Adobe has long excelled at comically portraying the disastrous consequences of not managing one's marketing properly. But in its latest spot, it literally becomes a matter of life and death.
The commercial, by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, features a couple of buddies out hiking together, when one of them is suddenly bitten by a snake. Luckily, they have their mobile phones with them, and seem to be getting a good signal. But it all goes downhill from there.
Check out the spot here:
The brand's earlier comic spots for its Adobe Marketing Cloud services encouraged marketers to look at the data—to know their audiences and understand the performance of their marketing efforts. This spot goes further by encouraging marketing to look more broadly.
"This new spot reminds us that we can't just look at data in a silo," Alex Amado, vp of experience marketing at Adobe, tells AdFreak. "Everything we do as marketers culminates in an experience for our customers. Even if some of the numbers look good, the overall experience may still be poor. We want to help marketers think in terms of experience, not just performance."
The tone of many previous spots was dark—"Mean Streets" is a good example—but not quite this dark. "Marketing gone wrong can have disastrous consequences for a brand," Amado says. "We hear about it all too often. The campaign dramatizes worst-case scenario, but hopefully it does it with enough good-natured humor to be cautionary yet still entertaining.
Ultimately, he adds, "your customer experience is your brand. More and more customers are connecting with you through digital channels, and they expect high-quality content and a seamless experience on mobile. They want what they want, when they want it, and the stakes are higher than ever for marketers—get the experience right or risk losing your customers."
The spot will be running on various business, media and marketing news sites, and in targeted placements on Hulu and addressable TV.
CREDITS
Client: Adobe
Title of Creative Work: "Snake Bite"
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Creative
Co-Chairman: Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein
ECD: Margaret Johnson
Creative Director: Will Elliot
Creative Director: Patrick Knowlton
Art Director: Carlo Barreto
Copywriter: Jonathan Pelleg
Production
Director of Content Production: Tod Puckett
Senior Producer: Benton Roman
Account Services
Account Director: Theo Abel
Account Manager: Chelsea Bruzzone
Assistant Account Manager: Aliza Niewood
Brand Strategy
Group Brand Strategy Director: Bonnie Wan
Brand Strategist: Etienne Ma/Andrew Mak
Communication Strategy
Director of Communication Strategy: Christine Chen
Group Communication Strategy Director: Dong Kim
Senior Communication Strategist: Victoria Barbatelli
Communication Strategist: Tara Hughes
Jr. Communication Strategists: Catherine Kim/ Nicole Bruno
Research & Analytics
Group Research & Analytics Director: Margaret Coles
Research & Analytics Director: Cassi Husain
Business Affairs
Business Affairs Manager: Heidi Killeen
Production Company
Company name: MJZ
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen
President: David Zander
Sr. Executive Producer: Eriks Krumins
Producer: Betsy Oliver
Director of Photography: Linus Sandgren
Production Designer: Floyd Albee
Editorial Company
Company name: WORK Editorial
Editor: Jono Griffith
Assistant Editor: Jasmina Zaharieva
Executive Producer: Marlo Baird
Producer: Jamie Lynn Perritt
Telecine
Company name: MPC
Colorist: Mark Gethin
VFX/Finishing
Company name: MPC
Senior Producer: Juliet Tierney
Shoot Supervisors: Michael Gregory, Jason Schugardt
2D Lead: Michael Gregory
3D Lead: Jason Schugardt
Sound Design and Music
Music: Stimmung
Sound Design: Stimmung
Sound Designer: Gus Koven
Mix
Company name: Eleven Sound
Mixer: Jeff Payne