There is a particular moment in the life cycle of a software company when it decides that what it really needs is a mascot. Canva, the Australian design platform that has spent the better part of a decade quietly becoming indispensable to people who do not wish to learn Adobe, has arrived at that moment.
The company is introducing its first major brand campaign in North America, built around the conceit that "Canva" has become a verb — as in, "I'll just Canva it." Whether this is descriptive or aspirational depends, one supposes, on the circles in which one moves. The campaign features a yellow, fuzzy character whose purpose appears to be making the act of designing a presentation feel less like work and more like something one might do willingly.
The effort marks a significant escalation for Canva, which was valued at $26 billion in its most recent funding round and has generally relied on word of mouth and the quiet desperation of people who need to make a slide deck by tomorrow morning. A North American brand campaign suggests the company believes it has outgrown the marketing strategy of simply being useful.
The mascot itself — yellow, fuzzy, and apparently intended to evoke approachability — enters a crowded field of brand characters, though Canva's executives would no doubt bristle at comparisons to the insurance industry's menagerie. (The gecko, at least, has been at it since 1999.)
Whether American audiences will take to saying "Canva" as a verb remains to be seen. Google achieved it, as did Xerox before that, though both had the advantage of describing activities that previously had no name. Canva is asking people to stop saying "make" or "design," which is a heavier lift.
The fuzzy yellow mascot, meanwhile, awaits its verdict from the public with what one imagines is considerable patience.
Original story published in adage.com: "Canva is a verb in its first North American brand campaign - Ad Age"