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Blockchain endures, the AI generation thrives, and the metaverse is the still future: Sumbul Khan
Virtue Worldwide, the agency run by Vice Media Group, builds brands with internal culture. A full-service strategic and creative agency with industry-leading expertise, Virtue helps brands find an authentic voice at the epicenter of culture.
With a presence in 17 cities across 13 countries, Virtue is a “borderless” agency, bringing together tailored teams of people with diverse skills, backgrounds and perspectives. Virtue works with brands such as Coca-Cola, HBO, Logitech, P&G, General Mills, JW, Black Dog, Fastrack perfumes, Black &White, Puma, H&M, Volkswagen, McDonald’s, eToro, Red Bull and Beats.
Medianews4u.com met Sumbul Khan – Business Lead, Indian market Virtue Worldwide.
Q. The agency says it’s about playing within the culture. What does this entail?
We live in an era where the consumer is 100% in control. They may skip, scroll, or choose to ignore you. Culture, on the other hand, is something consumers actively seek out. In fact, often, they will gladly pay for it. This includes that amazing show you can’t wait to binge, that album by that artist that’s coming out in 48 hours, fashion drops, art, movies, experiences. This is our playground and this is the kind of work we want to do. Stuff that arises from the cultural zeitgeist, stuff that will enrich people’s lives, and stuff that will outlast us. Our background as an agency born within VICE allows us to do this very easily and much more credibly than anyone else.
Q. What are the objectives for 2024?
Enrich our partner’s cultural credit through fun work. Working with more courageous and like-minded people. Hire more talent who are decidedly un-advertising in their thinking.
D. The goal is to ensure that consumers find the brands you work with relevant in their daily lives. What are the things you do to achieve this goal?
We look for synergies between what our customers want to achieve and what the culture says. A brand is only relevant if it adds something to the consumer’s life. Today, consumers see culture as something that entertains, informs and enriches. Our goal is to find more ways a brand can matter in the ever-evolving cultural fabric of our time.
Q. What role does AI play for Virtue Worldwide in delivering work more effectively and quickly?
Every day we use AI very often on the art and design side to make simulations and compositions that would otherwise take days. That said, we believe that, in the current state of Gen AI, significant human intervention is required to produce anything approaching quality. That intersection between human emotions and AI precision is what we try hard to achieve.
Q. Your campaign for Black and White Ginger Ale focused on diversity and inclusion. Is it important that the brand also lives these values to make the campaign more meaningful?
This is brand building 101! Advertising can talk, but unless a brand walks the talk, so to speak, nothing will make sense. Furthermore, in a world that is hypersocial and dominated by cancel culture, not living your brand values is nothing short of hara-kiri. Luckily, none of our partners are the type to commit their values to simple words on a slide.
Q. For Bacardi you focused on young people. According to recent research, what does GenZ expect from marketing and campaigns?
If we had to summarize it in two words they would be Authenticity and Responsibility. We love this trend because it allows us to move advertising out of its airbrushed unreality and start having real conversations. Gen Z is also very attentive to sustainability. As they should be! You may have the coolest product, but if it is harmful to the planet or toxic in its message, prepare for a reckoning!
Q. Is short-form video becoming increasingly important for brands or is there market saturation for this format?
We don’t think there is market saturation for this format simply because marketers still demand it. In fact, every year the duration of videos is reduced and media plans are narrowed. The reason? Consumers and their attention span. But at the same time these same consumers don’t mind watching 8 hours of a show like Heeramandi! So the answer is quality. How enriching or entertaining is the content you are creating? If it’s interesting, consumers will be interested, whether it’s 8 hours or 8 seconds.
Q. A couple of years ago Virtue Worldwide ran in the Metaverse. But was the Metaverse just a hype and a bubble like cryptocurrencies, NFTs?
The world may have moved on from cryptocurrencies and NFTs (for now), but blockchain as a technology is here to stay and is still incredibly powerful. It would therefore be short-sighted to cancel it. With technology it is important to understand the ecosystem as a whole. The generation of AI is on the rise, and the metaverse offers myriad applications and use cases. We don’t think the metaverse is a bubble, it’s the real estate of the future that we haven’t quite figured out how to exploit yet.