The second day of the Adobe Summit continued with the same energy and vigour that was palpable on the first day. Meetings, sessions, displays, community pavilions and a whole host of new technologies to bring out the best of the tech world marked day two.
The biggest conversation points however were all the entertainment elements that Adobe had injected in the day. Penn & Teller set the tone as the day began and NFL fan or not, Peyton Manning wooed audiences of every market alike. Manning’s own story and life lessons, packaged in wit and polish of addressing a large audience, were as inspiring in more ways than one.
Ryan Gosling, a much more subtle presence on stage, decided to stay his signature simple and grounded self. For a fan, and a lot of the audience included that set, it did not take away from the comments and thoughts that he shared with the audience.
The high energy dose of the day had to come from American actress and comedian, Kate McKinnon, who hosted Adobe’s Sneaks portion of the Summit where Adobe showcases technologies still cooking in its labs.
If Sneaks this year is anything to go by, unlike mass comments that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown faster than Virtual Reality (VR), the geek nation is still driven by VR. Adobe unveiled projects in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Geo-based audience targeting, The Internet of Things with the next generation voice assistant among other technologies – each attempting to better integrate the solutions that technology can provide.
If experience is in fact the keyword for many businesses in the year ahead, and the next battleground that will directly impact growth, the first ‘e’ in experience is ‘entertainment’. What does this mean for marketers – the same as always -- the experience is not complete unless there was some hook that engaged the consumer.
