2020 National Student Advertising Competition

with Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising
TEAM 697

PLAN TO KICK ADS:
1
CONTENTS
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2
3
4
5
7
8
10
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Executive Summary
Challenge & Strategy
Research Methods & SWOT
Research Insights
Audience Breakdown
Creative Strategy
Paid Digital
Paid Events
Owned Media
Earned Media
Ad Testing
Budget
Justifications
Scheduling
Evaluations
Conclusion
It’s time to kick ads.
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising can handle anything. It busts
through the walled-garden approach. It takes advertising technology
(adtech) to the next level. It enables users to connect, optimize and
empower stakeholders to reach new audiences and new heights.
Adobe is a front-runner in every aspect of how professionals express
creativity, but people aren’t talking about its adtech.
That’s a pain in the ads.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adobe has empowered people to create meaningful messages through
its software and technology since December 1982. Its powerful suite of
creative software is integral to most of the digital advertisements we
experience on a daily basis. Now, the company seeks to lead the adtech
market with innovative technology, expanding and investing in its
adtech capabilities to offer users the elite advertising solution.
Our research shows advertising professionals want to kick ads, too.
Advertising professionals want to see results. They want to be efficient.
They want the best bang for their buck. Adobe Experience Cloud for
Advertising is the solution— the only solution.
But you can’t use a solution you don’t know about.
Raise unaided awareness of
Adobe’s adtech leadership position
with Adobe Experience Cloud for
Advertising with our target audience
by 2 percentage points.
1
Be in the top three for share of voice
for earned media.
1
Drive 50,000 visits to the Advertising
Solution page: Adobe.com/
advertising/adobe-advertising-cloud.
1
Increase advertiser persona contact
growth in marketable database for
target accounts. Do this by capturing
10,000 new decision maker and
practitioner contacts from enterprise
accounts with ad spend of over $1
million per year.
kick ads /ˈkikˌads/
verb
extremely good or impressive;
acting with energy and enthusiasm;
outperforming the set standard.
"I’m ready to kick ads today."
pain in the ads /pān/n/the/ads/
noun
an annoying or tedious thing that
makes advertising efforts more
difficult.
“That’s a real pain in the ads.”
1

THE CHALLENGE
OUR STRATEGY
Adobe is revolutionizing the adtech
marketplace with Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising’s omnichannel power, artificial
intelligence (Adobe Sensei), transparent data
and ad spend optimization. Unfortunately, not
enough advertising professionals recognize the
power of this platform.
Let’s fix that.
Adobe software is widely perceived as the gold
standard for all forms of creative expression.
It’s time for Adobe Experience Cloud for
Advertising to become the champion of adtech.
#SenseiSays
verb
Sensei knows everything. Just as he
is capable of guiding users through
any complications with adtech, he will
guide you through this campaign. Look
for this hashtag to catch a glimpse of
Sensei’s wisdom and takeaways.
“Sensei Says...and you should listen!”
Our research shows advertising professionals want everything Adobe
Experience Cloud for Advertising offers; they just don’t know about the
platform. This campaign meets advertising professionals in places they already
seek information. There, we’ll teach them how to kick ads.
If they aren’t finding us, we will find them.
This campaign is a focused, multifaceted effort to meet advertising
professionals where they are and give them the information they need. And no,
we’re not pulling any punches. Conferences and speaking engagements? We’ll
be there. Earned media awareness? We’re using it. Social media? Engaging popup
experiences? Search engine marketing? Done, done and done.
We’re using Adobe’s powerful palette of jewel tones and its clean, captivating
aesthetic. Combined with clear, straightforward messaging, this campaign
demands advertising professionals’ attention and gives them actionable
information they can spread throughout the office.
These advertising professionals don’t want fluff. They want straight, to-thepoint
information about how Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising will
energize their workflow, enhance their efficiency and empower them to create
strong, effective campaigns. They may be good where they’re at, but they can
only be great with Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising – the only adtech
that truly does it all.
2

