Google's Nest Runs Pop-Art Cube Campaign In Herald Square

Google's Nest Labs publicly unveils Friday its first pop-up art installation in New York City's Herald Square. The Cube goes on display for three days beginning Friday to raise awareness around the importance of carbon monoxide poisoning. 

While U.S. mandates installation of carbon monoxide detectors, 11 states have still not passed this as a requirement. The company said it wants to bring awareness to ways to protect families from the invisible gas that takes hundreds of lives annually.

The clear acrylic cube, weighing 1600 lbs., allows visitors to Herald Square see what it would look like if people could see the carbon monoxide gasses. Nest was custom built and designed in Portland, Oregon, by the Nest Creative Studio, then shipped in six pieces to New York City.

The Cube is battery-operated to enable interactivity between people and Nest Protect -- the Smoke and CO alarm -- and will operate with lights and warnings as it would in a home when carbon monoxide is detected.

Google acquired Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in January. Earlier this month, Nest bought Revolv, a start-up based in Boulder, Colo., that built a hub to network device for smart gadgets that connect everything in the home like lights, speakers, locks and more. The company was known to have the ability to connect devices from multiple manufacturers like Nest, Philips, Belkin, and Honeywell.

Revolv will fold into Nest. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

1 comment about "Google's Nest Runs Pop-Art Cube Campaign In Herald Square".
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  1. Alissa Greene from ASU , November 2, 2014 at 8:16 p.m.

    As a current advertising student, I see this type of unveiling as pure genius... As most would expect nothing short from Google. The winning factor here is awareness. There is a huge market of young people who will embark on their first real estate purchases very soon. Most do not understand the eminent threat of something like Carbon Monoxide poisoning in their own home. I for one, did not think about this and the fact that my home doesn't have a device to detect it is kind of ridiculous. Having a captivating and engaging display in Herald Square is an amazing tactic because of the amount of foot traffic, domestic and tourist, that travels to that area. Furthermore, this has the ability to go viral when people start sharing their experience through social media outlets. This really drives home that 'stickiness' factor in advertising, and the people who will even glance or walk by the cube will be incredibly more prone to purchase the Nest due to the fact that it will be prevalent in their minds. This is smart because discussions on the topic are quiet and Google is at the forefront in such an all-inclusive device. This can not only be seen as modern and cool to have, but you can justify it because of the protection factor.

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