"Join Shira Lazar as she interviews entertainer and digital media sensation Adam Rose. In this episode of ""Creator Spotlight,"" Adam takes us through his incredible journey from creating the viral dance video ""The Flow"" to becoming a star on Threads. Learn about the challenges he's overcome, the strategies behind his viral success, and his unique approach to brand deals. Adam also shares how Zach King changed his approach to content creation, offering invaluable advice for creators looking to make their mark in the digital world. Don't miss this inspiring and informative interview with one of the digital world's most dynamic creators!
Creator Spotlight is Powered by PRophet and What’s Trending. PRophet is an essential AI-driven CommsTech suite that empowers modern communicators and marketers to work smarter, uncover new audiences, and drive more impactful campaigns. To learn more, visit prprophet.ai."
Creator Spotlight is Powered by PRophet and What’s Trending. PRophet is an essential AI-driven CommsTech suite that empowers modern communicators and marketers to work smarter, uncover new audiences, and drive more impactful campaigns. To learn more, visit prprophet.ai."
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00:00If you were going to be talking to a brand and giving them advice about what they should be doing,
00:04like what would you say right now?
00:06Trust creators. I mean, trust the right creators. Don't trust all creators. Trust the right creators.
00:17Adam Rose is an actor, writer, and director who's been performing professionally since he was
00:21eight years old. Since going viral with the Flo Dance video, Adam and his iconic cardigan have
00:27over 14 million followers. He's one of the fastest-growing creators on YouTube and Instagram
00:32and is consistently working with major brands. And that's why today he is in the Creator Spotlight.
00:37Well, Adam Rose, welcome to Creator Spotlight.
00:40Thank you so much for having me.
00:41Last time I saw you, we were partying at CES.
00:44That's right. That's right.
00:45Fun times.
00:46Always a fun time. Vegas.
00:48You were one of those that I think you say instead of
00:50nice meeting you, you just say great seeing you.
00:53Well, because I feel like we've been on each other's radar for so long
00:56that it felt like we had met before.
00:58Okay, good. I wasn't sure if you actually thought that or you were doing the great seeing you thing.
01:03No. I mean, I have done that in the past, but to you, I knew who you were.
01:08Oh, thank you.
01:09Yeah. Yeah.
01:10I was going to... I appreciate it.
01:12Of course.
01:13It means a lot. I mean, it's been cool to see your evolution. First, you started out as a child actor.
01:19That's right.
01:19You've been in Hollywood for a long time.
01:20I have.
01:21Were you someone who dove into social media at the beginning?
01:24Sort of, not really. Me and my friends definitely made joke music videos and stuff like that,
01:29that we would put up on YouTube just to share with our friends. It wasn't until years later
01:36when I lost a couple pilots to Vine stars that I was like,
01:41oh, I think I need to start taking social media more seriously all of a sudden.
01:44Damn those Vine stars.
01:45I know. I know.
01:47And did you at that point?
01:49Yeah. I started dabbling. I started making some silly videos on Vine,
01:53got on Instagram for a little while and was trying to take cool pictures of myself.
01:59And then Casey Neistat era happened. And so I was like, maybe I should start vlogging.
02:04And so I vlogged for a while and made, I don't know, 200 vlogs.
02:09You did?
02:10Yeah. But there were maybe 200 people watching them, but it taught me a lot.
02:16I started taking it more seriously in 2017, 2018, started helping other people with their social
02:23media as I was trying to grow mine. 2019, I was doing a Netflix show called Marry Happy Whatever.
02:29It was my first series regular. I was like, this is it. My acting career is now going to take off.
02:35We have a sort of support group.
02:37Support group for what?
02:38The people who married into this family.
02:40And then the show got canceled and then 2020 happened. And right around that time,
02:45I had been dabbling on TikTok because Gary V told me to dabble on TikTok.
02:50Gotta listen to Gary.
02:51I listened to Gary V. And February of 2020, I went viral for the first time.
02:57Speaking of which, the flow.
02:59The flow.
03:00The dance move that went viral. Was this, this is, these moves and
03:05you created or was it that you created the sounds?
03:07Both. At the time, every single trending dance on TikTok involved a move called the whoa.
03:14You remember the whoa?
03:14Yeah.
03:15So I was like, all right, I'm done with the whoa. We need the alternatives to the whoa.
03:21So I was like, just coming up with words that rhymed with whoa.
03:25Flow, crow, no, row, bro, yo, so, right? And then created a dance to those words.
03:33So the flow, the crow, the no, the row, the bro, the so, the grow, the low, the bo, the yo, the fo,
03:44the go.
03:44Amazing. Thank you.
03:46For that reenactment.
03:47You didn't ask, but I did it anyway. And that just like blew up.
03:51And then that gets licensed. So it blows up.
03:54Yeah. That got licensed by Fortnite. It became an emote on the game. I didn't know what Fortnite was.
