[Music] [Brenda Milis] Hey, everybody. I'm Brenda. Thanks for coming. I do see some familiar faces here, which is great. Before I dive into our timely, big, and juicy topic with a whole lot of gray areas, just a couple things. All images on the presentation are from Adobe Stock. Yes, they're gorgeous. Yet there are some third-party ads that I'm going to run. And just legally, I have to let you know, they are not supported or endorsed by Adobe. And I feel very, very grateful to the Adobe Legal team for letting me show you ads because they literally illustrate a lot of the points I'm going to be making, real world illustrations. So here we go. As you see, I'm Brenda Milis, Principal of Consumer and Creative Insights for Adobe Stock and All Content. So today, as you know, we're going to be taking a very deep dive into how, when, and why it's important for creatives and brands to understand consumers' appetite and engagement with both images that are authentic and, of course, visuals that are pure fantasy. Those images on the rise rapidly thanks to AI generated technology. If there's one thing you take away from today's session, it's this. There is more than enough demand for imagery that is traditionally produced, adds an accurate reflection of the real world as we know it, around us, as well as AI generated imagery that presents a wide range of realistic, hyper realistic, and of course, the infinite realms of fantasy. So the key to all this, what we're making our way through, is frankly transparency. And of course, aligning with your brand offering, letting your audience know, first of all, what kind of image they're looking at to gain and retain consumer trust, we're going to talk a lot about that, and understanding which types of images are appropriate and relevant to your message, your product, and your service. Two parts to that. Before diving into this exploration, I'll talk a little bit about my role at Adobe so you understand why I, of all people, am giving this talk. And then I'll discuss the two very different kinds of imagery. So at Adobe, I lead programs, including one you may be familiar with. The annual Creative Trends forecasting program that delves into which types of images are rising in commercial and consumer demand. Throughout the year, I review a truly astonishing number of commercials and commercial projects and creative styles across all media and industry types. Never ending, I love it. So I also work with internal teams analyzing Adobe customer Stock search history, client research requests, and now, Firefly prompts in addition to widespread industry data. Through this process, I identify not only what these kinds of images look like but just as importantly, why they are rising in popularity and customer demand. In other words, we need to understand their cultural appeal.
So we're all keenly aware of growing global demand for content, scaling expectations to produce a higher volume of content across all content types faster than ever before. And so we find ourselves in this really odd contemporary bind or paradox. As an increasing number of people across a wide array of skillsets can generate more content more quickly, thanks, in large part, to AI, the visual landscape has become very crowded and very competitive, 70% of US adults feel overwhelmed by advertisements and the 24/7 visual cycle. That's according to YouGov, they just did like an 80,012 regions report and survey.
So therefore, we are starting to see, and I think we all know, how difficult it is right now to engage and retain consumer trust, engagement, interest. So understanding, and this is my job, this is why I'm here, which kinds of images stand out in this 24/7, 365 cycle of content is more important than ever. So I basically map out how changes in the world influence and drive the kinds of visual scaling and engagement.
Two of the largest visual categories scaling in popularity are authenticity on the top, fantasy on the bottom. They're kind of like flipsides of the coin, right? And here we go. The growing mainstream appeal of visuals that accurately reflect the world around us in all of its wonderful variety, diversity on one hand, and the incredible fantastical renderings that present and transport the viewer into a wide range of magical, surreal, and extraordinary worlds. So these two categories, be it still or motion, fulfill customers' needs for, on the bottom, fantasy, escapism, on one hand, we all want and need a sense of relief from the many stressors of contemporary complicated life. And this is very foundational. That's how I think of it. Our need to find footing in the world, to have a strong foundation with authenticity and clarity about what we are in fact viewing, what is real, so that we can give ourselves just the fun, just simply enjoy, having our heads in the clouds of pure, delightful, inspiring fantasy. So this is really the yin and the yang here. They're very powerful. They're contrasting and yet they support a wide range of really basic consumer appetites. So while the rapid-- Love these. While the rapid rise of AI, as a technology but also as a topic, has been front and center in the media over the last year...
