Beginning with the Oscars in early March, Autodesk kicked off a new strategy to lead in the design and make category. Autodesk aimed to deepen the emotional connection with its customers, show people what can be accomplished with its technology, and ultimately increase preference for its products.

At the 95th Academy Awards, many Autodesk customers were nominated for Oscars – including the makers of Avatar, Pinocchio, and All Quiet on the Western Front. To mark the event, Autodesk teamed up with Maximum Effort to tell Autodesk’s and its customers’ story of impact on the world – and on the big screen.

Autodesk’s objective was to drive awareness and affinity of the Autodesk parent brand by showing the world who they are and why they matter, reintroducing Autodesk as the leader of the Design and Make platform category, and building an emotional connection with target audiences.

Autodesk’s 3D animation and visual effects software, Maya, is used to create blockbuster-worthy effects – bringing believable characters to life with engaging animation tools, shaping 3D objects and scenes with intuitive modeling tools, and creating realistic effects—from explosions to cloth simulation. There is no better way to promote this tool for filmmakers than to create an ad that utilizes such a tool. Autodesk’s partner, Maximum Effort, used Autodesk Maya to create a visually compelling narrative that takes viewers on a journey that personifies the Autodesk brand into a Hollywood legend. Maya was used to design the scenes in the spot that illustrate the kinds of special effects that “Otto Desć” is capable of. It was also used to edit the spot into a riveting 2-minute display of Autodesk’s impact.

18.7M people saw the commercial live on the Oscars stage - 12% higher than Oscars viewership the year prior. Autodesk’s ads were one of the top 3 commercials to drive online search (EDO) – unprecedented for a brand that has not invested in TV.

The ads drove a viral moment online with a cumulative reach of nearly 150M impressions:

-- 5.7M organic views on social (less than 48 hours)

-- Nearly 200K engagements

-- Positive Sentiment: 87%; 17% higher than target

-- The campaign was covered in nearly 30 articles in top entertainment and advertising outlets including: Deadline, AdWeek, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, etc. with overwhelmingly positive sentiment

-- Total Press Impressions: 1B unique monthly visitors