1 brief. 2 influencers. 2 creative directors. 

It’s rare for each corner of the industry to come together and see exactly how the others work, but when they do, there’s a lot to be learned. And Cannes is the perfect hub to make it happen. 

Hussain Ismail, Director, Editorial Strategy, Adobe, presented a social-first Adobe Express brief to Curro Piqueras, Executive Creative Director, DUDE London, Tim Pashen, Creative Director, Worth Your While, and digital-first creators Jade Macpepple and Tejas Hullur. 

Each participant developed a concept to show how SMBs can use Adobe Express to enhance content creation and grow an audience, whilst showing the features available for free.

Adobe provided live feedback to the participants, and they, as well as the audience, learned: 

• The strategic and creative skills needed to approach a brief for social content
• The unique ways digital-first influencers and traditional creative directors approach the same brief
• The value of working with influencers, creative agencies, or a blend of both

The Creators

Jade Macpepple (Digital-First Creator)

Jade Macpepple is a micro-creator with a highly engaged audience of 31.7k followers on Instagram. As well as her fashion and lifestyle content, her niche is sharing her life and learnings as a full-time paralegal who’s also building a career in content creation. 

As many successful creators do, Jade drew directly from her personal experience as a full-time paralegal and self-managed content creator. She highlighted the common reality that most creators balance content creation with full-time jobs, contrary to the assumption that all are full-time influencers.

Her brief detailed a "day in the life of a corporate girl" balancing her job and community group, demonstrating how Adobe Express can "save some time" and "elevate the assets" she creates with its bulk tools and speed. 

She pitched that her content would be short-form video (30-45 seconds), potentially incorporating new tech like Meta glasses to show active editing on the go. Her core audience demographic is women aged 20-35 who have side hustles (e.g., nails, hair, makeup) and need efficient social media tools. She also suggested a call to action encouraging others to showcase their use of Adobe Express, potentially through competitions or collaborations with Adobe to relaunch businesses using the tools.

Tejas Hullur (Digital-First Creator)

Tejas Hullur has an impressive combined social following of 750k. He uses TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram to speak to his audience about exploring the world through economics and psychology. His content is the perfect combination of education and entertainment. 

Tejas’s pitch was structured around the superpower of creators. His philosophy, inspired by Henry Ford's "faster horse" quote, was about not just giving people what they ask for but innovating. He critiqued direct marketing to solopreneurs as a "faster horse version of a creative concept."

He proposed integrating Adobe Express naturally into his documentary-style YouTube content. As an example, for an episode where he dates 100 people in New York City, he would use Adobe Express to create "cut-up strips with a phone number" to put on street poles. The key learning here was to "show, don't tell." Instead of merely stating the features, he would show himself using the product on a subway commute to Staples to print posters, making Adobe Express a necessary "driver in the story rather than a detour."

The Creative Directors

Tim Pashen (Creative Director, Worth Your While)

Tim Pashen is a Creative Director at Independent award-winning creative agency Worth Your While. He has over a decade of experience in the creative media industry. 

Tim delivered a highly unconventional and performative pitch, emphasizing humor and unexpected delivery. His core idea was to showcase how even a "copywriter on a yacht" (referencing himself) could design without a screen using Adobe Express's quick and easy creation tools and professional templates.

He created a "pocket pitch" by asking the audience to turn on their AirDrop settings and sending them the content created with Adobe Express. The message was "you can do more with Express," implying ease of use and accessibility even in unusual circumstances. His approach aimed to be "fucking weird" to grab attention and enjoyment, positioning Adobe Express as the "party everyone wants to go to" within Adobe's product suite. 

For those who couldn’t use their AirDrop feature at sea, Tim had creatively used Adobe Express to create a QR code, which he then printed onto a t-shirt for the audience to scan and view his creation. He had created a whole rap song that sold Adobe Express to the audience. If anything, Tim got the audience laughing!

Curro Piqueras (Executive Creative Director, DUDE London)

Curro has held the role of Executive Creative Director at DUDE London for over 6 years, and has been in the digital media space for over a decade. 

Curro's pitch was rooted in the insight that solopreneurs, despite loving their craft (e.g., roasting coffee, making candles), often "hate digital tools" and prefer to spend time on their core passion. His strategic message was: "Let's do less of what you hate, and more of what you love."

He proposed a campaign showing hundreds of thousands of solopreneurs engaged in their crafts, with the tagline "Made with Adobe Express." The campaign would focus on what Adobe Express enables them to do, such as "create 99 variations of your campaign instantly to make one more sale today," rather than directly showcasing the product's features. 

The aim was to build an emotional connection and a strong brand, recognizing that product features can quickly become obsolete due to new competitors. He also suggested collaborating with 100,000 solopreneurs and other creators in Times Square, helping them sell their products.

The Results

Based in California, Hussain Ismail has spent nearly two years leading content and creative strategy at Adobe. His extensive background in social media marketing includes brand-side roles at Airbnb, platform experience at Meta, and six years on the agency side at VaynerMedia.

He tuned in to each of the pitches, taking notes ready to provide feedback on the ideas. His feedback provided insightful feedback that highlighted several key learnings:

• Human aspect vs. Market research: Hussain noted the interesting contrast between the creative directors' universal human insights derived from market research (e.g., solopreneurs hating digital tools) and the creators' personal, relatable human experiences (e.g., balancing a full-time job with content creation). Both approaches, despite their different starting points, effectively reached a similar conclusion about audience resonance.
• Relatability and authenticity: He emphasized that "people want to follow other people" and relate to similar stories. Authentic, personal narratives that show actual people living their lives and using tools are highly effective, even if they deviate from traditional brand messaging – this is a true strength of Influencer Marketing and creator content.
• Time-Saving as a consistent truth: Hussain observed that all pitches, despite their varied approaches, identified the same core "human truth": entrepreneurs and creators are consistently short on time. Adobe Express's ability to save time was a recurring and powerful message.
• Integrating product naturally: A crucial learning, particularly highlighted by creator Tejas Hullur's pitch, was the importance of making the product a natural and meaningful part of the story, rather than just a sponsor or a list of features. When the product is essential to telling a story, and integrated in a way that shows its value, it's far more effective than just "telling" the audience about it. This avoids boring the audience or failing to build brand connection.
• Balancing brand building and product functionality: Hussain acknowledged the challenge for a brand like Adobe Express, which is both a functional tool and a brand that needs to stand out. He appreciated Tim Pashen's unhinged and wacky approach for its ability to grab attention and enjoyment, suggesting that for a product without inherent "comedy," being unconventional can drive engagement.
• The role of creative directors vs. influencers: The session underscored the complementary roles of creative directors (who articulate global brand strategy and "tell" the brand's story) and influencers/creators (who "show" how the product comes to life on the ground and is valuable to the audience). The optimal strategy often involves "taking that tell and making it the show."

If you want to learn how you can add value to your marketing strategy with influencers, reach out to us at hello@digitalvoices.com.