Observed Signal · Sep 1, 2026 · Ad Campaign · Source: The Drum · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Canva's stop-motion pigeon returns in new handmade ad
Canva has launched the second chapter of its stop-motion advertising campaign featuring the beloved pigeon character Picci1. The new film, created by creative agency Dude Milan and animated by UK studio A+C, showcases how simple it is to make social assets on a mobile phone. In the story, Picci1 helps a stray cat get adopted by creating a social media post on Canva. The campaign, planned by OMD, will run across social media and digital out-of-home, accompanied by 15-second social films highlighting Canva's core features. The ads intentionally avoid using Canva's own AI capabilities, opting for handcrafted stop-motion to emphasize accessibility and fun.
Canva's new ad campaign showcases a notable creative strategy and brand marketing approach, but it is not an industry-shifting event. It is relevant to the AdTech/MarTech space as a case of a major design platform investing in a crafted, human-made campaign.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Canva launched 'Wild Design Chapter II' ad campaign featuring stop-motion pigeon Picci1.
- The creative agency is Dude Milan, and the animation studio is A+C Studios.
- The campaign is planned by OMD and will run on social media and digital out-of-home.
- The film shows Picci1 creating a social media post on Canva to get a stray cat adopted.
- The campaign includes 15-second social films highlighting Canva's features like templates, video editing, and print functionality.
Connected Companies & Entities
2 Entities mapped“The design platform Canva is simple, accessible and enjoyable to use....”
“The campaign, planned by OMD, will run across social media and digital out-of-home....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Canva Expands with Acquisitions Amidst AdTech Market Turmoil
Canva has acquired two startups—Cavalry, a four-person animation software startup, and MangoAI, a stealth-mode company building short-video advertising technology—to expand its motion-graphics and video-ad capabilities. Terms were not disclosed. Canva said it will keep Cavalry available as a standalone product while integrating its animation tech into Canva’s core product and Affinity (which Canva bought in 2024). MangoAI will be incorporated into Canva Grow, the company’s advertisement generator offered through its business tier. Canva reported over $4 billion in annualized revenue at the end of 2025 (up 36% year-over-year) and has more than 5,000 employees. Cavalry’s website lists enterprise customers including Amazon, ByteDance, Google and OpenAI.
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Canva Boosts Animation and Ad Tech with New Acquisitions
Canva announced the acquisitions of Cavalry, a U.K. startup focused on 2D motion animation, and MangoAI, a stealth startup building reinforcement‑learning systems to improve video ad performance. Canva said Cavalry’s tooling will extend Affinity — its professional creative editing suite acquired in 2024 — by adding motion editing capabilities. MangoAI’s founders, Nirmal Govind and Vinith Misra, will join Canva; Govind will become Canva’s first chief algorithms officer and Misra will work on marketing products. The moves follow Canva’s prior acquisitions and product launches (including MagicBrief and Canva Grow) as the company expands into video creation and more granular ad measurement. Canva reported $4 billion in annualized revenue for 2025 with more than 265 million users and 31 million paid subscribers. Canva framed the deals as building toward a full‑stack Creative OS for professional work and stronger marketing capabilities.
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