Google spends $3.2 million on ads for the Pixel and Pixel XL in just two days, “aggressive” marketing campaign to follow

Google's bringing out the big guns with the Pixel and Pixel XL, reportedly spending some $3.2 million on television ads in just the first two days since the Nexus successors were announced. Official confirmation of these numbers has yet to come from the Mountain View-based tech giant, but media agencies are already foreseeing an aggressive ad campaign from the Big G in the months to come, likely in the vicinity of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Pixel and Pixel XL are Google's first in-house developed smartphones and pit the search giant in a direct competition against Apple and Samsung as a hardware company. Considering this is the company's first major foray in consumer electronics, and given its vast pool of resources, a broad and aggressive ad campaign for its first truly “Google inside and out” smartphones, is to be expected.

Declining to talk about concrete numbers, Google's VP of Product Management, Mario Queiroz, told Reuters it may be a “very significant marketing campaign”, hinting at the possibility of Google buying ads during Thanksgiving football games. Ad spaces at such major sports events during a national holiday can go as high as a million dollars, claim marketing experts.

Verizon, which is the exclusive carrier for the Pixel and Pixel XL in the US, is also reportedly making significant investments in its own TV and digital ads for Google's two phones.

Given the recent Note 7 fiasco, Google may be in a favorable position to send the Pixels off to a flying start with one competitor less breathing down in its neck. The Pixel and Pixel XL are expected to launch on October 20th, Thursday, running Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box and packing a host of exclusive features, such as Google's new virtual Assistant and revamped camera app.

source: Reuters