There's been a lot of understandable concern and trepidation about the impact on creatives livelihood, and we'll talk about that. What's often overlooked, however, about this type of imagery is that, for years, before AI models hit the commercial marketplace, AR, VR, and gaming were making this beautiful digital and otherworldly imagery very much a part of our daily lives, very much a part of the mainstream. We were kind of marinating on this type of imagery. And, really, AI generating models like Firefly, Adobe Firefly, are really just turbocharging this. There's so much of it that we feel like it's flooding the media landscape. And it is. So just to make a point, this whole idea of wanting and seeing and being around fantasy goes back to, let's talk about Marvel movies, the global spread during the pandemic of anime, sci-fi film releases. Just this year, there's the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Alien Romulus, and a prequel to A Quiet Place. This is deeply mainstream. So in terms of AI, and fantasy in particular, all sectors have been responding to slowly but surely now turbocharged, rising interest and engagement with fantasy. We're seeing commercial spots, which we'll look at a couple, that transport audiences to magical places and spaces all across many sectors. So we've got that in tech, sports, beauty, fashion, luxury, travel, wellness, hospitality, and more. Really everywhere. And the appeal of visuals that surprise and delight has grown so much, in fact, that it is the topic of one of Adobe's 2024 Creative Trends called Wonder and Joy. Now Wonder and Joy reflects the demand for content that inspires a sense of awe and enchantment in this very uncertain era. A 2023 VML Intelligence report called The Age of Re-enchantment cites that two times as many people are likely to buy from brands, that's a big deal, that bring them a sense of joy or those that surprise and delight them, ban from brands who really just deliver what they say they will. That's a big deal. What is new here is that with the, frankly, breathtaking velocity of production and the proliferation of AI imagery across digital platforms, the creative landscape is being populated with these fantastical imagery, and that has created real confusion, that's why we're here, for brands and creatives, as to how, when, and why to work in a particular style and with which creative tools.
So understanding the appeal of your brand, your offering, and your customers' interests can quickly shift this confusion, and that's what we'll talk about, into clarity and guide you to the best path for your target audiences that aligns with your offering.
So ethereal campaigns like this one here, this is Spring/Summer Etro campaign, which is fully AI generated. Ethereal campaigns such as this align with fantasy, aspiration, luxury.
And this one, Coach, is another brand transparently using AI and blending with video to create these whimsical creative adventures for its global audience. This campaign has been produced in many ongoing chapters, truly global in reach, and its makers, its producers have been very clear that the entire campaign was inspired by AI technology. We're going to look at it right now.
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] So as I mentioned, this campaign is in many chapters. Each chapter has a very famous protagonist, an actor or a rapper, if you will. Those are in video and AI forms. And what the whole adventure is in each of these chapters is each of these stars cavort with digital avatar buddies into different realms inspired by real cities. Really fun. And the whole point is the fantasy, the thrill of adventure and exploration.
So now, let's flip that visual coin and talk about authenticity and realness. Consumers want to see themselves represented in the media and expect for brands to present the diversity of the world around them. When audiences see themselves, their community, their experiences presented accurately, that's part of authenticity, it helps them connect to the brand, makes the offering relatable and relevant, and it helps build brand trust. It's now, we know, widely understood, meaning mainstream that different places, communities, and individuals are incredibly diverse. We all have intersectional identities. And audiences really expect, they're savvy now, they expect visuals to reflect what the world looks like around them, across age, ethnicity, identities, body types, cultures, and more. So presenting relevant and authentic elements in portraying people and their environments, in casting real people, setting and styling goes a long way in establishing engagement and ultimately brand loyalty. I'm going to use those two words a lot and we're about to dive into that. So I'm going to show you just a couple of really great recent examples of authentic representation aligned with brand offering and audience. The first is Nike. It's called Winning isn't Comfortable. And it shows real human emotion and effort. That theme here kind of necessitates in showing real effort and challenges on a human basis, casting real humans. Nike really delivers. [You are My Sunshine by Christina Perri playing] # You are my sunshine # # My only sunshine # # You make me happy # # When skies are gray # # You'll never know, dear # # How much I love you # # Please don't take # # My sunshine away # Another very, very different style of commercial that is, in fact, a great example of authenticity and realness is one that Dove just launched called Beauty Never Gets Old. So this personal care company has a very, very longstanding and strong reputation for promoting and sharing a wide range of diverse people, and they have made it very well known by talking about, this is their term, real beauty. Dove has made their stance of AI clear that they will never use it. And I think they pointed out, I'm quoting them, "One in three women feel pressure to alter their appearance because of what they see online." Even when they know the images are fake or AI generated. So Dove uses their very longstanding, very consistent brand values here. And what you'll see is a very well-produced commercial, and they really get to have fun because all of the viewers know that this is all real. [Me Too by Meghan Trainor playing] # Ow! # # Who's that sexy thing I see over there? # # That's me, standin' in the mirror # # What's that icy thing hanging 'round my neck? # # Um, that's gold, show me some respect, oh # # If I was you, I'd wanna be me too # # I'd wanna be me too # # I'd wanna be me too # # If I was you, I'd wanna be me too # # I'd wanna be me too # # I'd wanna be me too # Dove really knows what they're doing.
