Our task was to demonstrate that Google +’s technologies can change people’s lives and help society progress.

We chose to promote Google +’s most differentiating feature, Google Hangout: a technology allowing 10 people to be on a video call simultaneously.

We put Google +’s hangout at the service of a greater cause - the most debated issue in France at the time: same-sex marriage.

We partnered with the association "Tous Unis Pour l'Egalité" and created the first social same-sex marriage ever. We made it possible for French gay couples to get married via Hangout, with a Mayor from Belgium where same-sex marriage is law.

Prior to the launch, we activated the gay community and announced the initiative at events. We partnered with associations and activated PR in gay magazines like Têtu & Yagg, spreading the word to our strongest advocates.

The media strategy was developed around the campaign’s most powerful content: the videos of the wedding ceremonies.

We've designed an ecosystem where every element naturally led to that content. The Google + page and tousunispourlegalité.com were at the center of this ecosystem & every single channel included a drive-to-content element. We created twibbons allowing people to show their support. The ceremony was attended by journalists, witnessed online by family and friends and broadcasted live on YouTube for the whole world to see.

PR played a critical role in taking our story offline - getting our content on TV and in the press and exposing the masses to the campaign.

Our goal was to demonstrate that Google +’s technologies can change people’s lives and help society progress.

We decided to focus this initiative on the matter of same-sex marriage. In our research, we found that same-sex marriage supporters actually had no platform available to get their voices heard - unlike the opponents to the law that proved to be extremely loud in the media landscape.

With zero media budget, we generated €400k in earned media & engaged millions of people with Google + and Hangout. We had a huge coverage in gay press with articles in magazines like Yagg or Tetu (150 000 readers).

Our story appeared on 5 main TV news broadcasts including BFM and LCI, reaching 5.3 million viewers. It was also told on radio stations like France inter, listened by 3.7 million people.

We showed that technology can change people’s lives & Google +’s Hangout was introduced in the most engaging way possible, with a product demo like no other: truthful & full of emotion.

What we’re most proud of goes beyond the results of our campaign. As the country was witnessing an unprecedented wave of homophobia with more than 1.5 million participants to anti same-sex marriage protests, we married gay couples for the first time ever and helped the debate progress.

Our first step was to recruit couples who wanted to get married. We activated the gay community and announced the initiative at events and on social media. We also partnered with diverse associations and activated PR in gay magazines like Têtu & Yagg.

Our second step was to spread the word and to get the images of the weddings in front of the as many people as possible. We drove people online to see the weddings streamed live on YouTube & the website. We then used the content created around each wedding to take the story offline - on TV and on the press.

The couples and the mayors were invited to different TV and radio shows to spread their message of love and equality to the masses.

In France, country of human rights, same-sex love isn't recognized.

When a bill project for marriage equality was submitted, the country faced violent debates and witnessed an unprecedented wave of anger and homophobia.

With more than 1,5M participants, the anti same-sex marriage protests took-over the mediatic landscape - making it feel like the whole country was against the law.

« Tous unis pour l’égalité », an association fighting for same-sex marriage, wanted to spread its message of equality to the masses.

Google + put its technology at the service of the cause and gave supporters of same-sex marriage new means to get their voice heard.

Our strategy was to put Google +’s hangout at the service of the same-sex marriage cause. We partnered with the association “Tous Unis Pour l’Egalité” and worked hand in hand with its leaders to raise awareness of the initiative.

With zero media budget, we had to be smart about the way we spread our message - hence our decision to put PR at the very heart of our strategy.