RESEARCH METHODS
HALF-ADS RESEARCH?
That’s not our thing.
Our team conducted 295 hours
of interviews and surveys with
advertising professionals and
456 hours of secondary research.
We like to think of ourselves as
adtech experts now. We are ready
to give Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising the powerhouse
reputation it deserves.
Total Research Hours
Primary Research Impressions
Secondary Research Sources
half-ads /haf-ads/
adjective
tasks completed with little effort.
“If Jim keeps doing a half-ads job
on his work, we are going to have
to fire him.”
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
• Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising is the only
omnichannel advertising platform that consolidates
and automates all media, screens and data.
• Adobe has an established and reliable reputation
because of its other products.
WEAKNESSES
• Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising is unheard
of, or still recognized by its acquisitions (TubeMogul
and Efficient Frontier/Media Optimizer).
• People are unable to differentiate Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising from Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Many companies are reluctant to change adtech
services because the upfront costs and time to learn
the platform don’t seem worth it.
OPPORTUNITIES
#SenseiSays strengths lie in
differences, not similarities.
Adobe is different than any
adtech yet.
Taglines
Campaign Concepts
Eye-Tracking Sessions
• Many of the issues advertising professionals experience
with their current adtech can be addressed with
Adobe’s adtech.
• Professionals already use Adobe products to create
and design their ads.
• Adobe Sensei uniquely enables advertising
professionals to optimize performance in many areas.
Months of Research
Kick Ads Campaign
THREATS
• Walled gardens are more recognized solutions than
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising.
• Competitors offer less expensive services.
3

RESEARCH INSIGHTS
CURRENT CLIMATE
PLATFORMS
The audience’s adtech isn’t new, but it isn’t a
long-held tradition either. Our research shows that
50% of respondents have been using their current
technology for 2-5 years, while 25% of respondents
have used their current technology for more than
5 years.
How do you keep up with new
industry developments and trends?
2
Which social media platforms are you
likely to use to get information on
industry developments and trends?
The audience wants trustworthy data. 36% of
respondents have concerns about the integrity
of their performance data. Our audience uses
multiple platforms to get their jobs done. 83% of
respondents use multiple adtech platforms.
CONTENT TAKEAWAYS
What qualities of an
advertisement would prevent
you from engaging with it?
“Boring, predictable ads or ads without enough
context about what the user is being asked to do or
engage with.”
- Tracy, Advertising Agency Senior Digital Manager
“Run of the mill ads - things that use stock photography,
generic imagery and messaging and that don’t offer
something I care about or am interested in.”
- Mario, Media Agency Director
Professionals don’t engage
with boring, poorly designed
or cluttered ads.
How do you respond
to industry-related
advertisements on your
personal social media feeds?
“If the ad is able to ‘break through’ the feed to catch my
attention visually, then I am most likely to engage.”
- Jennifer, VP Media Agency
“We want to know the facts, the results, the numbers.”
- Matt, CEO Media Agency
Professionals engage
with bold, relevant ads
that tell a story and show
the product’s value.
#SenseiSays transparency is better than sugar-coated data.
Real numbers = real results.
4

AUDIENCE BREAKDOWN
COMPANY PERSONA
TARGET SEGMENTS
We’re not trying to kick ads for just anyone.
Our goal is to help medium- to large-sized
companies that are already doing well but will
benefit from consolidated data to kick their ads
into gear. These companies spend more than $1
million on digital advertising each year and are
constantly looking for more efficient, connected
and energized ways to achieve their goals.
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising will
do just that for them. It allows companies in
banking, media and entertainment, retail and
even large advertising agencies to strengthen
their processes to get the results they want.
a. Companies that advertise to large
consumer markets, such as banks and
insurance companies (Citibank, Visa,
Progressive)
b. Media and entertainment brands
(Disney, MLB, Caesar’s)
c. Retailers (The Home Depot, Unilever,
Best Buy)
d. Direct-to-consumer retailers
(Dollar Shave Club, Stitch Fix)
e. Advertising agencies (media
buying) that work with these mid-sized to
enterprise companies to build their media
strategies and manage the execution on
behalf of the company. (WPP, Publicis
Media, Dentsu Aegis Network)
ADOBE SENSEI PERSONA
We will capitalize on features Adobe
already offers, such as Adobe Sensei.
Sensei brings the power and energy
of artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning to help advertising
professionals create meaningful
experiences, make informed decisions
and efficiently target specific audiences.
Throughout the campaign, Sensei is
always there to help: guiding, motivating
and supporting. Sensei knows best and
advertising professionals should listen
to what #SenseiSays.
5

