Tag: Virtue

Singapore – Virtue APAC, the advertising agency powered by VICE, has appointed Martin Soendergaard as its executive creative director following continued organic and new client growth. 

In his new role, Soendergaard will oversee and guide the agency’s entire creative output across its offices in Singapore and India, in addition to growing and developing a team of creatives working across global and regional clients such as Coca-Cola, Diageo, and Shiseido.

Soendergaard joins Virtue APAC from We Are Social Singapore, where he was ECD for more than two years, delivering global and regional work for brands including Samsung, Activision, Amazon Prime Video, and Bandai Namco.

Originally from Denmark, Soendergaard has worked internationally for the past 16 years at agencies such as CPB, 360i, and BBDO, leading diverse teams responsible for developing global multi-platform campaigns. His extensive portfolio includes iconic brands in culture like Absolut, Volkswagen, Ford, Burger King, Bose, and Porsche. 

Speaking on his own appointment, Soendergaard said, “Virtue APAC is doing really innovative and creatively driven work such as the recent Coca-Cola Creations’ Y3000′ and ‘Soul Blast’ launches and its ‘Walk Beyond’ brand platform for Johnnie Walker that spotlights the progressive creative culture born from the streets of Southeast Asia.” 

“Everything they do is rooted in deep cultural insights, and I’m looking forward to helping our clients think differently while championing and building the brilliant creative talent within the agency. I couldn’t be more excited to join the Virtue family,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Lesley John, managing director at Virtue APAC, commented, “Martin joins Virtue as we partner with more ambitious clients wanting to build their brands inside culture. His extensive experience at leading global agencies, combined with his strong social capabilities and passion for effectively using tech, make him ideally suited to drive our creative offering.” 

“He is a proven leader with a reputation for collaborating and motivating his teams to maximise creative opportunities. His international and regional knowledge will be a major asset, and I’m delighted to welcome him to our growing Virtue APAC team,” she concluded. 

Singapore – VICE Media’s creative agency Virtue has appointed Chloe Fair as its client services director ahead of the agency’s next phase of growth in the region.

Fair combines creative ideas with measurable business outcomes. She will drive commercial and operational excellence at Virtue, growing the account management team and its capabilities, in addition to developing client partnerships and new business opportunities.

She was most recently the vice president of regional branding at Lazada. Prior to this, she also spent three years as the head of brand marketing at Income, where she expanded her portfolio into segment marketing, piloting new customer journey design, content strategy and personalisation efforts.

Fair also has prior agency experience with BBH and Wunderman Singapore across a range of global brands including Ikea, Xbox and Microsoft. 

She will be reporting to Lesley John, Virtue APAC’s managing director.

Speaking on her appointment, Fair said, “This signals a move back to the agency world for me as I’ve missed the energy and ideas that stem from a creative environment. I’m so honoured to call Virtue my new home, where its culture-led thinking and approach unlock powerful ways we can partner brands to play a visible and valued role inside culture. I am excited to be part of this talented crew to further our growth and prominence in APAC.”

Meanwhile, John commented, “Chloe is a proven leader with hybrid agency and marketing experience that has seen her deliver award-winning, engaging, culturally relevant and effective campaigns across a number of categories. She will ensure our existing and new clients continue to get the best strategic insights and creative thinking and I’m delighted to welcome her to Virtue’s growing regional team at a time when more companies are looking to us to build their brands from the inside of culture.”

Singapore – Virtue, the agency powered by VICE Media Group, has appointed Ann May Chua, former head of integrated production at WPP’s marketing production arm Hogarth Worldwide, to be the new head of production across the APAC region, driving creative excellence.

In her new role, Chua will be growing and accelerating Virtue APAC’s production capabilities, while tapping into the unique production expertise of Vice Media Group. A key member of the APAC leadership team, she will be working with the creative and account management teams to elevate creative output and production value.

Chua is a seasoned producer with experience in advertising, content, activation, audio, and post-production. Aside from her previous stint at Hogarth Worldwide, she has also worked at agencies including BBDO Singapore, Saatchi & Saatchi, and MassiveMusic Singapore.

Commenting on her appointment, Chua said, “Virtue builds brands from inside culture and has a reputation for producing more valued and visible cultural output for these brands. I’m looking forward to partnering with the team and building the creative production credentials for our clients.”

Meanwhile, Lesley John, Virtue APAC’s managing director, noted that they place a strong emphasis on production which brings to life the vision of their creatives while effectively connecting brands with audiences. 

“Ann May is highly experienced and will drive our production capabilities to new levels. I’m delighted to welcome her to Virtue APAC as we continue to deliver for our growing portfolio of global and regional clients,” said John.

In July 2022, Virtue has also promoted Fiona Knight, former business director at Virtue Japan, to the newly created role of head of account management for APAC. She will be driving commercial and operational excellence, including building the account management team, developing client partnerships and collaboration, and senior oversight on key accounts including Coca-Cola and Shiseido.

Singapore – VICE’s agency Virtue in APAC has launched a new paid internship program called ‘Underground’ to discover the next generation of marketing creatives. Said program will run three times a year, and will launch its pilot in Singapore.

Three interns will be selected for each intake to work alongside Virtue’s teams in account management, strategy and creative, during three to four-month long placements at its regional hub in Singapore. Participants will gain exposure to all aspects of Virtue’s operations inline with its ‘borderless’ approach to work and belief that collaboration across the agency delivers strong outcomes for clients.

