Google AI Brings TELUS’ Iconic Critters to Life

Google Pixel and TELUS has launched a high-impact campaign for the Google Pixel 10, designed to get millennials thinking differently about switching both their phone and their provider. Building on TELUS’ beloved critters, the campaign reimagines these iconic characters in a world where natural adaptation becomes a metaphor for how effortless switching can feel. Google AI was a critical contributor to bringing this idea to life.

To execute the concept, Cossette, Google’s marketing agency of record, led the creative development in close collaboration with its internal production teams. MCW managed the live-action shoot, while sister agency Septième led the Google AI-powered production, generating high-fidelity performances of TELUS’ critters without the need to bring real animals on set.

“Our iconic critters have been at the heart of the TELUS brand for 25 years, and this campaign gave us an opportunity to reimagine how these characters appear on-screen,” says Rob Daintree, director, marketing communications at TELUS. “By partnering with Google Pixel, we explored new creative possibilities using Google AI to enhance the expressions, movements and personality that make our critters truly beloved by Canadians.”

All work involving Google AI took place within the secure Gemini Enterprise environment - an essential requirement of the Google-TELUS partnership - to ensure brand assets remained fully protected. Septième played a central role by using custom Google AI tools, developed by Plus Company on Google’s Vertex AI Studio, to generate the critter performances essential to the campaign. With existing image assets unable to deliver the required actions, this approach made the concept feasible and provided the foundation for the hybrid production. Once the Google AI outputs were ready, Cossette and Septième’s editorial and creative teams layered in traditional craft - including lighting, performance direction, and finishing - to elevate the assets into broadcast-ready, premium storytelling.

“Google’s AI tools empowered the teams to push their creative vision further and maintain the highest level of craft, all delivered within ambitious timelines,” says Laura Pearce, head of marketing at Google Canada.

This campaign shows how a simple, human insight can be amplified through modern creative tools.

“This project demonstrates the strength of a tight idea,” says Dana Ciani, group creative director at Cossette. “To get millennials to think about switching, we tapped into TELUS’ critters and the instinctive ways animals adapt. It gave us a fun, familiar way to show how natural switching to the Google Pixel and TELUS could be. With the help of Google’s AI tools, we were able to bring these critters and their stories to life in a meaningful way.”

The creative debuts nationally across Connected TV and social platforms. Using a production model powered by Google’s AI tools, the campaign shows consumers what helpful AI looks like on a smartphone - the new Google Pixel 10 on TELUS.