AUDIENCE BREAKDOWN
Ms. Valerie Lee - Vision Leader
Valerie is an innovative, decisive executive for her
company. She is a driven, busy woman who lives
to achieve her goals in life. In other words, she’s a
total bad-ads.
What motivates Valerie to kick ads?
Valerie strives to lead her company toward
partnerships that constantly look toward a better,
brighter future. To do this, she wants facts and
doesn’t have time to cut through the clutter. Why
does Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising
kick ads? Let’s show her.
Mr. Daniel Moore - Decision Maker
Daniel investigates the innovative ideas Valerie
presents. He’s the smart-ads of business
operations.
What motivates Daniel to kick ads?
He wants to know the essential details so he can
make informed decisions for the company. Daniel
understands the ins and outs of marketing, and
he sees how ROI aligns with the marketing buyside
of the company. How can Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising optimize his department’s
performance? We will equip him with all of the
necessary details.
Mx. Felix E. Palmer - Features Evaluator/
Practitioner
Felix operates adtech software on a daily basis and
offers important insight into how it adds value to
their daily tasks. Felix is unquestionably working
their ads off.
What motivates Felix to kick ads?
Felix must recognize the advantages and
versatility of Adobe’s adtech. Their to-do list is a
mile long. How can Adobe Experience Cloud for
Advertising help Felix have a kick-ads day? Let’s
demonstrate to them it’s simple, comprehensive
and efficient in handling data and managing all
advertising efforts.
bad-ads /ˈbadˌads/
noun
an impressive, over-achieving person.
“Valerie is such a bad-ads! She is
always on top of things.”
smart-ads /smärt-ads/
noun
an educated, knowledgeable
professional who knows all of the ins
and outs of his area of work.
“Ask Daniel! He is a total smart-ads,
but like, the good kind.”
working their ads off /ˈwərkiNG,THer,ads,ôf,äf/
verb
to be doing a lot or way too much for one to
handle at once.
“I’ve worked my ads off today. I need a nap.”
6