04:00And that was also the first kind of money-making opportunity for you?
04:04It was the first money I ever made on social media.
04:05For social media, not overall.
04:07For me personally. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:09Yeah. And was that mind-blowing or was it that much where you're like,
04:13whoa, this could be something more sustainable?
04:16Oh, I knew it could eventually become something more sustainable because I'd seen other people do
04:20it. But yeah, I felt like, okay, I'm off to the races.
04:24And so how do you take that one moment? Because a lot of people have one moment,
04:27it's hard to maintain and build from that.
04:30I squeezed a lot of juice out of that one moment. I made a YouTube video about it. I
04:37made videos reacting to other people doing the dance. And then I just started
04:43making sure that I was creating a steady flow of content and evolving and making different things.
04:48I ended up making a couple more dances that went super viral, went more viral than that one.
04:54And that became my shtick for a while. And that was also where the blue cardigan of it all started,
04:59that first video.
05:00Where did that blue cardigan come from? And why that?
05:03Did you just happen to be wearing it that day?
05:05I just happened to be wearing it. It was a hand-me-down from my brother that
05:08stayed in my closet all the time and I never wore. And then it was laundry day
05:12and it was cold in my house. So I put that on and then happened to make that video that day
05:18while wearing it. And people were like, what's this guy dancing in a shawl cardigan for?
05:25And I wanted people to know that that was me when I made my next video.
05:29Yeah, yeah.
05:30So I wore it again, and then I wore it again, and then I wore it again. And then I didn't
05:36wear it in one video. And people were like, where's the blue cardigan? We didn't sign
05:40up for Red Hoodie Guy. And I deleted that video and just never looked back.
05:45So you do these dance videos. And then at what point then do you shift to something else?
05:52Is there that moment of plateau, even when you get millions of views and growth?
05:55Yeah, absolutely. After a year and a half, two years of pretty steady growth, it sort of
06:03plateaued all of a sudden. I was doing my best to evolve and figure out what the next thing
06:10would be. And then in the last eight months, everything just blew up. I went and visited
06:15Zach King at his studio. He invited me to come hang out at his studio. And I sort of saw their
06:20whole process there. And that just changed the way I do everything. And I hired someone internally
06:28to help me make my videos and to help me run my business, got more systematic about the output and
06:37brainstorming and all those things. And we saw results pretty quickly. And we went from like
06:45600,000 followers on Instagram to 4.6 million. We went from 500,000 subscribers on YouTube to
06:523.4 million. Went from like 30,000 followers on Facebook to 1.7 million. If you want it to
07:00grow, and you want it to evolve, and you want it to become something sustainable,
07:04you have to put these systems in place. Otherwise, you can't just wait for inspiration
07:10all the time. Let's talk about monetization. Making money. How does Adam Rose make money?
07:16Adam Rose makes money from referring to himself in the third person.
07:24AdSense, YouTube, and on Facebook. And then mostly the biggest chunk is brand deals.
07:30I feel like brands love you. You are a poster child for being a creator and working with brands.
07:37That's so nice.
07:38The first one obviously was the email, but talk about how you've worked with brands
07:42since and how you pitch yourself to brands.
07:46I would say it's about 80% them pitching us and then 20% us doing outreach to these brands.
07:53How do you integrate a brand into your content?
07:55Oh, I'm very proud of the way we integrate brands into our content.
08:00I think a lot of creators fall into the trap of just trying to get the brand deal done
08:04as quickly as possible. Being like, hey, check out this shampoo. You got to buy this shampoo.
08:10It's great. Okay, next. Okay, moving on. What I love doing is taking the content that I already
08:17make and figuring out clever ways to seamlessly integrate the brand into that content. We're
08:22still making relatable videos. We're still making things that people want to share and that people
08:26feel like are entertaining. We're sneaking the vegetables in there. All of a sudden, we're also
08:35delivering this message that this brand wants us to talk about. I also make sure to put some of the
08:41money on the screen. I'm not trying to hoard the money that the brand's giving me. I want to make
08:46sure that I'm taking some of that money and using it as production for the video and trying to make
08:52it a better video than all of my other videos.
08:55I also think that you're a professional. You came from the traditional world, but
09:01you have the sensibilities of a digital creator. That helps.
09:05It helps a lot because I think when they work with me, they know that they're going to work
09:10with someone who's professional and knows how to respond to emails in a timely fashion.
09:16That's not going to be late on deadlines. That knows how to take notes and figure out a way to
09:22satisfy all parties. Also, that keeps their messaging in mind and is thinking of their
09:27best interests. I'm really proud of those videos. I think they're some of my best videos.
09:33Have you ever encountered challenges and then how did you overcome them or what
09:37lessons have you learned through these experiences?
