We open outside a sports arena, with eager fans anticipating a superstar player who is about to sign with their local team. This :60 then cuts to a conference room where the basketball superstar is preparing to sign a billion dollar contract. However, he’s stuck waiting while the room full of business executives review the contract and “manually” sign it one-by-one. The athlete is growing visibly frustrated and impatient with the lengthy contract signing process, waiting with pen in hand. Suddenly, the basketball player’s cell phone vibrates. He checks it and sees a digital contract (offer) pop up from another team. It reads, “Sign with us instead.” Fed up with the contract signing process unfolding in front of him, the athlete looks back at his phone and clicks the digital contract. The Adobe Sign interface pops up, and he digitally signs the competitive team’s contract with his finger (easily sans delays). Suddenly, the player stands up in front of the room of executives and walks out, saying, “You can keep the pen.” Cut to Adobe’s tagline: “How’s your customer experience? We can help.” We then see outraged local fans and a sports reporter, saying, “Unbelievable!” as the athlete exits the arena.
This “Billion Dollar Contract” spot is part of a campaign created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners to promote Adobe’s Document Cloud business. Directed by Adam Hashemi of Reset, the :60 is running online through Adobe-owned channels and paid media placements beginning this week. Given the basketball theme, Adobe will also be launching one of its highest profile TV ad buys by airing the spot on TNT as part of two NBA season openers on 10/25 between the Warriors and Spurs, and the Cavaliers and Knicks. Adobe’s strategy is to air the spot during NBA games where there’s likely to be commentary around high-profile player signings – including Kevin Durant’s first game with the Warriors, Pau Gasol’s first game with the Spurs, Derrick Rose’s first game with the Knicks, and Dwayne Wade’s first game back against Miami.
