Adobe Typekit is a online service which offers a subscription library of high-quality fonts. The service is integrated in all Adobe Creative Cloud apps, such as Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator.
In summer 2018 Adobe wanted to inspire a new generation of creatives to design using typography. An initiative with the aim to increase the usage of Adobe Typekit amongst creative professionals and enhance Adobe’s brand vision of ’thought leadership in creativity’.
The budget for the campaign was approximately 150 000 euro and the scale of it was global, with a main focus on EMEA and NA.
Describe the creative idea
In the 1920s and 1930s the iconic design institute Bauhaus laid the foundation for modern design. Unfortunately the school’s existence was brief. The progressive ideas of Bauhaus were considered threatening to the Nazi agenda and in 1932 the school was abruptly shut down. The forced closure of the school resulted in a vast number of creative treasures never being completed, and what could’ve been design classics were left behind – lost to history.
In collaboration with The Bauhaus Foundation and a team of typographers led by type designer Erik Spiekermann we initiated a unique design project to inspire our target audience, creative professionals, to use Typekit. Together we turned sparse typographical sketches from the Bauhaus archives into five complete typefaces and made them available in Typekit. Giving what was initiated by the Bauhaus masters almost a century ago new life in the hands of a new generation of designers.
Describe the execution
The unique typefaces were completed through a collaboration between Adobe, The Bauhaus Foundation and a team of five typographers led by type designer Erik Spiekermann. Together we finalized a lost treasure from the holy grail of design and made it available for download in Typekit, free for all Creative Cloud- and Typekit users. In an integrated campaign, spanning from June 15 – August 31, the typefaces were spread globally through PR, social media and Adobe’s own channels.
To activate the campaign and encourage our target audience to create with the typefaces we initiated a series of five design competitions on Instagram and Behance, with the challenge to design in Adobe’s apps using the fonts and Typekit. Further, we inspired our audience with design influencer collaborations, online typography seminars, live typography events, a campaign video, Youtube typography tutorials and a documentary about the project, Bauhaus’ history and the importance of typography.
List the results
Primary KPI
Target: 10 000 font downloads.
Result: 407 000 font downloads. Exceeding target by 3970%.
Secondary KPI:s
Target: 500 competition submissions
Result: over 2000 competition submissions . Exceeding target by 305%.
Target: 25 articles in relevant target media.
Result: 162 articles in relevant target media. Exceeding target by 548%.
(Gross reach estimation of the articles exceeds 800 million potential impressions. The overall sentiment was positive, with most articles mentioning the launch of fonts and the call-to-action on how to download them.)
Additional Results
15 600 organic social posts generating 147 million potential impressions
1.3 million social media engagements (likes & comments)
297 000 unique visitors on campaign site