Why Canva doubled down on a musical to hype its new products

Last year, when Canva used a rap song to promote its new suite of products for businesses, the reaction online was about what you’d expect. 

“Call 911 I’m having a cringe overdose.”

“This is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s fault.”

The performance at Canva’s annual summit, Canva Create (Disclosure: Fast Company is a Create media partner), reminded many of corporate musical escapades of the past, like Bank of America’s adaptation of U2’s “One” back in 2006, or Randi Zuckerberg’s Twisted Sister-inspired ode to crypto in 2022. But for Canva, it drove attention and traffic to the brand. More than 50 million people saw the rap battle within 48 hours, which boosted social media chatter about Canva Enterprise by 2,500%. Co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht said at the time, “Haters gonna hate.”

Today at Canva’s fourth Canva Create event at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, the company doubled down on that confidence and rolled out another musical number. This time, to help unveil Visual Suite 2.0, which the company says is its biggest product launch since its founding in 2012.

This year, the brand went for a Broadway-style tune that unspools the tale of how Canva used more than a billion pieces of user feedback to bring 45 of the most-asked-for updates to its products. The cast featured 42 performers including creator Tom McGovern, design influencer Roger Coles (who starred in last year’s performance), and a special appearance by Canva Design Advisory Board member Jessica Hische.

There’s also 12 members of the Singers of Soul choir and an additional 12 members of the LA Marching Band. The lyrics of the song are inspired by and quoted directly from customer requests and feedback. And in case you missed any of the promised platform upgrades live, the song will be available on Spotify.

Many cringe-happy observers will be quick to ask why Canva chose to put its message to music again. But the move illustrates the importance of self-awareness, and how crucial it is if you don’t want to be sloshed around by the tides of pop cultural trends, and instead.. ahem.. dance to your own tune. 

Community rap lessons

Last year, more than 3,500 people attended Create, while millions of others tuned in to watch remotely, including at watch parties in cities from Tokyo to Delhi. It features 100 different speakers across 60 different stages. With more than 230 million monthly users, Canva has a large, attentive audience for its content. CMO Zach Kitschke says the event is the company’s biggest moment of the year for bringing its community together.  

Kitschke has observed over the years how big swings can cut through the noise of so much marketing. “It’s been a principle of our marketing, really since we launched, that people will remember these heightened experiences or moments,” he says. “Over 90% of our traffic is driven by brand and word-of-mouth these days, and that has come from a fostering of community. With the rap, it could have been a very, very boring topic that no one took note of, but learned you can change the conversation in a matter of minutes by creating a moment out of something like that.”

What was often left out in the discourse around the rap last year, was that the idea came from Canva user and community member Roger Coles. At a time when more brands are looking to their hardcore fans and customers for how to connect with culture, Canva did just that. And that’s why it struck up the band again. 

Kitschke says that community runs through everything the brand does. “That means including them in our commercials, and putting them up on stage at events like this,” he says. “It’s not just marketing, but it’s an acknowledgement. And it’s a really special way to bring people into the fold.”

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