Really knows what they're doing. They are highlighting, celebrating, not just aging, but the diverse range of amazing users who have, say it again, brand loyalty to their product. Big deal in these times. Transparency and trust. Okay. Now we're really going to talk about gaining and retaining brand trust. It's a huge part of what this whole talk is about. We know that. As AI matures, the cost of creating quality content is decreasing while its realism is increasing rapidly. Therefore, that places the responsibility of transparency on brands, all of our brands, to communicate what kind of content and representation consumers are viewing.
In pursuit of transparency around digital content, you may be familiar with this, Adobe founded the Content Authenticity Initiative, and I'm just going to call it CAI because that's too hard for me to say, in 2019. This is a cross industry coalition with over 3,700 major media and technology companies, which Adobe still leads to this day.
The CAI develops open source tools called content credentials to help verify the provenance of any digital media, including AI generated content. It's kind of like a nutritional label for digital content, and it serves to secure metadata that anyone can attach to their work to share information about themselves and provide context about how their content was created and edited. Really important. Yet it's important to understand, this is really important, that there are many brands out there that have not, like Dove, for example, and in this case, Nike, not built their reputation based on diverse and intersectional identities. This is the very large actually neutral area where AI generated imagery of even a wide array of people doesn't controversy or pushback, but customers still expect accountability. They still expect they have the right to know what they're looking at.
So I work with Adobe Stock a lot. And just an example, for transparency and clarity, Adobe Stock uses, you see right there on the top right, AI labels in several spots and places whenever you are interested hovering over an AI image. Let's see if it keeps going. So that when you click into the large thumbnail, it says in the title Generative AI, it has the Gen AI little icon. And then, I don't have this on my slide, when you actually go to license it, a thumbnail pops up and says, "This is an AI image. Are you sure you want to license it?" So people know what they're buying. Licensing, rather.
Now we're going to talk about a really wonderful wrinkle in the fabric of all of this. There are styles and techniques that allow you to mix authenticity and fantasy. This dynamic dimensions is the name of the Adobe Creative Trend for this year, 2024. This began before AI generated imagery hit the commercial marketplace. It's like a collage approach to image creation. Let's take a look at it. This trend brings really kind of wildly diverse types of content together to create really playful, whimsical, high impact visuals. And yes, it really comes from, frankly, the worlds of AR, VR, multiverse gaming.
And these environments mix different media, styles, and dimensions where they comfortably coexist. Frankly, I really think that the 2022 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, really was the huge tipping point that put this trend on the commercial map. By the way, it was edited in, what was it, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Frame IO, I've just got to give a shoutout.
So mainstream audiences around the world became aware of how fun, how engaging this type of imagery is. We see visuals in a single environment with photo, video, 2D and 3D elements, mingle and merge in addition to copy, special effects and Illustration. Yes, this is engaging. It can inspire feelings of limitless possibility, as do AI fantasy pictures. And yes, you can create these types of visuals in Adobe Express. Again, merging photography, which might be authentic, with graphic elements, typography, and animation. So now let's look at one of my favorite commercials, by Lego. Lego is a company with an amazing ability to straddle the physical and the virtual world seamlessly, whether through its new immersive art exhibition in Paris or its longstanding partnership with Epic Games.
And I'd say that the brand has about a 25-year history in gaming, and of course, the incredible tradition of its creative play bricks. So this commercial is called Play Moves Us. It mixes image types and dimensions. Amazing effect, you're going to love this. The ad was created for the Women's World Cup, and we watched the spot shift back and forth from the professional soccer players to girls from around the world at play, exploring sports, gaming, science, music, and more, underscoring the importance of playing without boundaries to build skills, confidence, and community.
[Kid 1] Play moves us to do mighty things, like failing and trying again. Play moves us to express ourselves. Be loud. Like this loud.
Play moves us to try, to level up.
And things can get scary.
[Kids] Bye, comfort zone. [Kid 2] Hello, unknown.
But also, hello things nobody ever thought possible. And when girls play, like really play...
We're unstoppable.
