AUTODESK: Anti-Piracy & Free Training
“The Carrot and The Stick” campaign with 4x sales.
THE STICK: An effective anti-piracy campaign.
The 2000s were an absolute jungle in Romania’s software market, with a piracy rate of 73% in 2005. In this context, A&C International, the Autodesk software official distributor, ran an anti-piracy campaign in late 2006. The brief was simple: “create a campaign that would instantly attract attention, and make users buy our [expansive] software!”
So we kind of bullied architects, engineers and other Autodesk users into licensing the programs they were using illegally. And it worked: sales went up 400% compared to the previous year.
To achieve these results, we used a mix of print ads, direct mailing, creative media and a lot of PR.
Credits.
🖊️ CW: Radu Constantinescu
🖌️ AD: Adi Lupu
🏭 Agency: Wave Design
💼 Client: A&C International / MaxCAD
01. Ransom DM (real CD) 02. Office Exterior 03. Office Interior 04. Naked
01. Prison Game Manual DM 02. Creative Media – New Job Ad
THE CARROT: Free Software Training.
On the other hand, MaxCAD was an authorized reseller and training center for all Autodesk products. They claimed they’d simplify designing and engineering workflow (1) by offering the perfect software for the job and (2) by providing full training and tech support – both for free during the anti-piracy campaign.
We promoted this sweet offer via print ads in specialized magazines and through direct mailing – an interactive flyer resembling a gradual rendering of a project.
Credits.
🖊️ CW: Radu Constantinescu
🖌️ AD: Adi Lupu
🏭 Agency: Wave Design
💼 Client: A&C International / MaxCAD
01. Mouse Ad 02. Keyboard Ad 03. Computer Ad
Interactive DM “Render” 01 Interactive DM “Render” 02 Interactive DM “Render” 03 Interactive DM “Render” 04
