Google has made a name by relying on word of mouth and partnerships over its ten year history, but as it expands into what Microsoft's Steve Ballmer unironically refers to as a "Goliath," the company is looking into more traditional means of advertising to draw consumers to its wares, according to the Wall Street Journal.
An internal debate about running ads to promote the brand, culminating during the Beijing Olympics, has apparently contributed to a change in Google's feelings about advertising.
In August, Google launched an outdoor and online advertising effort in Japan with Wieden + Kennedy titled "100 Things You Can Do With Google" to promote the brand and its suite of products. And the search giant has also been in talks with several ad agencies about efforts to promote the brand recently.
Despite its exponential growth, Google's offline ad spend has remained steady at about $20 million annually for the past few years.
Google's spare homepage has been a testament to functional branding for the past ten years — defiantly arguing that if you make a superior product, people will use it. But that seems to change when you expand your reach into new marketplaces as a massive multinational corporation. Sometimes your brand just needs a little boost.
Photo: Flickr/dannysullivan
