#BestPhonesForever: AI Roadtrip

Below is a snippet from the Think With Google blog post detailing the #BestPhonesForever AI Roadtrip Campaign.

What happens when two phones stop being rivals and start being friends? You get the world’s friendliest competitive campaign: Best Phones Forever.

And what happens when you let fans decide where those phones will go on their next adventure? You get a first-of-its kind experiment that showcases how brands can use Google AI to engage directly with fans.

With a one-day campaign on Instagram Reels that used generative AI tools like Gemini, we piloted a new model for user-driven content that points toward an exciting future for marketers building fan communities on social platforms.

The “Best Phones Forever: AI Roadtrip” launched with a short episode that established that the Google Pixel and the iPhone were headed on a road trip powered by generative AI. We then invited viewers to decide where the two characters would go next. As people added location ideas in the comments, our team used a purpose-built tool to generate custom video responses, or “mini-episodes,” within minutes.

The video that kicked off the experiment ⬇️

Over the course of the experiment, we sent Pixel and iPhone on 306 unique adventures, each inspired by a real user suggestion. The phones visited 74 countries across all seven continents. They crashed a wedding, explored the rings of Saturn, and ventured into imaginary realms. Ultimately, the activation gave our audience a glimpse of what’s possible with Google AI — and led to the highest-performing Google Pixel U.S. Instagram post ever.

Our recap post featuring each one of our 306 destinations ⬇️

For a deeper dive into how this experiment was made, check out this Google developers blog post.

I worked with a highly talented team of writers, animators, creative directors, producers, and team leads to create this wonderful AI experiment leveraging our Best Phone Friends and generative AI.

Team

Tool Development: The Mill + Left Field Labs

VFX & 3D Animation: The Mill

Mix: Heard City

Executive Creative Direction: Kevin Proudfoot & Robert Wong

Creatives: Matthew Carey, Lucas Hearl, Mike Lacher, Natalie Dennis, Andrew Rhee, Eric Rothman, Eric Harnden, Jean Sharkey, Ben Wiley, Chris Ocana, Shashwath Santosh, Soy Kim, Sam Lawton, Hyeseung Kim

Production: Jay Chen, Cassie Hamilton, Brenda Fogg, myself

Team Leads: Rachel Benner, Emmett Kim

Tech Support: Mat Ray, Raj Kuppusamy