50 States 50 Stories Website, Google Workspace

At Google Workspace, we believe in empowering the dreamers, innovators, and the backbone of our economy: small businesses. This belief fueled the ambitious "50 States, 50 Stories" campaign, an initiative designed to shape public perception of AI tools in Google Workspace by showcasing their tangible, human impact. We brought this vision to life by featuring 50 diverse small businesses—one from every U.S. state—in hyperlocal Super Bowl LIX media buys, shifting the AI narrative from abstract technology to real-world transformation. The "50 States, 50 Stories" website (goo.gle/50states50stories), a custom-built microsite, served as the central hub for this nationwide storytelling endeavor. More than just a digital archive, it was engineered to be a captivating virtual road trip across America, showcasing how 50 small businesses are leveraging AI in Google Workspace to innovate, adapt, and thrive. The website's design and functionality were critical to its success, balancing a bold mission with exceptional user experience. It hosted a vast collection of fifty :30 second spots and a :90 second compilation video, providing easy discoverability for users to explore each unique narrative. Despite the large volume of rich media content, the microsite was meticulously optimized for web performance across all devices, ensuring a low-latency and fluid user experience. The site prioritized real people and real emotions, inspiring visitors to take the next step in their AI learning journeys. Furthermore, built using a modular approach, the site's development was highly efficient, reducing costs and time-to-market, enabling rapid content deployment. The impact of the website far exceeded benchmarks for a brand campaign. We saw a 8X higher page engagement rate and 7X higher trail conversion rate compared to prior brand campaigns, demonstrating the power of authentic, human-centric storytelling. The microsite and the broader campaign garnered significant attention from top-tier media outlets, including features in AdWeek, AdAge, USA Today, and 9to5Google, amplifying its impact on the industry narrative. This project exemplifies how strategic web design and development, authentic web content, integrated with a powerful campaign vision, can not only shift brand perception but also drive measurable business outcomes.