“75% of UK small business owners report difficulty surviving amid inflation.”
Adobe identified a need to support entrepreneurs with accessible, practical tools that remove barriers to entry. We aimed to position Adobe Express – a free, quick, create-anything platform – as the solution for small businesses and solopreneurs to turn ideas into reality through professional-quality content and assets.
Our objective was to demonstrate how quickly and easily Adobe Express can be used to enhance a business, showcasing its speed, affordability, and features through real-world, relatable use cases. Content produced by a hero creator needed to strike a balance between education and entertainment, proving that high-quality brand and pitch assets could be created without design expertise or financial investment.
Partnering with entrepreneur and creator Simon Squibb was central to achieving this. Simon has built an engaged community by encouraging people to share their business dreams. He challenges traditional career paths through his “What’s Your Dream?” content. His audience seeks practical guidance, making him a credible and trusted voice to inspire action.
We introduced a competition to increase campaign engagement and give one Solopreneur the chance to receive £15,000 funding. We worked with Simon to launch an editable pitch deck template within Adobe Express. This gave aspiring founders a reason to use the platform and take their business idea one step further.
Entrants could then submit their proposal via Simon’s HelpBnk platform, which reinforced his mission to make people’s dreams happen. The winner would then receive funding, exposure, and expert business support.
Adobe Express is a free, quick, and easy create-anything app offering thousands of professionally designed templates, design assets, and Adobe Stock royalty-free imagery.
The goal
We designed the campaign with creator-entrepreneur Simon Squibb to bring these features to life for the small business community, offering one small business the opportunity to win funding by submitting their business pitch to Simon and the Adobe team.
Structure
The campaign followed a clear journey: competition announcement, template launch, ongoing promotion, and winner announcement.
Simon’s pitch template
We collaborated with Simon to create a remixable pitch deck template built around the criteria he personally uses as an entrepreneur and investor when deciding whether to back a business. All features showcased in the deck were available on Adobe Express’ free plan, ensuring accessibility for every entrant.
Content strategy
Simon positioned the brand partnership as a part of his “What’s Your Dream?” content format, where he supports members of the public to venture out of their comfort zones with their careers.
Simon approached members of the public during a normal filming day, heard their business ideas, and introduced the competition and Adobe Express as a tool to help them get started.
Content involving members of the public always brings challenges. Each interaction required quick judgment on whether it was appropriate to introduce Adobe, and occasionally multiple versions were filmed to ensure messaging felt natural and compliant.
In one instance, we passed a man on the street, and he shouted something after Simon, and we moved on. But then he ran to catch up. He was desperate to shoot his shot with an investor and make his dream happen. That particular video reached nearly 8M views.
Content was distributed across Simon’s entire social ecosystem to reach the campaign’s core 18–35 audience. Simon’s combined social media following is 19 million.
Competition submission
Entrants submitted their remixed version of Simon’s pitch template via HelpBnk – Simon’s free, community-driven platform where entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts support each other. This space allowed participants to upload pitches, exchange feedback, and support one another, transforming the competition into a collaborative learning environment. 590 people joined the space, creating a safe and encouraging community.
310 people submitted business pitches.
Winner selection
An independent panel selected the winner to remain in line with ASA guidelines. “Super Dinky”, founded by Lorna Tallowin, stood out for its creative use of Adobe Express features, including a voiceover function that guided viewers through the pitch. Lorna personalized the template while staying true to its structure, creating a compelling and emotionally resonant entry.
Simon is extremely passionate about helping businesses that were born from something meaningful. Lorna’s business addresses PTSD in NICU parents – an issue affecting 40% of families with babies in intensive care. She creates joyful clothing for premature babies and uses profits to support parents’ mental health through “Parcels of Hope”, inspired by her own experience.
The prize funding will support the growth of her business, with plans to follow her journey throughout the year.
The partnership between Adobe and Simon Squibb was a remarkable success across the seven platforms it covered. The ultimate win was that a small business with an emotive story behind it received funding to scale.
The partnership was also vital for Adobe to reinforce its commitment to supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, demonstrating that their creative tools are essential for the next generation of founders to scale their ambitions. Showing up in this supportive way helped Adobe build trust and relevance with this crucial audience segment.
We achieved:
Adobe was impressed with the number of competition entrants, stating it was a very strong adoption considering the strict requirements for entrants. Entrants had to be 18+, UK-based, and submit a strong business case. While Simon's large, global fan base generated significant engagement and views, we anticipated that the total number of entries would be a small fraction of the total reach due to the restrictions.
