Adobe Photoshop faced a critical challenge in connecting Photoshop on Mobile with Next Generation audiences who increasingly consume content through authentic, creator-driven experiences rather than traditional advertising. Despite Photoshop's dominance in desktop creative software, the mobile application struggled to gain meaningful traction among younger demographics who represent the future of creative tools. Research showed that 75% of Next Gen choose mobile devices as their go-to technology, positioning phones not just as communication devices but as comprehensive creative studios.
The primary objective was to drive both app awareness and inspire organic adoption among Next Gen audiences through genuine engagement that would resonate with their values and consumption habits. Our quantifiable targets focused on generating meaningful interactions and engagement that would demonstrate authentic audience interest rather than passive ad consumption.
Most critically, the campaign needed to deliver genuine cool factor and cultural relevance while ensuring every element directly supported the core business objective of promoting Photoshop on Mobile adoption. This dual requirement demanded creative executions that felt organic and culturally authentic rather than promotional, while still clearly demonstrating the mobile application's capabilities and inspiring audience trial.
Our strategic approach transformed traditional product demonstration into cultural participation. Rather than telling audiences about Photoshop on Mobile's features, we invited them to participate in a creative competition that made the app essential to a cultural experience they genuinely wanted to be part of.
We partnered with trending indie rock duo Royel Otis. Their authentic fan engagement and growing cultural relevance made them the perfect anchor for a campaign targeting taste-making Next Gen audiences.
For our creator cohort, we selected three influencers with distinct design styles and engaged audiences: (Jesse Nyberg, Josh Aikin, Kayli Sandoval)
This multi-style approach ensured we could demonstrate Photoshop on Mobile's versatility across different creative perspectives while reaching diverse audience segments within our target demographic.
Core Strategy:
The campaign acknowledged that Next Gen audiences learn through experimentation and peer influence rather than direct instruction. By embedding Photoshop on Mobile within an authentic music experience and empowering creators to showcase its capabilities through their own creative processes, we transformed product demonstration into creative empowerment.
Phase 1: Launch & Creative Challenge
We contracted Royel Otis for a professional photoshoot, licensing their music for all campaign content and securing live performance rights. Royel Otis launched the campaign with an Instagram Reel asking their audience to suggest concert venues, creating organic participation and buzz. Simultaneously, we distributed high-quality photoshoot assets to our three creators, each tasked with creating concert poster concepts using exclusively Photoshop on Mobile. This requirement wasn't arbitrary, it authentically demonstrated the app's professional-grade capabilities while giving creators complete artistic freedom.
Phase 2: Creator Competition & Audience Voting
Each creator posted response Reels introducing themselves, their proposed venue, and their hero poster design. All content used licensed Royel Otis tracks and included clear calls-to-action directing audiences to vote on Photoshop's Instagram. The venues proposed ranged in setting, but it was Kayli Sandoval's tennis court proposal that captured audience imagination.
Photoshop posted a voting carousel featuring all submissions using Instagram's poll feature, while Royel Otis amplified reach by resharing the poll through their Instagram Stories. This cross-pollination between Royel Otis's music fanbase and our creators' design-focused audiences created exponential reach.
Creators also posted detailed tutorial videos demonstrating their poster creation process on Photoshop on Mobile, showcasing technical capabilities including layer manipulation, text effects, color grading, and composition tools, all while maintaining entertainment value.
Supporting content included Instagram Stories promoting app downloads and driving voting engagement, ensuring every touchpoint reinforced both the entertainment value and the business objective.
Phase 3: Live Event & Cultural Payoff
Kayli Sandoval's tennis court concept won with the most votes. The winning creator hosted an intimate concert on a backyard tennis court in Los Angeles, with all participating creators and Adobe team members attending.
Simultaneous live streams across Royel Otis, Photoshop, and Kayli's Instagram channels, allowed fans worldwide to experience the moment their votes created. Not only content, but proof that creative work produced on Photoshop on Mobile could facilitate realworld cultural experiences.
Post-event, we produced a professionally filmed concert video posted to Photoshop's Instagram, creating evergreen content that extended the campaign's lifecycle.
What made this campaign truly innovative was the genuine stakes. The audience votes determined where a real concert would happen. Every element served both entertainment and education, making Photoshop on Mobile feel essential to cultural participation rather than just another creative tool.
The "At My Place" campaign successfully drove exceptional organic engagement and meaningful business results while maintaining cultural authenticity.
Engagement Performance: The campaign generated 908,000 organic interactions across Royel Otis and our three creators in just two weeks, with 888,000 video views and 20,000 direct engagements across 30 total posts on Instagram. Sentiment analysis showed 100% neutral-to-positive response across all creator content, indicating authentic audience reception rather than promotional skepticism.
Royel Otis: 446,800 interactions (49% of total campaign interactions), with their launch Reel generating genuine venue suggestions from fans globally, demonstrating the campaign's ability to inspire authentic participation beyond traditional geographic boundaries.
Jesse Nyberg generated 138,800 interactions, with high praise for his design work.
Josh Aikin achieved 178,000 interactions, recognized as a "pure genius."
Winner Kayli Sandoval garnered 144,300 interactions, with followers actively mobilizing votes for her concept.
Authentic Audience Participation: The voting mechanism successfully migrated over 1,600 fan votes directly to Photoshop's Instagram channel, driving authentic audience engagement. Comment sections were filled with voting advocacy and genuine investment, proving the successful integration of business objectives within the entertainment experience.
Product Demonstration Success: Tutorial content consistently showcased Photoshop on Mobile's capabilities. Calls-to-action for app downloads were integrated naturally throughout content, with audiences responding positively to education framed as empowerment rather than promotion. The high-quality concert posters provided undeniable proof of the app's capabilities, breaking down perception barriers about mobile creative tools.
Long-Term Impact: The livestreamed concert finale created real-time, multi-channel engagement, and the subsequent professional concert film continues to generate awareness.
