A global apparel retailer needed to devise a better way to leverage their digital assets to increase overall conversions. Google invited my client to an intensive brand discovery session at the infamous Google Labs. Google / You Tube labs is designed to educate Fortune brands on the best practices uses of digital media and advertising. To be invited to participate in the lab, you must be spending or have the ability to spend $5-10+ MM in digital media annually. Google coins the brand lab as a customer experience center dedicated to evangelizing the art and science of branding through hands-on, interactive workshops with clients. The end goal is that the participants are aligned, educated and inspired to more effectively leverage the Google’s tools and platforms to confidently build their brands on the web. However, it is well known that Google labs are a fantastic home field advantage for their sales team to engage and test new products against a high value customers. I know of a few customers that post leaving the lab, engaged Google for tens of millions of dollars in digital ad spending to be utterly disappointed by the end result. As a trusted adviser, I was invited to participate and guide their leadership team to understand what was import to the success of their brand versus the tactics that the Google / YouTube marketers were recommending.

At the end of the day, I did find value in seeing under the covers of the Google / YouTube lab experience, but I also protected my clients from being baffled by Google speak and pointed out where their real digital focus should reside.