

Google scores most effective TV ad with Dear Sophie - dendory
http://tideart.com/?id=4ebaafd6

======
jonnathanson
_"Go Daddy surprisingly aired the most ads that got poor ratings."_

Surprisingly?

I'm all for watching hot chicks bounce around in skimpy outfits, but that
can't be the beginning and ending of a conversation about a brand or a service
(unless that brand is in the T&A industry). GoDaddy's ads basically
communicate "We're sketchy and lowbrow." And, typically speaking, I want
neither of those things in a domain registry service.

Conversely, what Google does really well is demonstrate its product -- and the
benefits of that product -- in a very simple, human, touching way with big
emotional impact. Google is getting you to understand _and_ love its brand at
the same time. The ads are really well done.

~~~
luriel
> GoDaddy's ads basically communicate "We're sketchy and lowbrow." And,
> typically speaking, I want neither of those things in a domain registry
> service.

Exactly!

The popularity of such extremely sketchy registrars is disturbing, of course
most registrars are more or less sketchy, but there almost seems to be
correlation between popularity and sketchiness in this field, and I can't
figure out why.

~~~
derefr
> there almost seems to be correlation between popularity and sketchiness in
> this field, and I can't figure out why

Domains are a commodity; people want them cheap. Expensive things signal high
status—so, conversely, low-status things signal cheapness.

------
Sukotto

      The account "dear.sophie.lee" has been deleted for 
      violation of the Google Names policy.  The Names Policy 
      requires that you use your actual, legal name.  Nicknames, 
      titles, etc. are not permitted.
      
      We emailed you following a review of your profile and gave 
      you a 4 day window of time to edit the name of this 
      account.  Since you did not, we have deleted it.
      
      We understand that our new Google-wide policy may not be 
      for everyone.  We'd be sad to see you go. Please consider 
      creating a new account with a real name and starting over 
      fresh.
      
      Thanks for using google services

~~~
rryan
A for effort -- but you picked the wrong policy to rail against.

The problem with Sophie Lee is that she is too young and if you create a GMail
account with her real age it will be immediately locked out due to COPPA
regulations. This isn't really Google's fault though -- but did make the Dear
Sophie ad a little confusing due to this legal restriction. Presumably you
have to sign up using your own age since it is an account managed by you. When
your child turns 13 you can transfer the account to them.

GMail users are not subject to any Real Name policies. Nice straw-man, though.
It probably eluded most.

~~~
georgieporgie
No need to be so snarky. Potential TOS violations, and the very real
possibility of a life-long Google account being hijacked or revoked, are
thoughts worth considering.

Google seems to be presenting itself as a life-long data repository. But they
have basically no customer support, no means of data recovery, etc. If they
want to advertise themselves as a family scrapbook, I expect them to be as
reliable as one.

~~~
rryan
Which is why Google Takeout exists. What other company is posturing this way
and also lets you backup (soon to be?) all of your data?

Account lockouts due to TOS violations are often cases in which Google's hands
are tied legally.

Very few things are life-long, so backup early and backup often. Google is the
only cloud hosted service provider I feel comfortable using because I can
easily sync my data with my backup server.

~~~
danilocampos
> Very few things are life-long, so backup early and backup often.

I can't imagine why that wasn't included as part of the ad. ;)

~~~
telcodud
WTF are you talking about? The ad makes no claims that the data is kept around
_forever_. Your snarky comment applies to all digital media, mind.

~~~
danilocampos
> Your snarky comment applies to all digital media, mind.

Thus far, I don't know of any other digital media that's claiming to exist
long enough for your child to grow up. Entire companies could crumble during
that period.

Google's the last place you want to put a digital time capsule to your child.
You'd want it in several places, none of which ought be encumbered by the
policies a company like Google needs to keep its operations running. But they
wouldn't want to mention that in an ad.

Any better for you?

------
vkatluri
Except that I cannot create an account for my son who's 6 months old. I have
to create an account with a false birthday.

~~~
tomkarlo
You can create an account to receive emails (with your own birthday info) and
give it to your son when he's 13. Since you're the one creating and accessing
the account, it should have your birth info, not his.

I'm pretty sure Sophie isn't reading the emails as they come in.

~~~
rokhayakebe
_I'm pretty sure Sophie isn't reading the emails as they come in._

Correct, which is why he writes in the end _I have been writing you since you
were born.....Until then..._

------
eavc
Google has had some smart, touching ads of late. I think they're helping to
romanticize the web, or maybe just highlight and help legitimize the beauty
that's already there.

~~~
Sukotto
Yes. I particularly liked the "Parisian Love" super bowl ad
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU>

Brilliantly done.

