Google really wants you to use Chrome. So much so, in fact, that they’ve decided to broadcast commercials for the browser on TV – an extreme rarity for the online giant, which typically relies on web-based advertising and integration with other products to increase exposure. The spot was created by Google’s Japan team a few months ago as a way to “demonstrate how clean and simple” Chrome is. And beginning this weekend, Google will be using its TV Ads program to run the clip on TV.
Now, I’m not a marketing person, and given Google’s vast resources I’m sure they’ve thought this through, but to me the commercial doesn’t do an especially good job at explaining what Chrome even is. I mean, for the vast majority of TechCrunch readers it’s a given that Chrome is a browser, but for the massive audience needed to turn Chrome into a contender against the likes of Internet Explorer? Not so much. It might pique the viewer’s curiosity, but I suspect many people will see the commercial and just go, “huh?”, especially given how rare commercials for web browsers are.
If this ad doesn’t turn out to be a hit, Google has quite a few online-only commercials up its sleeve for Chrome, but it apparently isn’t planning to run them on TV any time soon.