Google Enlists String Artist to Create Artwork With 35,000 Nails

Google has teamed up with Gold Coast string artist Ben Koracevic and leading e-retailer THE ICONIC to help launch its new 'One Thread' campaign, with Apparent — and help reframe how Australian marketers can navigate an increasingly complex and fragmented digital landscape.

The integrated campaign addresses the growing challenge for Australian brands trying to piece together a customer story from incomplete information, such as a single click, a search, or a fleeting view.

It positions Google AI as the single thread that unifies isolated consumer actions across search, streaming, scrolling, and shopping into a clear, actionable picture of behavioural intent.

To help illustrate this concept, Gold Coast-based string artist Ben Koracevic created a bespoke piece of art by threading more than 35,000 individual nails with one piece of string to reveal a single, cohesive image. The nails represent fragmented data points stitched together by Google AI, symbolised by the thread, to reveal a unified view of the customer.

THE ICONIC, Australia’s leading fashion and lifestyle e-retailer, is showcased as a leading example of 'One Thread' in action. By using Google AI including 'Performance Max', THE ICONIC moved beyond demographic assumptions to respond to real-time behavioural signals.

The results included an 11:1 return on ad spend (ROAS) during the Cyber Weekend period and the discovery of high-demand, "unexpected" categories like pool loungers, water bottles, and giant dinosaur sprinklers. This enabled a shift from targeting who they thought their audience was, to responding to what customers were actually signalling in the moment.

Joanna Robinson, CMO at THE ICONIC, said, "The 'One Thread' concept captures the reality of how our customers shop online. They’re constantly discovering, searching and making decisions. There is so much data and micro-moments that fuel even a single purchase. This campaign illustrates so clearly how Google AI creates a single thread that intricately connects it all together and gives us a clearer picture of customer intent.”

As media consumption spans multiple surfaces, Google is highlighting its ability to help unify the four fundamental "4S" behaviours — streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping — across Google and YouTube to create a cohesive ecosystem for engaging audiences.

By connecting these diverse actions through Google AI, brands can better understand customer intent and reach users at every touchpoint of their digital journey.

A critical part of this ecosystem is the high level of consumer confidence. According to a July 2023 Google and Ipsos survey, Australians trust Google and YouTube more than other leading search, social, streaming, or AI platforms.

This is because users on these sites are actively searching, streaming, scrolling, or shopping, which allows brands to grow by reaching people based on their current actions rather than just their demographics. By responding to these real-time signals, brands can find new and unexpected customer groups.

Mark Wheeler, Google Ads marketing director, said, “Ben’s work and craft is a beautiful way to show how Google Ads can help marketers reach the right customers at the right moment. It’s about taking that single thread of intent and following it until it reveals a clear, profitable opportunity for brands, just like THE ICONIC showcased.”

For more information and to download Google’s 2026 Guide for Marketers click here.