The Campaign

In recent years, April Fools in Japan has become a one-day sensation on social media, where brands challenge each other to come up with the best pranks. Internet media jumps on the trend from midnight of April 1st and compiles a story of "Who did it best this year". It's an opportunity for tech brands to step outside of their usual communication and show off their creativity and humor. The most talked about jokes dominates the internet conversation through out the day.

Results

Challenge: Adobe Photoshop being the market dominant software, the brand challenge was converting it's existing users to the new Creative Cloud subscription model. Many users use the legacy version of Photoshop on a daily basis, but the new versions of the tool were less used. Objective: The goal of the campaign was to generate conversation and build interest for Photoshop, for it's upcoming Creative Cloud update in May 2015 (yet to be announced at this time) Strategy: We identified April Fools as the best timing to amplify social media buzz around the product. Tying in with Photoshop 25th year anniversary announced earlier in February, we decided to prank the internet by announcing a new addition to the Photoshop product family. Execution: We developed "Photoshop REAL" which was based on a concept that extended from desktop, mobile and to be used specifically for "offline" usage. It included "real" Photoshop tools such as Erasers, Band Aids, Magnifying Glass, Dropper, Rope, and a set of plastic clear "layers". 1) Actual product kit were made and seeded to key internet media beforehand. 2) PR release of the product was prepared and sent out 3) At midnight of April 1st, Facebook/Twitter ads announcing the release of the new Adobe product circulated the internet reaching out to the mass internet audience. 4) Users were sent to the Adobe official blog where the new product was introduced along with a comical interview revealing the April Fool joke. 5) The actual product were given to lucky fans on April Fool's day, a special memorabilia for Photoshop fans.

The fictional product announcement was planned through 1) PR outreach to key internet media beforehand and 2) Social Ads on the day of April 1st. Actual product kit were made and seeded to key internet media before March 31st, so they could prepare and write review articles on the day of April Fools. At midnight of April 1st, Facebook & Twitter ads announcing the release of the "new" Adobe product circulated the internet reaching out to the public. On the Adobe official blog, the new product was introduced along with a comical interview revealing the April Fool joke.

The most talked about April Fool’s campaign in Japan. 4,877 mentions across FB/Twitter with 6,573,706 reach, 1,884 retweets, 973 favorites, 35,761 engagements in a single day. Garnered a total of 52 articles including 23 unique articles. “Photoshop REAL” succeeded in garnering more attention than Google Japan’s “Google Panda, a new search engine,” Red Bull Japan’s “Eye lotion for hay fever” and Lotte’s flash-freezing “Yokuso” ice bath, all launched on April Fools’ Day. The initiative was a big win for Adobe and Photoshop in Japan to raise brand awareness while demonstrating the company’s creativity, sense of humor and social media savvy.

April Fools has become a showcase for the consumer orientated brands to show off their creativity, humor and playfulness and raise awareness in the Japanese market. Brands such as Google, Yahoo and Twitter have been the established tech brands in this category. This year Adobe Photoshop marks it's 25th year anniversary and along with the newly introduced Creative Cloud subscription, the brand has been focusing much more on broadening their subscription to the wider public. For this reason, we planned a one-day campaign to announce the launch of "Photoshop REAL" through a fictional PR release and announcement on owned media. The result being, 400% growth in subscribers, over 50 organic articles appearing on key internet media and spiked conversation with 6 million impressions around "Adobe" and "Photoshop" on social media in a single day.