09:40Sometimes you end up having to push back on notes or figure out a happy medium
09:47because the goal is to get the most views. We've been doing millions of views organic
09:53on our brand deals as well. Brands start to trust us more because we know what we're talking about
10:00and they know that we're thinking about their best interests. Figuring out that balance between
10:04making sure that they feel like their product is being well showcased and the messaging is there
10:10and simultaneously making sure that we're retaining that audience, we're getting that reach,
10:16we are entertaining people and we're making something that people want to share.
10:20We can't do anything without brands. So hello, thank you, gratitude, right?
10:25And then how do you maintain your authenticity in that?
10:30It's all about coming through with a strong vision about what you're trying to make. How
10:34are we going to keep people's attention? How are we going to make it so that people don't feel like
10:37they're being sold something even though they are in this moment? But then also making sure that
10:42we're satisfying the brand, that there's really good product shot, that we are selling this
10:48product and we are delivering that messaging, but doing so in a way that doesn't feel like it.
10:54One platform we have not talked about yet is Threads.
10:57Love Threads.
10:58The Threads star. What does it take to be a Threads star?
11:02Well, I got lucky because I was on there before everybody else.
11:06I was too.
11:07Yeah. Well, but I got on there and I was like, I'm going to take advantage of being on here early.
11:13And I posted a ton every day. And we ended up doing the first brand deal ever on Threads.
11:19Hello. With Hulu?
11:20With Hulu. Yeah. So yeah, they hit me up and they were like, hey, we're doing this campaign
11:25and we're promoting the new season of Futurama. And they wanted me to create a meme. Here's the
11:33trailer. You can use any of the images in this trailer. And so I created a meme and put it out
11:39there and it was pretty successful. If you were going to be talking to a brand
11:44and giving them advice about what they should be doing, what would you say right now?
11:48Trust creators. Trust creators. Let them, I mean, trust the right creators. Don't trust all
11:56creators. Trust the right creators. Go into it trusting them. And we know how to talk to our
12:03audience. We know what works. We're in our analytics, looking at how these videos are
12:10rolling out every single day, day in and day out. So we're very sensitive to how our particular
12:17audience is going to react and engage with a certain piece of content. If people scroll,
12:22then it doesn't matter how great this product shot is because no one's going to see it.
12:26What do you have to say to creators who are complaining about modernization, making money,
12:31doing what they love? That's a tough question to answer,
12:34right? It's like, what do you say to actors who are like, I'm not making, I'm not getting jobs?
12:38It's like, well, you know, make relationships, make sure you're working on your craft and you're
12:44working at the top of your game and you're making a quality product. In this case, it being videos,
12:50do a bunch of outreach. We do so much outreach, not just like, hey, let's do a brand deal together,
12:56but just, hey, let's connect, let's have coffee, let's have lunch. Making those relationships with
13:04people, it can't always be about asking them for something. A lot of the time it has to just be
13:08about connecting with somebody. Any job in the entertainment industry is really about relationships.
13:14Also, some people rely too much on their representation to find them jobs. Agents
13:19and managers don't get you jobs. They get you more money for the jobs that you get yourself.
13:24Where do you see the future of the creator economy and the digital creator?
13:29I think we're going to see just more and more of this blurring between the digital space and
13:35Hollywood, TV shows, movies, digital series. All of these things are going to just start coming
13:42together. I think about Michelle Khare. I think about Zach King. I think about Rhett and Link. I
13:49think about these people who really have created these companies that are sustained and thriving
13:58and creating amazing content. I think we're going to see more and more of that.
14:02Are you worried about AI taking your job?
14:05No. No. I think we've been using AI in so many different fields already,
14:13even with the content we already make, when I'm doing anything green screen or stuff like that.
14:20We're using AI already. I think people's main concern is generative AI. I think as long as
14:24there are guardrails put in place and we're avoiding copyright issues and things like that
14:30and no one's work is being stolen, I think AI is just a tool that we're going to use to make
14:36more stuff for less money. That's great. We want that. We want more tools to empower people so that
14:43we can find those geniuses who don't have the means to create something but can create something
14:49incredible.
14:49Where do you see your brands in the future? Glasses or no glasses?
14:53Good question. I used to think about that all the time. I don't think about it anymore.
14:59I feel like I'll probably still have the glasses in the future. We're going to continue to build
15:03out my digital company, continue to create shows, and hopefully get one on the air.
15:09I will make movies that hopefully people watch and keep growing on the digital side and keep
15:19growing that business and have more involved partnerships with brands, maybe taking equity
15:27in brands and becoming more of an ambassador and then just making stuff that people laugh at.
15:36That's really the main thing I'm concerned with is just being able to continue making stuff that
15:41people get a chuckle out of.
15:43Good vibes out in the world.
15:44Good vibes.
15:45Thank you for being here.
15:46Thank you so much for having me.
15:47I appreciate how you're approaching your work and what you do.
15:50Thank you so much.