Tiny the Elephant has always had a big responsibility. When TSB introduced the small, pink character to help customers face “the elephant in the room” — their finances — audiences instantly connected. Originally a hand-built puppet, Tiny is expressive, empathetic and uniquely TSB.

But behind the scenes, bringing Tiny to life was no small feat. Each campaign took weeks of intricate planning, puppetry, photography and post-production. Even after moving to a CGI version, creating every new image, from Tiny celebrating a savings goal, to comforting a stressed-out shopper or zooming off on a skateboard, still demanded time, budget and patience. This all meant delays between spotting an opportunity to support and connect with customers and making that communication. As a brand that speaks to five million customers, TSB needed a better way to scale.

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Achieving big goals in less time.

Enter Adobe Firefly. With generative AI built directly into Adobe’s creative ecosystem, TSB could finally move at the speed of creativity without losing its signature warmth or quality.

Using Firefly Custom Models, TSB's in-house creative agency, Kindred, trained Firefly on hundreds of approved Tiny images, teaching it the details that make the character unmistakably on-brand, from the curve of her trunk to the kindness in her eyes. Now, what once took seven weeks in studio can happen in about seven minutes. Creative teams generate new scenes, iterate instantly and fine-tune the results in Adobe Photoshop using capabilities like Generative Fill and the Remove Tool.

Instead of spending days sourcing references and compositing visuals, creative teams test dozens of ideas in minutes, cutting revision time by half and freeing them to focus on the details that bring Tiny to life. Tiny now dances through a field of flowers and experiences the first snow of the season in images and animations that feel dynamic, natural and full of personality. So, when Kindred spots an opportunity to support customers or connect with them to help with their money confidence, Tiny can support those moments.

Trevor Chambers, Creative Director at Kindred, marvels at the transformation. “We’re able to move quicky, using Firefly Custom Models to create new campaign concept visuals in a matter of minutes that previously took half a day,” he says. “It’s given us the freedom to explore so we can deliver the most impactful stories, in the most cost-effective way.”

A viral moment, powered by AI.

When Harry Styles announced the release of his fourth studio album, ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’, naturally it was all the Internet could talk about. The Kindred team saw an opportunity to join the conversation, Tiny style. Within hours, they used Firefly to make their own take on the album artwork, featuring Tiny. It was a fun way to join the conversation but also carried a more serious message too - they were able to point out the risks of fraudulent ticket sales and give customers tips to ensure that they don’t get ripped off. Generative AI has made this kind of reactive, topical customer support possible where it previously wasn’t.

“With Firefly Custom Models, we’re bringing the speed of generative AI to our own IP,” says Chambers. “It lets us create distinctive assets that reinforce our brand identity and connect with customers in new ways.”

Balancing innovation and integrity.

In banking, innovation must come with trust. Firefly was one of the first AI tools to pass TSB’s internal governance process, thanks to its commercially safe content and proprietary training model. That milestone led the bank to develop its own AI ethics framework, ensuring that creativity and compliance work side by side while setting a new benchmark for how financial institutions can embrace AI responsibly.

Now, Tiny assets generated using Firefly feed directly into TSB’s connected content supply chain, powering faster, more personalised campaigns across every channel. Content flows seamlessly from concept to customer, with reviews, compliance checks and storage automated through Adobe Workfront and Adobe Experience Manager Assets. Kindred’s production time dropped by 60% with team members using TSB’s central hub to push creative work out across any channel, at any time.

Keith Gulliver, Head of Brand & Marketing at TSB, sees the positive impact the new tools and workflows are having on creative professionals. “Firefly is proving a tremendous tool to help colleagues spend more time on creativity over production, so that ultimately we can support customers with their money confidence faster,” he says.

The future of Tiny (and of creativity).

Firefly quickly grew from curiosity to creative cornerstone. What started as an every-Friday experiment in AI imagery became a new way of working that sparks ideas, speeds production and empowers every team member to contribute.

“Adobe Firefly is now an everyday tool, inspiring confidence across our creative community,” says Gulliver. “It’s opening doors for writers and marketers to explore their creativity while keeping our content consistent, responsible and distinctly TSB.”

John leads Adobe’s Financial Services business across the UK & Ireland, helping clients transform their digital customer experiences with new technologies. With experience across the sector, he sees the wealth of opportunity that lays ahead for many organisations to engage with customers in entirely new ways while appreciating how to do this across highly-regulated, trust-based brands.

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