Adobe Premiere Pro is one the most advanced editing and post-production software programs in the world. And while the number of editors and video creators increases almost daily, so do the number of free editing services and camera-based apps. And while free trials of Premiere Pro would seem to solve this problem, we faced another challenge: Many aspiring creatives feel that learning a pro-level editing tool isn’t worth their time, since most of them don’t have access to quality footage in the first place. Therefore, we needed to develop a free trial campaign with an irresistible incentive to make a trial worth the effort. Coinciding with our 25th anniversary, we decided to give the creative community something unprecedented – something that would reward our engaged community of seasoned users, as well as entice that critical next generation of editors. 

We partnered with rock band Imagine Dragons to create the world’s first open source music video. We took the Dragons’ new music video, “Believer”, and made the entire thing available to the public. Not just the finished video file, but the whole video shoot. All the raw footage. Every shot. Every angle. Every note. We then challenged editors, video creators and filmmakers all over the world to take it all, “Make The Cut”, and make it their own, using a free trial of Adobe Premiere Pro.

Our primary audience was young creators, specifically 18-24-year-old editors and video creators. Which overlaps with a significant percentage of Imagine Dragons’ fan base. These young creatives aspire to create great videos, but lack both the tools and the access to great footage enjoyed by seasoned professionals. We knew that if we could give them something exceptional to work with – incredible footage impossible to get through normal means – they’d be incentivized the try an intimidating new tool. 

Over a 25-day period, Adobe, Imagine Dragons and Interscope Records executed a multi-touch program that launched the “Make The Cut” challenge through our combined social channels, Adobe.com, targeted email, influencer outreach, a microsite, customer support and event extensions. These included personalized messages from the band, a behind the scenes video from the shoot, and even local editing workshops. The challenge was also localized for priority regions and translated into 11 different languages.