Reaching Beyond One-Way Virtual Events With Extraordinary Experiences and Creative Problem-Solving.
Capturing and keeping the attention of thousands of creatives around the world is a core competency of Adobe, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that their global conference had to be extraordinary––even when it was forced to be virtual.
We are all living through digital exhaustion. Hours in video meetings, lack of in-person contact with colleagues, and shortened attention spans are everywhere. So, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced Adobe to convert its annual Adobe MAX conference into a 100% digital experience, they turned to Trademark for “anything is possible” thinking.
Bringing Creativity to Life in a Virtual World
Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference, brings together hundreds of thousands of Adobe Creative Cloud users––graphic designers and creative professionals––on every continent. The conference is known as an inspirational three days of luminary speakers, celebrity appearances, musical performances, global collaborative art projects, and tutorials on the latest in creative technologies. When the conference was forced to go virtual, it was critical that virtual attendees experienced the same interaction and intrigue that are hallmarks of the company’s marquee physical conference.
Trademark answered the call in a uniquely immersive and engaging digital experience by leveraging content that is uniquely Adobe. Annually, Adobe draws on its community to commission artworks used in the Adobe Creative Cloud product suite as splash screens and inspiration for users. Adobe’s Street Artist Showcase is a highlight of the MAX conference, where the art is unveiled. Trademark and Adobe used the opportunity to completely rethink the
Adobe’s Street Artist Showcase, and created an immersive, engaging, and inspirational virtual experience for attendees.
In a few short weeks, Trademark’s global crew of storyboard artists, videographers, producers, and creatives scripted, filmed, produced, and delivered an immersive, engaging virtual experience equal to the physical world. Even better, the virtual Adobe Art Walk reached exponentially more people than the traditional event could, expanding Adobe’s brand and supporting its mission to engage creative professionals on every continent.
The heart of the experience was Trademark’s brainchild, The Adobe Art Walk: a virtual walk down streets of six global cities to marvel at important works of some of the world’s most talented and diverse street artists. The showcase took attendees into diverse different global communities to experience quintessential street art scenes. The experience captured the ethos of Adobe’s Creative Cloud users. Through the virtual event, attendees were immersed in street artist installations in Fanzara (Spain), Kobe/Osaka (Japan), Dakar (Senegal), Mexico City, Fort Smith (Arkansas), and Kaohsiung (Taiwan).
Making Virtual Events Engaging in the Real World
Virtual events must be multi-sensory. To create a cohesive experience that inspired and immersed the audience, Trademark created detailed shot lists for crews in each city. Producers then assembled, edited, and combined video and audio of authentic regional music to the footage to produce compelling final reels that transported virtual conference attendees across five continents.
To further extend the experience, the team wanted to inspire artists with sounds and activities beyond the event to encourage them to create and collaborate using the Adobe Creative Cloud. Against the backdrop of the Adobe Art Walk videos, Trademark amplified the experience with interactive content that further immersed attendees in the real world. Creative use of digital coloring books, audio experiences including a unique singing bowl meditation, ambient awakening, and bio-soundscapes captured and engaged virtual attendees.
The event also featured artists who created art out of junk mail, or made insects out of found plant materials, paper sculpting, and creative animal video streams using Adobe products. All of these creative activities were then extended using the Adobe product set, again creating a long digital tail, which is being leveraged in Adobe marketing activities.
Reaching Thousands More Through a Long Digital Tail
Adobe MAX 2020 and the Adobe Art Walks had more than 21 million total video views across all channels, over 2.2 million visits to the event site on adobe.com, and more than 50 million social interactions. The Art Walk was the series that Adobe promoted the most on its social channels. Months later, the project continues to deliver results, through on-demand views and social sharing.