CREATIVE STRATEGY
THE BIG IDEA
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising has more
to offer than professionals know or assume.
Our mission is to help advertising professionals
kick ads with Adobe. We’ll do this by proving that
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising is efficient,
comprehensive, connected and transparent with
not only their data, but also their advertising
efforts. By implementing the Kick Ads campaign,
we’ll positively shape perceptions of Adobe adtech.
It’s time to get real with our target audience. We
know the industry is intense, so why not lighten
the mood and the workload? We’re tapping into
advertising professionals’ fun, creative sides by
pitching their perfect solution in a confident way.
Let’s kick ads.
Tone: Empowering, Energizing, Confident and Bold
DESIGN CHOICES
Rich, colorful experiences are central to Adobe’s creative
and visual identity. That’s exactly what we wanted to show
with our kick-ads design.
We chose the blue gradient to emphasize the unity and
dependability of the adtech. This gradient provides a solid
foundation for the visual presentation of the campaign,
much like unity provides a solid foundation for the adtech.
The orange gradient serves as a vibrant contrast to the
blues. This orange energizes our palette – and our campaign.
The half-honeycomb tread in the background gives the
pages depth, while calling back to the technology at the
heart of it all.
Hand lettering in this campaign adds an extra punch to
our ads, emphasizes our direct tone and draws attention to
important copy.
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PAID
TWITTER ADS
Twitter poses the perfect opportunity for
us to lean into our tone. The character
limit facilitates a straightforward, witty
tone, which is what our campaign is all
about. Aside from the creative benefits,
Twitter enables users to specify how the
desired audiences engage with their ads.
Our Twitter ads will drive website clicks.
LINKEDIN ADS
We want to deliver tangible facts about
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising
that advertisers can share with their
coworkers. LinkedIn video ads have the
highest engagement and ROI on the
platform, based on LinkedIn reports.
LinkedIn is also widely reported in our
primary research as the main social
media platform advertising professionals
use to get industry information. It
is imperative that we utilize it by
advertising through both video and
carousel ads.
TRADE PUBLICATION ADS
While researching how to kick ads, we discovered
that trade publications are what our desired
audiences use to learn about groundbreaking
technology and industry updates.
By placing ads in prominent trade publications,
such as AdWeek, AdAge, AdExchanger, The
Drum and Digiday, Adobe will be at the front of
advertising professionals’ minds. We will link a blog
written by Adobe professionals to let everyone
know that Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising
kicks ads and has success stories to back it up.
These success stories highlight features of the
software, showing real-life solutions that help reallife
companies kick ads.
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PAID
GOOGLE ADS
Our campaign will use Google Ads
to direct traffic to the Advertising
Solution page. We’ll purchase key
terms and phrases including “adtech”
and “media buying.” If people have
questions, Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising will be among the
top search results with the answer.
FACEBOOK ADS
Facebook provides a customizable
advertising strategy that allows us to
advertise to our target audience as
directly and efficiently as possible. We
will optimize ad delivery to landing
page views, and we will target people
with advertising management job titles
within the advertising and marketing
industries. Our Facebook ads will drive
clicks to the Advertising Solution page.
PODCAST ADS
Podcasts are a more engaging
medium when compared to
traditional display ads because
listeners appreciate and respect what
the podcaster says. Our research
shows industry-specific podcasts like
“IT Visionaries,” “The Creative
Agency Podcast” or “The Big Web
Show” offer opportunities for Adobe
to engage with its desired audiences
as they listen to a trusted source.
KICK-ADVOCATES
MICRO-INFLUENCERS
Several kick-advocates have a strong
LinkedIn presence. These kickadvocates
are: Paul Flipps, Allison
Dew, Danny Miles, Alessandro
de Pastel and Gretchen Saegh-
Fleming. Through posts that highlight
kick-advocates’ success with Adobe
Experience Cloud for Advertising,
Adobe gains the trust of potential users.
We know that 84% of consumers trust
peer recommendations over brand
advertising, so our strategy emphasizes
connecting with our audiences through
3
prominent industry professionals.
kick-advocate /kik/-/ˈadvəkət/
noun
1. who is the most familiar with
adtech and its features? The ones
who use it.
2. kick-advocates are the users
speaking on the power of Adobe
Experience Cloud for Advertising.
“These kick-advocates really love
Adobe adtech!”
9

PAID
CONFERENCES
Conferences will be the primary advertising
medium for the Kick Ads campaign. Each
conference targets a specific section of our
audience, including the Valeries, Daniels
and Felixes of the industry. We will allocate
$1 million to sponsor 10 conferences. The
format and content of each conference will
vary, so we prepared suggestions for each
possible element of the sponsorships.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Incredible brands with kick-ads stories have maximized
their advertising potential with Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising. When possible, kick-advocates will
speak at sponsored keynote sessions. We will allocate
$50,000 per conference to pay for key influencers to
have keynote sessions. The keynote presentations will
be tailored to each respective audience, highlighting the
importance of connected solutions in business.
ZINE
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Breakouts are the perfect place for Adobe to
interact with advertising professionals. We
believe Adobe Advertising Cloud Vice President
Keith Eadie is the ideal speaker because he
knows the product inside and out. After scanning
a QR code and entering their contact information,
viewers can ask questions about the adtech.
Advertising is all about communicating through stories and leaving people with
something more than a bland message. Our kick-ads information about Adobe
adtech can’t be contained in a simple brochure that people will throw away after
each conference. We propose delivering information through an engaging story.
A zine.
“How to Kick Ads with Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising” will leave
readers with a memorable experience and actionable information to share
with coworkers. The back cover will have a QR code that links directly to the
Advertising Solution page.
zine /zi:n/ZEEN/
noun
a small-scale magazine focused on storytelling
through hand-drawn illustrations.
“Did you read Adobe’s new zine? What a kick-ads story!”
10

