AudioEye kept getting mistaken for the thing it was built to replace.
The stakes
AudioEye's software pairs automated fixes with accessibility experts who manually test and resolve what automation can't. That layered approach sits outside both of the market's dominant categories, automation-only overlays and consultant-only audits. But because AudioEye uses automation at all, it kept getting grouped with overlays and dismissed as a surface-level fix, a misconception that undercut its actual position as a category leader.
No amount of accurate detail about our testing process was dislodging that. People had already decided what AudioEye was.
The background
CSUN is the world's largest assistive technology conference, drawing over 5,000 researchers and industry leaders each year. In 2026, AudioEye made its debut as a platinum sponsor, its most visible presence at the conference yet and the largest single marketing investment of the year. It was the one room where changing the perception was possible at scale, and one shot at it.
The bet
A garden metaphor at an assistive technology research conference was not the obvious choice. The category talks in compliance language, and warmth can read as evasion in a room of engineers and researchers. I argued for it anyway, because the problem we were fighting was structural rather than technical. A reframe has to give people a new frame to put the facts into, and the facts on their own had already failed.
I landed on Tend to Thrive, built around companion planting, the practice of growing different plants together so each makes the other stronger. It is a direct parallel to how AudioEye's automation and human expertise work together rather than in competition.
The solution
The visual system came together as a team effort, anchored by the typeface Turnip, whose organic imperfections and sharp letterforms made a linocut illustration style the natural fit. We built an original library of modular vegetable illustrations and carried the concept across banners, decks, print collateral, stickers, landing pages, and motion assets.
Overlay, Underdeliver
The sharpest piece in the system was the smallest. A sticker reading "Overlay, Underdeliver" named the category AudioEye was being confused with and its failure, in three words, on something people would carry around a conference floor for four days.
It did more perception work than anything else we made.
"We're currently at CSUN, and I can't tell you how many conversations I have had about the 'Overlay, Underdeliver' sticker. It's been the easiest lead-in to conversations that have helped change perception around AudioEye."
— Monterey Thompson, VP of Product, AudioEye
My role
I led brand strategy and messaging, and positioned the sponsorship internally as a reframe AudioEye needed rather than another marketing footprint. That framing was the harder sell. Committing the company's largest conference presence to an unconventional creative direction meant asking for trust rather than money. The budget was already approved, so the pitch was about scope, treating CSUN as a campaign platform rather than a program advertisement. It was also our first test of out-of-home activation, and a half-built version would have taught us nothing.
From there I directed the positioning through the full visual system alongside Allyson Konz as design lead, working across five people spanning brand design, UI, motion, and communications.
The results
AudioEye's first hosted session was standing-room-only, and attendees cited Tend to Thrive directly as what finally clarified the difference between AudioEye and an overlay. It was the only accessibility solution at CSUN with a fully developed campaign theme. At the CSUN Board dinner, AudioEye's sponsorship suite and the Tend to Thrive theme were singled out for praise, relayed back to the team by our Chief Accessibility Officer.
What I would change
We set the goal as perception shift rather than lead generation, which was the right call and also the harder thing to prove. I did not instrument it. What I have is a well-attended session, informal praise from the board dinner, and a lot of conversations that our own team reported back, which is real evidence and is not measurement.
If I ran this again I would field a short perception survey before and after, even an informal one at the booth, so the claim at the center of the campaign had a number behind it. A reframe is exactly the kind of work that is worth measuring and easiest to skip measuring.
The team
Brand Strategy & Creative Direction | Sojin Rank |
Accessibility SME | Alisa Smith |
Marketing Content Lead | Mike Barton |
Design Lead | |
UI/UX Design | |
Motion Design |