Why Google India picked real stories for its #DhoondengeTohMilega campaign

In today’s digital age, the ubiquitous phrase ‘Google it’ has become a reflexive response to all our queries. This shows the influence that Google wields as the world’s leading search engine. Google India seeks to further solidify its position as the go-to source for knowledge in its recent campaign #DhoondengeTohMilega (if you search you will find it). 

Conceptualised by Toaster India, this campaign spotlights the real-life stories of Mujahid and Anmol, showcasing how they turned to Google when faced with limited opportunities.

The first film features Mujahid, who utilised Google to learn Parkour— a sport involving rapid movement through urban spaces or an obstacle course —and then made it his career by establishing a successful Parkour centre. 

Similarly, the second film portrays the journey of Anmol Sidhu, a filmmaker from Chandigarh, who employed Google to learn film direction, subsequently achieving international recognition for his work.

What sets Google's #DhoondengeTohMilega campaign apart is its emphasis on genuine and inspiring narratives rather than fictional portrayals. Mujahid has transformed Rampur into the ‘Parkour capital of India’, while Anmol's film "Jaggi" received two awards at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

Ira G, executive creative director of Toaster India, explains, "Last year, we started with the #BolneSeSabHoga campaign, which featured four real inspired and internet-first stories. We got our first thought while attending one of the film festivals, in which Anmol shared how Google had assisted him in making movies, inspiring us to continue seeking real stories where Google plays a facilitating role."

Toaster India is set to release a third film as part of this campaign in the coming week.

Google's previous campaign, #BolneSeSabHoga, featuring Gajraj Rao, was fictional. However, the current campaign focuses on real stories. Ira elaborates on the brand's brief, "The brief was simple. Toaster was tasked to do a new positioning and craft a visual identity for Google under #DhoongengeTohMilega, aiming to establish a personal connection with India and infuse a local and fresh touch. The new visual identity marks Google's departure from its international work in India.”

Ira adds, "Google wanted to showcase to the masses, especially Gen-Z the power of search and how it could transform lives.” 

The agency's brief was to explore unimagined possibilities and demonstrate where Google searches could lead. During this process, they discovered that real stories resonated better than fictional ones. "While developing the campaign, it was a choice between telling the story of one, or the story of everyone - and showcasing the real stories of everyone felt like the right move. The challenge however was in finding those real stories"

“We have already tested the waters last year with the campaign featuring Sriya Lenka (the K-pop star), and other inspiring stories. That worked well for the client,” she highlights. 

While creating the films, the agency faced challenges in finding true and relevant stories. Factors like time, availability, and intent were hurdles, especially as the protagonists were not actors. The agency chose to highlight real personalities rather than actors.

“The challenge of working on real stories is manifold as we are dealing with real people, not actors. For instance, in the case of Anmol, who is a shy person, our endeavour was to bring the best out of him as an actor too. Usually, brands showcase real stories by picking actors and mentioned based on/inspired on, we choose to pick the real personalities," she explains. 

The film's personalities were presented naturally, and the filming took place at their own locations to maintain authenticity.

The campaign's target audience was Gen-Z and the next billion users to emphasise the relevance of search engines in everyday life. “It wasn’t just Google search, in the films we leveraged Google voice search and Google Lens. It was a multi-module campaign and everything under Google search was explored through communication,” she explains. 

As part of this campaign, Google introduced an easter egg feature. When users search for 'Jawan' on Google, the screen undergoes a transformation, with bandages covering it, and a walkie-talkie icon emerges. Upon clicking the walkie-talkie, users are greeted with the voice of Shah Rukh Khan saying 'Ready'. Other than this, Toaster is promoting the films on television, social media and print.

The campaign received a prominent boost during the Asia Cup as it was featured on both television and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. By the end of this month, Toaster plans to launch an out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign to further amplify its impact.

Toaster India, founded in 2015, initially counted Google India as its sole client. Over the years, the agency has collaborated on various campaigns for YouTube and Google.

"The previous campaign last year based on voice worked well and this year we wanted to keep the momentum going by bringing new positioning to life and telling new stories," Ira mentions.

Simultaneously, Google launched an out-of-home (OOH) campaign titled ‘Yeh Kisne Dhondha?’ which translates to ‘Who searched for this?’. The campaign has been strategically rolled out in the metropolitan areas of Delhi and Mumbai, targeting a wide urban audience. 

The creative execution of the OOH campaign was entrusted to the creative agencies Talented and The New Thing.