Adobe creates tools for the creative professional that rarely disappoint. The problem is that it creates satisfaction -- and then has to break it down with each new release of Creative Suite.The “CSastisfaction” problem is real. Even though people expect innovation from Adobe’s creative tools, there is always the temptation to “sit this version out.” The temptation is greater in an economy as difficult and uncertain as this one has been.The brief for Creative Suite 5 was to create a sense of urgency and ignite interest for the new release -- to encourage upgrades as well as attract new users.

The imagery for this campaign was a series of scenes with an iconic “5” as the focal point. The “5” was always the centre of the activity, announcing that CS5 had arrived. Each scene was created to showcase the top new features and provide the inspirational “wow” imagery creative professionals expect from Adobe. In this particular execution for Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, the dragon ship was designed to showcase Adobe Repousse (which allows you to go quickly from flat 2D artwork into shaded, textured 3D images) and Adobe Mixer Brush (which easily creates watercolour and oil-painting effects).

Creative Suite 5 represented Adobe’s largest global software release ever. In the first six weeks of the campaign alone, we generated over 200,000 trials -- a 40% increase in Adobe Creative Suite 5’s rate of trial versus that of Creative Suite 4. Adobe also set a new record for quarterly revenue, reporting its first billion-dollar quarter at the end of 2010, thanks largely to a successful launch of Creative Suite 5.