Adobe - The Hovering Art Director

REACH

We managed to qualitatively reach 18,5 million impressions within the creative industry worldwide (in completed views).

ENGAGEMENT

Not only did we managed to reach them, we also engaged them around the product: we had an engagement rate of 3.26%, over three times higher than the industry average, with a positive sentiment on all three target groups (100% positive score) and a social view completion rate twice the benchmark. Over 3000 designers willingly put an Adobe-branded design toy on their desk, so the toy can be seen as the ultimate foot-in-the-door item. 

CONVERSION

This converted into 12,6% leads, and the webinars attracted nearly 700% more participants than strived for.
 
Besides all that, one thing’s for sure: there is no valid reason to complain about not being able to keep up with hovering art directors anymore.

Adobe Stock is pretty much the same as any other stock. Except, it’s embedded in Photoshop so designers can work faster. Why would they care? Because the biggest barrier in delivering highly creative output is the combination of time pressure from ridiculous deadlines and perfectionist art directors slowing down the creative process. From now on, designers can finally keep up with their most intrusive coworkers: The Hovering Art Director.

An infamous stereotype in the creative industry. Known for having more ideas than any designer can keep up with, micromanaging and taking up time with last minute improvements. We turned this industry phenomenon into the ultimate argument for working faster with Adobe Stock, showcased by a hero film.

As designers love toys, we also turned the stereotype into vinyl. The very first designer toy that can give feedback on designs (even if you didn’t ask for it). Oh, and it’s the ultimate foot-in-the-door item for Adobe Stock.

INSIGHTS

Adobe CC (including Stock) is used in the creative industry, primarily by designers. Research shows that designers are key influencers for stock purchasing. Especially in SMB’s there’s often no dedicated procurement for stock: it’s actually the designers who decide what provider is used. Therefore we opted for an approach that directly targeted the culture of designers and creatives.

The campaign targets the complete Decision Making Unit. We address designers by using the stereotype of the hovering art director and we draw the attention of senior management through a playful characterisation of their own image and behavior.
 
Next to the various campaign elements (video, designer toy, webinars, website), we seek publicity through stereotype (humour and lifestyle), the designer toy (art and design) and webinars (design and craft).
 
In all communications we stretch the call to action to ‘Keep up with hovering art directors. Make it with Adobe stock’.

The average designer also deliberately knows what he does and doesn’t like. Therefore, deciding to bring the Hovering Art Director to life, we knew one thing for sure. It had to be an attention-grabbing-jealousy-sparking-I-totally-want-this-on-my-desk-collectors-item.
 
So, crafting for perfection in both concept and execution was necessary. It needed to be a designer toy designers would actually want to have on their desk.

The first shipment consisted of 3000 Hovering Art Director designer toys.  
 
We worked with a well respected toy design studio, to make sure what we offered lived up to designers’ high standards.
 
Just like every premium designer toy, we executed the Hovering Art Director in high-quality vinyl.

The character was based on a combination of Art Directors we’ve worked with throughout the years. Key elements were his limited edition sneakers, his cup of soy latte macchiato and a Moleskine full of award winning ideas in his back pocket.
 
The designer toy comes in Adobe-branded packaging that’s custom designed down to the very last detail to match the Hovering Art Director’s cooperative personality.
 
It’s equipped with a built-in speaker with 18 lines of pure hovering wisdom, capable of commenting on people’s creative work, which gives it a relevant role when using Adobe Stock and other Adobe products.

Adobe Stock is now integrated in Creative Cloud, allowing you to search, edit and license stock footage without leaving your software. Core benefit: faster workflow. Meanwhile, stock footage suffers from a rather corny image, due to repetitive usage by designers lacking inspiration and Photoshop skills. 

Create a campaign targeting the creative industry, that creates awareness and consideration for Adobe Stock and inspires to try and use.

Jury Feedback

DIRECT / BRONZE 

As direct as Direct Marketing gets. A well executed concept that grabbed the attention of many working in the field of advertising and design, while explaining how to easily use the product along the way.