PAID
CONFERENCES
ADOBE SENSEI’S KICK-ADS EXPERIENCE
We will create interactive experiences at conferences with
pop-up events. These events create memorable associations
between the target audience, Adobe representatives and
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising. The pop-up events
will have three stations: Explore. Energize. Engage.
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PAID
EXPLORE
CONFERENCES
This enclosed room will be dimly lit and
have branded yoga materials, diffusers
and water bottles. The point of this room
is simple: advertising professionals should
take time to explore their well-being.
Picture guided meditation led by Adobe
Sensei playing over the speakers, subtly
reminding participants that Adobe has
Sensei to guide them in their careers as well.
ENERGIZE
This area showcases how the adtech can
energize its users. It emphasizes how
empowering it is to work hard for tangible
results by encouraging visitors to ride Sensei’s
Smoothie Cycles. Each bike is equipped with a
blender, powered by the energy created from
peddling that will blend fresh smoothies on
the spot – giving the user a healthy, energizing
smoothie in a reusable Adobe-branded cup.
ENGAGE
This area will engage participants with an
interactive experience customized to boost
their mood, motivation and activity during
the conference. Participants will interact with
a screen that tracks their movement, allowing
them to dance and play games with Adobe
Sensei. The experience will help participants
visualize how Adobe Experience Cloud for
Advertising can empower their careers.
12

OWNED
INSTAGRAM
Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising
does not have a clear presence on
Instagram, but several of the primary
research respondents said they use this
platform to gather industry information.
We see @AdobeExpCloudforAdvertising
as the perfect blend of work and fun
with the goal to create content that
users want to share or engage with.
Inspirational quotes, testimonies
from current Adobe adtech
users, informational IGTV videos
and interviews from advertising
professionals will all have a home on
this Instagram page.
TWITTER
Our primary research indicates that
Twitter ties for the second most popular
social media platform advertising
professionals use to gain industry
information. This campaign utilizes
the existing @AdobeExpCloud Twitter
account, leveraging its 158,000 followers.
This account will promote our Kick Ads
campaign, share success stories and
direct more visitors to the Advertising
Solution page.
Hashtags: #KickAdswithAdobe
#AdobeSenseiSays
LINKEDIN LEARNING
Advertising professionals don’t have
the time to sit through traditional,
long-form courses to learn.
They want quick and actionable
information that will strengthen their
work experience. This campaign will
establish an Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising course on LinkedIn
Learning to empower current users
of the platform and invite new ones
by lowering the barrier to entry.
DIRECT EMAIL
Our research shows direct email
advertising has the highest ROI of B2B
marketing strategies. Using Adobe
Marketo, we will follow up with contacts
obtained at conferences and continue to
send emails throughout the duration of
the campaign.
This strategy allows us to relay additional
information regarding this product to our
contacts, send them to the Advertising
Solution page and further their journey
to kicking ads.
13

EARNED
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We will send letters to the editor to
major industry trade publications such
as AdWeek, AdAge, AdExchanger,
The Drum and Digiday. Our research
shows that advertising professionals
look to trade publications for nearly
everything from industry developments
to new advertising trends. These letters
will emphasize our kick-advocates’
success stories about Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA
We want everyone in the advertising
industry to see how Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising is kicking ads at
conferences and online. Our campaign
encourages professionals who visit our
booths and/or interact with our social
media to share their excitement and
view others’ experiences. Our group of
hashtags will give a central place online
for all of our earned social media.
PRESS RELEASES
We want to make sure everyone knows
about Adobe’s kick-ads conference
experiences. That’s why we’ll send press
releases and targeted pitches to major
news publications, both nationally and
in the cities hosting conferences, to
raise awareness of Adobe’s presence
at these conferences. We anticipate
story placement in the business and
technology sections of publications like
The New York Times, The Wall Street
Journal and The Washington Post.
PODCASTS - GUEST SPEAKER
Adobe Advertising Cloud Vice President Keith Eadie will speak as a guest on the podcasts that are most
popular among Valerie, Daniel and Felix. Additionally, we will sponsor episodes on six other podcasts that
are relevant to our personas’ interests. Each podcast host will receive a script to read. These podcasts include
“IT Visionaries” and “Yeah, That’s Probably an Ad” for Valeries, “Agency Advantage” and “The Creative Agency
Podcast” for Daniels, and “The Big Web Show” and “AdExchanger Talks” for Felixes.
14

