Adobe CS3: Layer Tennis

Name	Position	Company
Sidney Bosley	Executive Producer/Communication Strategy Director	Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
Joshua Spanier	Head of Communication Strategy	Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
Jennifer Yumiba	Senior Communication Strategist	Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
Dharnesh Kaur	Communication Strategist	Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
Rob Perkins	Strategist	Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
John Lolacono	Senior Vice President, Creative Solutions Business Unit	Adobe Systems, Inc
Ann Lewnes	Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing	Adobe Systems, Inc.
Jennifer Reynolds	Director, WW Advertising	Adobe Systems, Inc.
Devin Squaglia	Sr. Manager, WW Advertising	Adobe Systems, Inc.
Ann Winkler	Sr. Manager, WW Advertising	Adobe Systems, Inc.

Our goal was to get creative professionals — designers, photographers, animators and especially advertising creatives — excited about Adobe's Creative Suite 3 (CS3) software. The conventional solution would have been conventional media: page ads, event sponsorships, banners, etc. However, through research we knew our target would not respond to conventional advertising. For a creative, what your peers are discussing, reviewing and sharing is the only engaging conversation. Somehow we needed to kick-start a CS3 conversation. Creatives take pride in how skilled they are in using creative software but they never get to show off those skills. We also learned that creatives are hyper-competitive, yet they rarely compete live, one-on-one. Combining these two desires created the media idea: invent a sport for creative professionals, letting them compete head-to-head, showcasing their Adobe software skills in front of a live online audience. We called the sport LAYER TENNIS.

Player One had 15 minutes to create a single layer of art. This first image was then posted to our Web stadium, where Player Two had 15 minutes to creatively manipulate it, (of course using only Adobe tools). Player Two volleyed back the manipulated image to Player One, who re-manipulated it. Each side volleyed 5 times, creating a 10-volley match. We employed a commentator to provide a play-by-play analysis and explain what Adobe features were being used, but we also encouraged the online audience to participate by posting comments, talking trash and ultimately, deciding which player deserved to win each matchup. On the Web stadium where the match was played, we featured rich interactive banners that played off the central Adobe Creative License themes. The entire match was a live demonstration of the speed, power and capabilities of the CS3 suite, wrapped up in an engaging, immersive event.

Creatives operate within a very tight-knit community. Indeed, the majority only respects the opinions of their fellow creatives. Importantly, creatives are also evangelical about the things they love, and will rush to share them. So when something is deemed "cool," word quickly spreads across their core network of websites. The strategic objective of Layer Tennis was to create a new reason to discuss and interact with our product in a social context. This engagement was far more effective for Adobe than any amount of traditional media impressions we might have paid for. The solution was a conversation, not a campaign. Using only word-of-mouth media and no traditional media, we connected to our audience in a credible way, which is essential for this savvy group. The concept spread like wildfire, racking up over 10,000 blog postings and countless copycats, all within the heart of the creative community's actual conversation.

We spent $0 advertising Layer Tennis, relying instead on word-of-mouth. A staggering 50,000 creatives viewed match one; 500,000 watched across the season. CS3 sales were +36% over the comparable CS2 launch, driving Adobe's 2007 revenue +113% over 2006. Adobe's CFO stated the upturn was "…driven primarily by CS3…".