I mean, that's an incredible blend of the authentic, the real world, real people, really important issues, and just play in fantasy. Gorgeous, in my opinion. Another really fun and engaging mashup of image types is this Pinterest ad campaign. Kind of like Coach, it was presented in many different chapters. It's very whimsical and it's mainly traditionally produced. It's real casting, real props, real sets, and then a little CGI added in there. The campaign comes from-- This is so cool, Pinterest just does amazing work.
The concepts for each of the spots come from data aggregated from customers around which are their favorite reasons for going to the platform. So this one is, believe it or not, meatballs. There's a whole bunch of interest in meatballs, like different varieties of meatballs. There's another one, which this won't surprise you, about living in a world filled with cats and knitting, which I love. Yes, I'm a cat lady. So it's amazing. So it's really personalized on a meta level. So customers or users of the platform are telling Pinterest what they love, and Pinterest is giving it right back to them in an incredibly fun and creative way. Let's take a look. [Man] Meatballs. So basic, but not on Pinterest. On Pinterest, you are on a mission, exploring what's possible when it comes to orb shaped food because on Pinterest, meatballs can be inspired, unconventional, more than just where meat meets ball. On Pinterest, meatballs can dare to dream and so can you.
Pretty silly, pretty clever. That's kind of one of my favorite genres. Ridiculous and smart. So anyways, you see, there's a play here where there's some authentic elements and just whimsy. Okay. Now we're going to move into multi-generational messaging, meaning which age groups, how are they engaging with the fantasy of AI and authentic non-traditionally produced or traditionally produced imagery.
So just to let you know, a big part of my job is understanding consumer values and behavior by age group. It takes up a lot of my time and, of course, it's always shifting, not only because the world changes and culture shifts but everybody's getting older. So what Gen Z likes right now is going to shift as they get older, same with millennials, et cetera, et cetera. Now there's this kind of a slight disclaimer apology. When I began developing my outline for this session, I included a section on presenting elements that differentiate age group's engagement with an interest in fantasy and authenticity. As I dug much deeper into this topic, it became extremely clear that for this topic, this session, the appeal here is amazingly multi-generational. While, yes, of course, there are behavioral similarities for each age group and life events or milestones, if you will. Let's just say life events. We know that people, first of all, they aren't homogeneous. There are 65-year-old TikTok influencers and 21-year-olds saving for retirement.
But I've been thrilled about this because I'm that nerd. The rise in Gen Z's interest in analog activities, analog technologies, and the growing comfort and familiarity of older consumers with digital technology, digital lifestyles is quickly, at this point, dissolving a lot of the traditional boundaries that used to distinguish age groups.
And we see that here, in when and why audiences of all ages are responsive to authentic or fantastical representations of our world. In a nutshell, and I've said this before and I'll say it a million times again, audiences just want to know what they're looking at.
It's no surprise that living in an era of drastic change and disruption that not just many of us but all of us are concerned about where we're headed. The future is always uncertain, but I think this era is unique because of instant global communication and outrageously rapid change, making us keenly aware, too aware of the uncertainty. So I'm really just here today to provide information and examples to you that there is a consistent and unwavering desire for human expression, human connection, and flights of fancy for some well-deserved escape and relief for all of us. Technology, including AI technology, is here to support our personal and creative expression to enable our drive to express ourselves and to connect with each other, not to control it. And the ongoing concern for artists and consumers alike is the homogenization of creativity in image production, as well as a downward turn in artists' ability to monetize their creative work. It's clear, this is important, that consumers want, in this crowded space, distinctive, original, authentic, and inspiring imagery.
So in this crowded visual environment, imagery actually has to be distinctive to attract, retain viewer attention. AI is and should be used to support human uniqueness and viewed as a tool delivering creativity, allowing creators, creatives, to explore new ideas and produce extraordinary imagery.
And one other thing I want to say before I wrap it up. We're in very early days of AI. AI generated imagery, in this case, in this session. And I think it's important to note that major global brands are releasing, let's say, commercial spots that focus on AI technology, and again, in this case, let's say AI generated creativity and imagery. And some of those have been immediately greeted with outrage and consumer pushback. The thing that's so cool about it is that in every case, when there's been immediate unanimous consumer pushback, and there are quite a few, these big global brands pull those commercial spots and apologize. To me, that is so exciting that consumers actually finally have a voice, probably a lot of social media, have a voice and are being listened to because global brands are building the bridge as they cross it just like us. This is an era of total experimentation, and consumers have a voice and brands are listening. Amazing. Confusing. And I just love that brands are confused too. We're all confused, and that's why there are gray areas, and I very much want you to come up here with some questions. Thanks.
[Music]
