A Robot Designed the Magazine Cover: How to Effectively Reach the B2B Segment

The creative team at Marketup, together with the client ABB Robotics, managed to create the very first magazine cover painted by a robot. The cover of the autumn technological special of Forbes NEXT attracted attention and praise for its uniqueness, both from the client and the marketing industry.

Industrial robotics and automation are no longer just topics for car manufacturers or large industrial halls. With increasingly compact and accessible solutions, this technological field is opening up to all forms of industrial use, including small and medium-sized businesses.

But how to approach this significantly limited B2B segment? This was the question addressed by ABB Robotics, a traditional manufacturer and supplier of robotic solutions for businesses of all sizes. For smaller businesses, collaborative robots (or cobots) are an ideal option.

The main advantage of this type of robot is that it can safely collaborate side-by-side with humans, helping them with routine manual tasks. Small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, are feeling a significant shortage of workers and are looking for ways to solve this problem as effectively as possible.

Other benefits of cobots include ease of programming, intuitive control, and their compact size, which allows the robot to be placed in the middle of a room and regular operations. “Unlike traditional robotic cells, collaborative robots do not need to be enclosed in a cage for safety – they are designed to stop when making unintended contact with a person, ensuring no harm,” explains Petr Kučera, Commercial Director of ABB Robotics.

However, concerns about workplace safety still present a barrier for many entrepreneurs, which is why they hesitate to purchase a collaborative robot. Therefore, it was necessary to demonstrate the safety and reliability of human-robot cooperation.

How the Unique Idea Came to Life

ABB Robotics and Marketup's creative team searched for a suitable medium through which to communicate this message to a specific target audience. The goal was to avoid the usual full-page ad, which would not effectively convey the entire concept of human-robot collaboration.

“As the ideal medium for targeting small and medium-sized businesses, we chose Forbes magazine, specifically its technology special, Forbes NEXT,” says Andrej Štuk, Creative Director at Marketup. “In addition to thematic relevance for the segment, we were able to showcase the actual result of human-robot collaboration in a relatively small space with maximum impact on the target audience.”

Thus, the project of creating the cover for Forbes NEXT was born, introducing innovative ways to use technology across various industries. Since the future lies in the combination of artificial intelligence, robots, and humans, we came up with the idea of combining all three elements in the creation of the cover.

The elements contributed step by step. Artificial intelligence, specifically the tool Dall-E 2, designed the graphic look of the visual. Next, a human, in this case, a student from ČVUT under the guidance of ABB's technology expert, taught the robot the movements needed to paint. Finally, the collaborative robot GoFa brought the whole artwork into reality. This resulted in the first-ever magazine cover created by a robot in the Czech Republic and probably the world.

Illustrating the cover of the most relevant business magazine in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we demonstrate the diverse use of collaborative robots. That is why we conclude the process with a question aimed at small and medium entrepreneurs: What will you create with a collaborative robot?

Winner of the Advertising Furnace

The project consists of two communication phases – the first is the Forbes NEXT magazine (32,000 copies), which includes the aforementioned cover and a comprehensive article about the entire cover creation process and the capabilities of the GoFa robot. This phase also included the NEXT Big Thing technology conference, held on September 14, focused on the SMB sector, where the GoFa robot signed copies of “its” edition of Forbes NEXT.

The second phase involves an online campaign consisting of video formats and static visuals from the creation of the visual.

“The result is truly worth it,” says Vítězslav Lukáš, CEO of ABB Czech Republic. “In addition to the artistic value and innovative connection of the robot, AI, and human work, we’ve shown that the potential user of a collaborative robot does not necessarily face the complexities of programming or the technical solution of the application itself. What matters is the simple and user-friendly interface that allows the use of collaborative robots even without deep programming knowledge.”

The uniqueness of the entire project is also confirmed by Kristýna Tmejová, editor-in-chief of Forbes NEXT. “Such close collaboration with the brand is unique for us. It made sense to dedicate space on the magazine cover about the future to new technologies and explore the possibilities of combining artificial intelligence and collaborative robots. Connecting successful brands through native advertising is an effective communication path.”

Her words are confirmed not only by positive feedback from the client but also by the popular column Reklamní katovna on the Médiář server. In this column, the Forbes cover project became the winner of week 38, further highlighting the potential of human collaboration with modern technologies, which was exactly our goal.

Thus, we cannot end without asking: What will you create with a robot?