~~~
mcn
I found that one to be powerful, but double edged. It's unpleasant to remember
that ad when researching a serious situation that is likely to have a negative
outcome.

------
bphogan
As a geek dad, I loved this ad. It was really cool, really well done, and
memorable, even though I only saw it once on TV.

------
pchew
It's all those clicks that do it, even when you can't see or feel it the sound
of a buckling-spring keyboard just comforts you.

------
mahdireilly
Paying attention to well designed ad campaigns can let you gleam a lot of
information about a company. When picking stocks I put more weight on their
ads than I do the stock quote history.

In a sea of shitty advertising where companies recycle bad ideas and rely on
special effects or catchy jingles to sell, you end up with an arms race
between competitors telling you why to chose them over the alternatives. They
completely forget to say why you should want the product at all. It just ends
up leaving people suspicious of advertising in general.

This ad was really effective because it didn't hype the technology. They
thought about what is important to people and found a way to show their
products as enriching that experience.

It is rare to find ads this good, but they are the kind that will stay in
their minds for years to come.

I am at the age where I look forward to having children. I want to establish
some stability before I do it and so it is still a few years off. Despite
this, I find myself thinking on a daily basis what values and skills I want to
teach my kids. I am making lists of books, films, projects, etc. that I will
introduce to them at the appropriate age. After seeing this ad, I went ahead
and registered a few accounts with names that my wife and I talk about every
once in a while.

I bet many other people at the same stage of life as me are doing the same.

Kudos to google.

------
joebadmo
Slightly tangential, but I recently compared this ad to Facebook's intro video
to the Timeline in a blog post:

[http://blog.byjoemoon.com/post/10755504272/intimacy-and-
perf...](http://blog.byjoemoon.com/post/10755504272/intimacy-and-performance-
on-facebook)

What's interesting here is that Google seems to understand what technology
means to people a lot better than Facebook does.

------
matdwyer
Godaddy has the least effective... who would have thunk it

(Oh right, everyone)

------
golgo13
We are having our first child in December. This past weekend, my wife asked,
"Are you going to send here eMails like this?" Looks like I'll be signing up
for another gMail account in the near future.

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suivix
Let me get this straight. The father made an account for his daughter, but
lied about her birthday and broke the ToS?

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luriel
I can see how some people think it is cool, but I'm the only one creeped out
by this?

I'm probably weird and I'm not sure I can explain it rationally, but if my
parents had done something like this I'm not sure I'd be too amused.

Maybe it is just too cheesy for my taste.

(And obviously I don't mean just the act of going and publishing it in an ad,
I'm assuming the whole illustration of the idea is fabricated.)

~~~
redthrowaway
How is this different from photo albums and letters written to children stored
in a box somewhere? I know my mom has an inordinate amount of childhood
paraphernalia stashed away somewhere. I could see it being a touching gift to
give to your child later on in life.

~~~
Kadrith
I have 9 siblings and my mom had at least one box for each of us with stuff.
When I got married my mom gave the box to my wife. :/

------
zackb
Sorry, but this is just creepy and weird. Not to mention it's a PITA and
facebook does it better.

------
HSO
So the biggest spam company on earth buys slots from the ad industry to
attract "users" to sell back to the ad industry. Interesting business model.

EDIT: Uhh, I'm getting downvotes. I assume it's because I called Google a spam
company? Well then, let me clarify: I don't like any company or industry that
lives off of advertising. Advertising is intrusive, it's noisy, it finances or
subsidizes mostly crap (turn on a TV if you don't believe me), and it promotes
profoundly bad ideas and values (keyword: consumerism) in the intellectually
and psychologically weakest members of society. There's the rant, now you can
downvote all you want. Doesn't change a thing. Until Google makes something
that people are actually willing to pay their hard-earned cash for, they are
in the same category as spammers.

~~~
Rastafarian
Intresting. Here is Google, probably the most technically advanced company in
the world. How do suggest they make money off their excelent search engine?

~~~
HSO
I may have strong tastes but I'm not stupid enough to presume I'm going to
tell Google how to go about their business. I just can't help but notice that
after all these years, they are still making the majority of their money on
ads -- not on making something that is valuable enough to people that they
will pay for it in a straightforward transaction. So, isn't it ironic then
that an ad company will pay other ad companies to create ads to draw in users
that they can then turn around and basically sell back to the industry?

~~~
Rastafarian
Well, I believe the Industrial Revolution started in a similar way. Deep coal
and iron mines needed steam engines to pump water out, steam engines required
iron and coal to make and operate.

