Leader in a $120 billion dollar industry

The video game industry continues to grow, generating global revenue exceeding $120 billion. Mobile games contribute a significant amount to this number, but Esports is also changing the gaming landscape, with competitive gaming on track to become a $1.5 billion industry within a few years. As games grow more complex, with high-definition graphics powered by artificial intelligence algorithms, high-end gaming hardware is a must for any serious or competitive gamer.

For more than three decades, Micro-Star International or MSI, has made a name for itself as a leader in high-end computer hardware. Its desktops, laptops, monitors, graphics cards and peripherals look as good as they perform, making MSI a favourite for gamers and creators alike.

“At MSI, we target audiences with powerful computing and graphics needs, such as gamers and creative professionals,” says Derek Chen, Head of the Notebook Sales & Marketing Division at MSI. “These are hip, tech-savvy audiences with an eye for beautiful graphics. If we want to sell those audiences on our brand, then we need to have marketing that is equally eye-catching and forward-thinking.”

Today, MSI advertises heavily across digital, mobile and social media channels. Different types of media work best with different channels — from static graphics to dynamic animation and video — and each channel has its own optimal dimensions and video length. The marketing team produces at least five times as many assets compared to a decade ago, with customer expectations changing every day.

Designers have long worked with Adobe creative tools to produce marketing materials for MSI products. Today, they use Adobe Creative Cloud for teams to enhance collaboration and efficiency.

“We need the latest technologies and functionality to meet the increased demand for high-quality marketing assets,” says Chen. “Adobe Creative Cloud for teams gives all of our designers access to the latest versions of all Adobe creative apps so that we can deliver beautiful ads that catch the eyes of our gaming audience.”

Apps for every design need

A decade ago, MSI had just a handful of designers. Now the company has a 50-person design team working around the world. The team works together to create the massive amount of marketing materials needed for each new product release. With technology evolving quickly, that typically means eight to ten new products released every six months.

“Marketing is completely different today than it was ten years ago,” says Chen. “Today, our audience will go to YouTube for news and reviews before they even turn to a Google search. That’s why it’s so important that we have the tools that we need to create the best designs for every channel.”

Video is one of the most important ways for MSI to reach its core audience. Video can show off graphical capabilities, design details and performance features of high-end computers in a much more dynamic way compared to static graphics. Using Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects, marketers release at least one video per week to the company’s YouTube channel.

MSI designers use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Photoshop Lightroom for all other digital imagery. This may include logos, banners, graphics and ads for a product. Animated GIFs are particularly popular on social media sites such as Instagram.

Designers also develop assets for third parties. This can include product images used by e-commerce retailers or brochures and in-store displays created in Adobe InDesign for brick-and-mortar retailers. MSI sometimes collaborates with popular YouTubers to show off new products and designers will develop graphics and overlays used in these collaboration videos.

Through Adobe Creative Cloud, MSI designers gain access to all of the latest versions and apps in Adobe Creative Cloud. Designers can take advantage of new functions as soon as they are released to automate tasks, add new visual effects and create beautiful designs faster than ever. Using the seamless integrations between apps, designers also can switch between apps to take advantage of the unique strengths and functionality of each app.

“We need to work faster and smarter than ever before to deliver the amount of marketing assets needed for each new product,” says Chen. “We can’t afford to spend time struggling with our creative tools. Adobe Creative Cloud gives us tools that work with us, not against us. Our designers have fewer limitations, so they can quickly turn their ideas into stunning artwork and marketing materials.”

Collaborating with a global design team

While many designers work from the company’s headquarters in Taipei, the marketing team has members working around the world. Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries improves collaboration by allowing designers to easily create and share libraries filled with assets for each product release.

While MSI usually releases new products in six-month cycles, the company recently launched two major products just two months apart. “It was a tight crunch to create all of the marketing materials needed for two series products in such a short period of time,” says Chen. “Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries helped us to collaborate more efficiently and meet both deadlines.”

Simplified licence management

While designers love the functionality, ease and collaboration with Adobe Creative Cloud for teams, the IT team appreciates how simple it is to manage. Adobe Creative Cloud for teams gives the IT team centralised control over licences. They can assign licences to users anywhere in the world from the Adobe Admin Console. Since users can install and update apps by themselves, the IT team doesn’t need to worry about spending time to deploy software.

“The centralised licensing in Adobe Creative Cloud for teams halves the time spent managing licences for the IT team,” says Chen.

Adobe + MSI = winning combination

Digital marketing continues to change quickly. Chen predicts it will become more important than ever to have designers who are experts in different types of media. Adobe Creative Cloud delivers a wide variety of apps that are suited for any type of design. Designers have the freedom to test new tools, develop skills and become experts to deliver any type of media needed.

As users of Adobe creative software, MSI employees are very aware of the benefits and pains of creatives. That’s why when it comes to designing laptops for creatives, optimising system for design applications is a core focus. Aside from performant hardware and stunning displays, MSI developed “Creator Mode” in its proprietary software to recognise Adobe apps and prioritise system resource for them.

To honour and unite the creative professionals all over the world, MSI is also devoting massive effort to hosting annual grand contest “MSI Creator Awards”. All creative minds, from amateurs to professionals, across a wide variety of creative fields, can participate and show off their talents. For more detail, visit here.

“Adobe Creative Cloud is powerful, simple and runs beautifully on our MSI desktop and laptops,” says Chen. “No matter how you cut it, Adobe and MSI are a winning combination of technology and design for the future.”

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