Re-design Google ads for SMBs
Designing a self-service platform to help small to medium businesses reach Fairfax readers.
CraigWalker was enlisted by Fairfax and Google to research the appetite of small to medium business owners to advertise through Fairfax publications and to prototype the minimum viable self-service platform required to meet that need.
Fairfax, one of Australia’s largest and most trusted media publishers, had long been a destination for premium advertising. However few small to medium businesses (SMBs), which make up two-thirds of the economy, were choosing to advertise through the digital channels of traditional publishers like Fairfax.
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The project in numbers
66Percentage of Australian businesses are SMBs
6Weeks
2New growth opportunities
From research to prototype in six weeks
Over six weeks, CraigWalker worked with Fairfax, Google Ads and small business owners to design a way forward. The team ran in-context interviews to understand SMB needs, scanned competitors to see what worked globally, and rapidly prototyped concepts that could be tested with businesses ranging from sole traders to 100+ employee firms. This design-led process allowed us to strip away assumptions and focus on the minimum viable service required to give SMBs simple, scalable access to Fairfax audiences.
Designing the next chapter of Fairfax’s digital advertising
CraigWalker developed a concept for Fairfax’s first self-service advertising platform, built on Google’s AdWords API with Fairfax-specific targeting features. The platform gave SMBs control over budget, placement and audience segmentation, with a clear value proposition, intuitive language and optional advanced tools that built trust without adding complexity. The working prototype opened Fairfax’s digital inventory to smaller advertisers for the first time and identified two new growth opportunities for the publisher to explore. Beyond the prototype, the solution created a blueprint for how Fairfax could continue evolving its advertising offer and reimagine its role in a fast-changing digital market.
