Adobe Stock Advocates
The stock content industry has long faced challenges regarding brand perception, including within Adobe Stock. Buyers often held a negative view of stock imagery, raising concerns about the diversity, accuracy, and depth of the visual content available.
To address this crucial business challenge, Adobe launched the Adobe Stock Advocates program, a multi-faceted initiative aimed at attracting and empowering both emerging and established creators, and shifting buyer perception of the stock marketplace.
The Advocates program specifically prioritized content from self-identifying artists and allies, ensuring that the stories of Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, disabled individuals, women (cis and trans inclusive), veterans, and people of all religions, ages, body types, and skin tones were authentically represented — and positioning Adobe as a leader in diverse and inclusive stock visuals.
Campaign development
Editorial strategy
Marketing content strategy
Copywriting
Copy editing
Artist relations
Cross functional program management
Selected Editorial
Creative Brief: Family Life. How does a family look?
Creative Brief: Celebration of self, beauty and the body
Sarah Casillas, Senior Director and Head of Content, Adobe Stock:
“Our mission is to make sure that the Adobe Stock collection represents the world around us, and a big part of that is providing inclusive content with an authentic narrative. We’re striving to provide imagery of underrepresented communities that traditionally haven’t had much visibility.”
Screenshot: Advocates program homepage
Creative Brief: Joyful Rhythm called for new imagery that captures dance and gesture, instruments and music-making, and other forms of artistic expression. Featured inspiration gallery, creative brief landing page, and blog article.
Creative Brief: Veteran's Return had Adobe Stock seeking visuals accurately depicting active members of the armed forces and modern veterans of all ages and backgrounds, engaging with each other in service or training, and in daily life.
Selected artists awarded the Artists Development Fund by Adobe Stock. "Each of these artists has been selected for their demonstrated ability to authentically portray visual cultures through the lens of their own regional, ethnic, and lifestyle communities. As we take steps towards a truly inclusive stock collection that accurately reflects the diversity of the real world, we are thrilled to partner with them and support their projects."
About the Campaign
The Adobe Stock Advocates program set out to elevate new voices and visuals that resonate with honesty and impact. By issuing eight unique intersectional creative briefs, the program inspired diverse creators to produce compelling photography, video, illustrations, and vector artwork. Artists who responded to these briefs were featured across Adobe's media channels, and many received support from the Artist Development Fund to further their projects.
In just two years, the Advocates program successfully funded new work from 80 artists, generating a robust pipeline of exclusive visual content for Adobe Stock. Year one alone saw the upload of 20,000 assets, leading to measurable improvements in brand perception and awareness of diverse and culturally accurate content among buyers.
Ultimately, the Advocates program not only enriched the Adobe Stock content collection but also positioned Adobe as a credible and essential player in the cultural conversation surrounding representation in stock imagery.
(In-house for the Adobe Stock team.)
Assets Buyer and Artist-facing campaign microsite | Landing pages | Creative Briefs | Blog article series | Media kit | Enterprise sales enablement | Creative galleries | Paid ad creative | Social creative | Event creative | Internal communications
Lead designer Rod Luebbert, Adobe Stock