Google first defined the smart speaker category with Google Home, a voice-assistant device that allowed you to access the world’s information and entertainment. To improve on it, Google developed Nest Audio, which took the helpful features, thoughtful design and music chops to the next level.

Nest Audio was designed with home life in mind, to blend in visually, stand out sonically, and provide help within any room in reach of your voice. With personalized answers, control of your connected home, and high quality speakers to enjoy music and entertainment, it demanded to be heard to be believed.

But how do you launch a premium home sound system during a time when the music and retail industry went silent?

For the launch of Google’s new smart home speaker, we turned to the place Nest Audio was designed to serve: your home.

Everyone was spending more time inside, including music artists, whose recording and touring ambitions were paused, but were looking for new ways to reach their fans... from the safety of their home. Artists were doing live streams, consumer music streaming hours were up, and overall content consumption was on the rise.

In a year with more people needing more from their home than ever, it felt like the exact right media environment to launch Nest Audio. Rooting the smart speaker in music and the cultural zeitgeist…just, this time it would be from the entertainers’ homes to yours.

The Voice partnership was a year in the making, with over 700 elements, including in-show integrations, a four-part custom content series, robust social campaign, and multi-product tech development.

During the highly anticipated Live Rounds, Nest Audio partnered with The Voice’s final fourteen contestants and breakout female artist Faouzia to perform her new single Minefields.

The content series chronicled the “Journey of a Song,” where contestants worked with the show’s music director, choreographer, and music video director Shane Drake, giving fans a look at the music making process, culminating in a group performance of Minefields.

Each episode of this series aired during The Voice and posted to their social channels. The voting experience on Google Assistant and the show’s music on YouTube Music were both promoted with extensive in-show, social and digital promotion.

Nest Audio Sessions were posted across the talent’s social channels and Google owned channels, along with paid amplification.

Was 12 months of planning to create 1,000+ creative assets and working with 25 artists across 10 countries and three different business units all from our homes worth it? It sure was.

For the first time ever, we saw search lift off the charts for Nest Audio and double digit lift in both consideration and unaided awareness. Nest Audio Sessions was the most successful Google social campaign to date.

41x lift in Search for Nest Audio

+14% lift in consideration for Nest speakers

+15% lift in unaided brand awareness of Google Assistant and a +12% increase in usage

Nest Audio Sessions drove over 1 million organic engagements and +21% increase in social conversation with double the positive sentiment compared to previous benchmarks.