world cup Street View & Indoor mapS
July 2014 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the most hyped event of the digital era. At Google, that meant over 1 billion World Cup-related search queries to showcase the best of our products, from homepage doodles to search trends, viral YouTube clips, Chrome experiments, and more.
With no with no shortage of soccer fans among its ranks, the Maps team came together to launch Street View interiors for Brazil’s stadiums, 3D aerial imagery of the 12 host cities, indoor maps for airports, transit stations and major malls, as well as a few fun easter eggs for good measure.
LAUNCH VIDEO
To amplify the launch, I partnered with Toronto-based agency Teehan+Lax (later acquired by Facebook) to create a one-of-a-kind hyper-lapse video celebrating the world coming to Brazil. Hyper-lapse photography technique combines time-lapse and sweeping camera movements focused on a point of interest. Using Street View as source material, Sprint to Brazil takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride across several of the countries participating in the 2014 Cup. The journey ends with a 360º tour of Brazil’s 12 host stadiums, putting the viewer right on the pitch.
INDOOR MAPS MICROSITE
The second component of the campaign I worked on was a custom microsite for indoor maps in Brazil. Indoor maps, which includes floor plans for public spaces like malls, airports and transit stations, is one of the lesser known unique features of Maps. To change that, I created a World Cup version of the indoor maps microsite with relevant locations for Brazil. The destination was then promoted with a Google.com homepage promo, which helped drive awareness and favorable press coverage.
EASTER EGGS
For the third component of the campaign, Pegman, the little yellow Street View guide, suited up in a football/soccer uniform that matched the user’s viewport location in Maps. So if you were exploring America, you got the USA soccer Pegman; pan over to Brazil or Japan, and you would’ve seen Pegman in their respective uniforms; and so on. I led the effort to produce the assets, implement the easter eggs in product, and drop a few hints about them on social media—not that they needed much to be discovered. Needless to say, fans were surprised and delighted by the little footballer.
It was great to see some press buzz for both the easter eggs and the new Street View imagery—with the USA Today writing, “Notice anything different on Google Maps this week? Look a little closer. That's right, the little yellow guy that guides users through the Street View feature ("Pegman," as he's called), has been dressed up in black shorts and a white T-shirt and is holding a soccer ball. While you're at it, you can also look inside all the World Cup stadiums using Street View.”