INITIAL AD TESTING
EYE-TRACKING VISUALIZATIONS
Ads are only effective if they’re well received.
To ensure this, we put our initial ads in front of communications
professionals for their feedback. They felt that our first ads were
unclear and confusing.
“These ads do not communicate what the service is. Your ads
should make the connection, not just attraction."
We kicked our ads into gear, completely reworked every ad with
new visuals and new copy, and received feedback from another
group of communications professionals.
EYE TRACKING
We utilized eye-tracking technology to monitor how relevant
professionals, ages 22 to 62, responded to the visual elements of our
new ads. This technology measured participants’ visual attention and
tracked where their eyes focused, which is visually represented by large
red dots in heavily concentrated areas.
Most of our ads, including the LinkedIn carousel ad, held the audience's
attention right where we wanted it. However, our audience completely
missed an important message on one of the ads, so we reworked it to
better communicate that Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising is an
omnichannel solution.
VERBAL FEEDBACK
After the eye-tracking sessions, participants were asked about their
reactions and understanding of the ads. As it turns out, this round
was pretty kick ads.
“The orange and the ‘kick ads’ [stuck out].”
“It seems like you are selling some kind of platform solution that
aggregates data.”
“[The ad] makes complete sense to me. I think someone that has
any kind of inkling as to what Adobe is [would get it].”
15

#SenseiSays our owned media has the potential to bring in more than 10 million impressions.
16

JUSTIFICATIONS
Creative Justification: Traditionally, business-to-business promotions use more composed language than the verbiage used throughout the Kick Ads campaign. However, our primary
research indicates that professionals don’t engage with boring ads. Our campaign implements bold, innovative language that stands out. Ultimately, business to business is still people
to people, and our campaign capitalizes on this notion.
Paid media strategies are designed to drive
traffic to the Advertising Solution page and
raise unaided awareness of Adobe Experience
Cloud for Advertising. These diverse channels
ensure we will reach advertisers at multiple
touchpoints along their buyer journey.
• Our research with advertising
professionals indicates trade
publications are the primary method
for our audience to gather industryrelated
information.
• Advertisers are projected to spend
at least $500 million on podcasts ads
in 2020. A wide range of podcasts
covering advertising provide an
opportunity for Adobe to make a kickads
move into this medium.
• More than 50% of companies
attribute search-related advertising to
their highest ROI. Google Ads provide
this opportunity for our campaign.
• LinkedIn’s account targeting feature
allows businesses to engage their
desired audiences from an array of data
points, which means we can maximize
impressions with a narrowly-tailored
audience. 4
• Twitter allows advertisers to create
sponsored ads dedicated to driving
website clicks, directly addressing one
of our campaign objectives. 5
• Facebook has the most users of
any social media platform, offering
a massive amount of potential
advertising touchpoints. 6
Owned media strategies allow Adobe to
create and control content without paying
for it. When owned media performs well, it
creates opportunities for the company’s other
messaging channels, which can be more costeffective
than some paid media.
• Adobe's competitors, Salesforce and
Oracle, have content with anywhere
from 30,000 to over 76,000 viewers on
LinkedIn Learning. 7, 8
• Twitter has over 330 million active users
(with 31 million monetizable users in the
United States) and is used by 87% of B2B
marketers for content marketing. 5
• According to webfx.com, email
marketing is an extremely cost-effective
B2B strategy with an incredibly high ROI. 9
• Digital Marketing Community shows
that email is the highest B2B channel
when it comes to measuring ROI.
• Adobe already has a successful
Instagram following with these pages:
Adobe (1 million), Adobe Creative Cloud
(571,000) and Adobe Students (283,000).
• Zine marketing is not currently an
established industry standard for print
marketing, giving Adobe the opportunity
to be at the forefront of this strategy.
Earned media strategies are the most efficient
way to obtain share of voice in the advertising
industry. They facilitate organic conversations
surrounding Adobe’s adtech solution.
• Press releases and letters to the
editor are industry standards for
increasing awareness and conversation
around Adobe’s adtech.
• Having kick-advocates speak on
industry podcasts gives our audiences a
chance to hear Adobe adtech’s strengths
10
and technological advancements.
• 94% of B2B influencers use LinkedIn
to communicate industry information.
Our kick-advocates will reach
professionals in upper management
(aka the Valeries of advertising).
Conference Justification: More than one-third
of the professionals we interviewed pointed
to conferences as a main source of industry
information. Live events are the biggest B2B
demand-generation tactic and have the highest ROI
11
for B2B marketing campaigns. Each conference we
attend meets one of the target segments outlined
in the case study. At industry-specific conferences,
we will interact with professionals who are likely
to adopt our technology. With major sponsorships
at each conference, we will have different levels of
promotional material to raise unaided awareness
for Adobe adtech. Keynote speakers position
Adobe as an adtech leader for every industry. These
conferences and promotional materials drive visits
to the Advertising Solution page and obtain contact
information from Valeries, Daniels and Felixes.
17

