Google’s Silver Surfer

Objective

One of the effects of the pandemic was the fact that senior citizens became more isolated from family and friends than ever before. In reaction, many older people embraced technology as a way to stay connected to their loved ones. This group, which was given the moniker ‘Silver Surfers’, felt ignored by tech giants such as Google due to the lack of products and communication tailored to them specifically.

This resulted in Silver Surfers being:

1. Unaware of relevant Google products available to them
2. Unaware of how to use relevant Google products, even if they knew the products existed
3. Concerned about using or installing new technology, as this demographic often experiences new products or services as complicated or even unsettling.

Therefore, Google asked us to design a creative digital campaign to make Silver Surfers aware of Google products and services.

Insights

Senior citizens do not necessarily reject new technology or dislike new devices by definition. It is rather a case of adopting technology they find useful and passing on unnecessary creations. This broad age group does not consider itself to be ‘old’ or ‘senior’. They are in the autumn of their lives and enjoy doing things they love and exploring new activities.

Based on these insights we wanted to create a phenomenon that fits today’s zeitgeist but that isn’t exactly common: a golden age vlogger.

Results

First things first: we needed to find the right person! We placed a full-page job ad for a ‘Vlogger with Life Experience’ in the newspaper Het Parool. After sorting through the many reactions, we found our perfect candidate: 61-year-old Madeleine from Amsterdam.

She learned all about vlogging with the help of top vlogger Quinsding and Google services. Madeleine also went dancing with the talented Akram Bouchiba, learned all about nature photography and photo editing from Stijn Dijkstra (AKA Furstset) and tasted wine with expert Martien Meiland. She also baked a delicious cake with TV chef Hidde de Brabander, well-known from 24Kitchen and Koffietijd.

Every week for five weeks another incredibly fun vlog named ‘Madeleine goes….’ was published on Google NL’s YouTube channel while five shorter vlogs were made for the Google Experience site. Attention for the campaign was generated by the large job ad, but it was also mentioned on NOS Stories, Dutchcowboys, Adformatie and other regional channels. Our vlogger was interviewed by Het Parool and Seniorweb and several guest vloggers highlighted Madeleine’s vlogs on their Instagram channels.