The biggest challenge we faced with our Gen Z target was that this was a TikTok audience that relied heavily on using native features on their phones and social channels over turning to professional creativity and design products like Adobe’s.

We had to prove to them that they were missing out. And that with Adobe’s exceptional AI-enhanced creativity tools, they had the power to transform their own visual branding and identity – without the help of the lofty record label producers and marketing executives.

We set out to show Gen Zers how Adobe design products and apps could be their super-powered partner to supercharge their success and fandom – and that pleasing eyes as well as ears could help deserving young artists go “Beyond Viral.”

Success and longevity on TikTok aren’t just dependent on how a music artist sounds, but on their overall identity – and as content creators, what their visual branding shows about them to keep fans authentically engaged.

It was a lesson that a new generation of one-hit TikTok music wonders often learned the hard way. They would post a song and become a viral sensation overnight – only to disappear into obscurity, losing their spotlight to the algorithm almost as quickly as they found it.

So, we identified three Gen Z one-hit wonders on TikTok who needed a helping hand to rekindle their algorithm and fandom and offered them a total makeover from Adobe. Enlisting Adobe Insiders who know the transformative creative tools better than anyone, we helped each artist take their visual worlds to new heights, and invited fans along the journey to play a pivotal role in the process.

Our Adobe Insiders tapped Adobe’s extensive suite of creative software and apps to show our artists how to transform their brand on TikTok in creative ways which dramatized the versatility and power of each tool – helping the artists edit voiceovers and photoshoot images; create artistic new backgrounds, mood boards and inspiring text effects; and redesign inspiring album covers and artwork for their songs.

But there was a twist: Our artists announced their partnership with Adobe to fans but then gave fans a chance to do something rare and engage them as co-creators of their makeover, asking fans for direction and creative input along the way.

Their co-creation had an even more important end goal: Would the more refined, co-created artwork and visual branding send the artist back up the TikTok algorithm to more success?

We knew if fans felt personally part of that success, we could drive massive interaction.

Three once-viral TikTok singer/songwriters became our muses:

Maisy (head), Morgan (ADCT), and Michael Aldag (cheating).

We invited fans to be part of the artistic process and creative decision-making for each artist, something normally kept strictly within industry circles.

There was more than engagement to compel them. Fans held the artistic keys to propel their artists to new fame.

Fans simply had to engage with native social features like voting on creative decisions and favorite versions of artwork and special effects, exponentially increasing clicks. Maisy shared mood boards, asking fans what to wear in her album cover. Michael’s fans voted on artwork for a winter-inspired album cover. Morgan polled fans on whether they preferred a nostalgic or dramatic look.

The campaign became a virtual showcase of new design features baked into Adobe products, demonstrating the thrilling potential of Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Text to Image, Text Effects and Text to Template.

The campaign helped our deserving young TikTok artists go “Beyond Viral.”

Before our Adobe and fan-inspired visual branding makeovers, total listens, likes and engagements for Michael were just 1377, 89 for Maisi, and 79 for Morgan.

Afterwards, interactions skyrocketed to 1.6M and the three artists were generating 3.5M impressions. Their total combined reach climbed to 2.5M.

Proving that in the age of fleeting fame, killer branding is the ultimate encore.

Since, Adobe has created a dedicated library of hundreds of album cover design templates on Adobe Express that anyone can use for free. New templates are continually being added and updated. Adobe has now also broadened this out to sports so creators with other passion points can enrich their content. Adobe experts also routinely offer tutorial sessions to lend creators design help and guidance and be that true brand partner that they can rely on for career support and development.