SCHEDULING
An awareness campaign needs a kick-ads strategy behind it.
We will intensify our social media and digital advertising messaging to maximize impressions. The podcast ads and trade
publication sponsored blogs run pulse messaging to increase impressions during the lull between conferences. Digital
advertisements will run for the duration of the campaign. Continuous digital messaging ensures the target audience is constantly
reminded of Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising.
18

EVALUATIONS
To ensure this campaign kicks ads, key performance indicators (KPIs) will be tracked against each campaign objective.
OBJECTIVE
EVALUATION
EXPECTED RESULTS
Raise unaided awareness of Adobe’s
adtech leadership position with Adobe
Experience Cloud for Advertising with our
target audience by 2%.
At the beginning and the end of this
campaign, focus groups will be conducted
and national surveys will be sent to
industry professionals to measure their
familiarity with Adobe Experience Cloud
for Advertising.
Increase unaided awareness from
5% to 8%.
Be in the top three for share of voice for
earned media.
We will continuously monitor the SOV for
earned media throughout the campaign
using Adobe Campaign Manager.
Be among the top three for SOV for
earned media.
Drive 50,000 visits to the Advertising
Solution page.
Throughout the duration of the campaign,
we will monitor how many users in the
U.S. visit the Advertising Solution page.
Generate more than 64,000 projected
visits to the Advertising Solution page.
Capture 10,000 new decision-maker
and practitioner contacts from
enterprise accounts with ad spend over
$1 million per year.
Decision-maker and practitioner contacts
will be compiled into a database during
the campaign and totaled at the end.
Generate more than 35,000 total new
contacts, with over 13,000 projected
decision maker and practitioner contacts.
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CONCLUSION
Over the last eight months, hundreds of research hours,
dozens of conversations with advertising professionals and
several all-nighters went into this campaign. We might be
biased, but we think it’s pretty kick-ads. All of our hard
work made us strong, efficient and connected as a team,
just like Adobe Experience Cloud for Advertising.
Thank you to Adobe, the American Advertising Federation
and the National Student Advertising Competition for
giving us the memorable experience of working on a B2B
campaign. This experience gave us new insights into the
advertising profession and positioned us to be successful
in the real world. Maybe we’ll even use Adobe adtech in
our future careers.
#SenseiSays that’d be pretty bad-ads.
OK, no more ad puns.
Thanks for everything, truly.
- Team 697
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