existing rivalries, famous places, and even stereotypes of each place, we wanted people to embrace local pride by competing against each other by rating.

The Mission

The Marina

The Castro

Crowd of pedestrians crossing a busy city street with buildings, taxis, and a large red balloon-shaped structure in the background.
Two paper bags with printed messages about mouth feel and biting, one in green and one in blue, on a plain background.
Paper bag with a red location pin symbol on the front and a message on the back that says 'It's okay to swallow your pride, but not your opinions.' along with a Google logo and QR code.
A man in a black jacket points at a large touchscreen display showing a map and news information in an indoor setting.
Two digital kiosks with bright red, teardrop-shaped frames and screens, set against a dimly lit background.
A white box with a red location marker symbol on it.
Flyer promoting Google Maps listing services with a red map marker icon and the text 'Get noticed on Google', mentioning over 15,000 businesses in Madison.
Indoor eventspace with glass ceiling decorated with string lights, showing people gathering and a large map with two prominent location markers in the center.
An informational poster displaying the Google Places Pin Kit, which includes a white box with a red pin icon, four colorful pins, business reminder cards with a sample listing, fortune cookies, and walking tour kits. Each item is described with text explaining its purpose for marketing and customer engagement.

Events & Demos

A red fortune cookie with a tear, revealing a strip of paper that says 'Please rate us on Google places'.
A collection of Google ratings and reviews with accompanying red location pins, featuring positive messages about ratings, judgment, and personal qualities.
Set of coasters promoting Google Places, with the slogan 'Bottoms up, ratings up!'
Four foam coffee stirs with printed messages: "Spill your guts to someone other than the bartender. Go rate."; "Rate your troubles away."; "Bottoms up, ratings up!"; "Swallow your drink, not your opinions."

Small Business

1. Your customers are looking for you online.

2. Google Places acts as a one-stop shop for your brand.

3. Google loves (to rank) Place Pages

4. Google Places connects third-party sites

5. People trust online reviews as a marker of the legitmacy of a business. Google didn’t give this as part of the brief, but there has been a big cultural shift for looking online for recommendations vs. just word-of-mouth, especially in cities you’ve never been.

To encourage people to rate their business, Google supplied businesses with bags, fortune cookies, cards, pens, and other goodies with cheeky lines. Google sent out RFID door sticker, and a Google Places bowl to the top-rated businesses in different cities throughout the US.  Madison, Austin, Charlotte, Portland, and Las Vegas.

Graphic promoting Google Places with the text 'Rate from your hood to coast' and Google Places logo