This program has been initiated, designed and developed by some of Virtue’s talents, including business director Victoria Fernandez, strategy director Zoe Chen and associate creative director Nuno Dores.

Applications are now open to all Singapore-based candidates – with no background in marketing required – for the next Virtue Underground which starts in August.

Successful candidates will shadow their respective teams, work on Virtue’s portfolio of leading regional and global clients, participate in new business pitches, have weekly check-ins and mentoring, targeted training sessions and will develop an ‘Underground Report’ on emerging cultural forces in Asia.

Fernandez said, “Virtue builds brands from inside culture and that’s why it is important for us to understand not just what’s happening now, but what’s coming next. Leveraging the power of VICE, including global and regional editorial insights and the latest platform analytics, Virtue Underground complements this by bringing culture shapers into the agency to learn what inspires them, while offering the opportunity to gain experience from some of the best in the industry and work on some of the world’s biggest brands.”

Singapore – Virtue, the agency from VICE Media Group, has appointed Chris Gurney as its group creative director for its Singapore hub. He joins Virtue’s Singapore regional hub to build and define the agency’s creative vision, lead regional pitches and grow its creative teams to make work that stands out and gets recognised in culture. 

Gurney joins from ADK Connect Singapore where as then chief creative officer he was responsible for implementing and leading key creative business initiatives and acquiring new client partnerships across the Asia and South Asia regions. 

He has spent the past 16 years working at leading agencies across the region developing creative platforms around social change, shopper activation and engagement and innovating brand experiences for consumers through new media, sneaker apparel and installation art.

“The opportunity to work for an agency that places culture at the heart of how it operates was too good to pass up. Virtue offers a new approach on how brands should not just talk at people, but actively engage with them, and I’m looking forward to working with the team and our clients to build brands from the inside of culture,” Gurney said.

Meanwhile, Ciaran Bonass, executive creative director APAC and MEA at Virtue, commented, “Chris is a highly experienced, senior creative leader, who has built innovative brand experiences and creative platforms for major international companies across categories. He joins our team in Singapore at a time when brands are looking to harness culture to reach consumers across the region and is a great addition to our growing creative team in APAC.”

Gurney’s appointment follows Nuno Dores joining as associate creative director and Zoe Chen as strategy director in the past two months.

Singapore – Virtue, the creative agency by media company VICE, has appointed Zoe Chen, former senior strategist at advertising agency BBH Singapore, to be its new strategy director, aimed at bolstering its APAC strategy team.

In her new role, Chen will be drawing on the rich cultural insights of the Vice Media Group to work with its clients across the region, pushing the limits of creativity and driving agency growth. She will be based at Virtue’s Singapore regional hub, and will be the strategic lead for Japanese skincare brand Clé de Peau Beauté, for which Virtue is the global social media agency of record, as well as working on innovation projects for Diageo and Coca-Cola. Moreover, Chen will help lead Virtue’s soon to be launched internship programme.

During her previous stint at BBH in Singapore and London, she has worked with brands including Chupa Chups, Audi, Nike, Uber, and Jollibee, as well as United Overseas Bank, and Sentosa.

Commenting on her appointment, Chen said, “Joining Virtue and the VMG network feels like I’m coming full circle and getting first dibs on the most intriguing parts of culture. I’m excited to be at the intersection of strategy and culture to create work that contributes back to culture.” 

Meanwhile, Huiwen Tow, Virtue’s head of strategy for APAC, shared that Chen is a creative strategist at heart who has an innate interest in art, design and culture, and an insatiable curiosity about the world around her. 

“As we continue to grow in the region by building forward-thinking brands from the inside of a culture, her strategy experience and collaborative approach make her an ideal addition to our team,” said Tow.

In March, Virtue APAC has made a number of key appointments, namely Nuno Dores, the new associate creative director for Singapore, Hayden Scott, the new senior creative director, and Kartick Krishnamurthy, the new business director for India.

Singapore – Virtue, the creative agency powered by VICE, has announced the appointment of Nuno Dores as the new associate creative director to further strengthen the creative team of its Singapore Hub. His appointment comes after award-winning creative Hayden Scott joins Virtue as senior creative director at its India agency based in Mumbai. 

Dores brings with him extensive experience at leading creative agencies in China, having worked at Ogilvy Shanghai and BBH Shanghai on brands including Korean Air, Shiseido, ABInBev, and Google. 

With Dores’ new role, he will be responsible for building work that stands out and changes perspectives and makes people think and act differently, which is aligned to Virtue’s mission to build brands from the inside of culture. He will also be playing a senior role in Virtue’s soon to be launched internship program. 

Ciaran Bonass, executive creative director of Virtue, shared, “It’s clear that Nuno is an avid ad person. His knowledge and love of our industry is prevalent. But what he brings in abundance is a unique perspective on very present cultural issues and creative tension points that are formed from creative excellence and big upstream ideas.”

Dores commented, “I was raised on VICE videos. So in my mind, there was always this fascination with what happens in culture and how it is brought to life in such an engaging manner. To now have the opportunity to work in an agency powered by VICE – and see what happens in culture before everyone else – it’s truly phenomenal.”

In December, former BBH executive Victoria Fernandez joined Virtue’s regional headquarters in Singapore as business director, with additional hires to be announced soon.

Thailand – In line with Johnnie Walker’s recent ‘Keep Walking‘ campaign in 2021 that aims to inspire and help people to breathe life back into social spaces, the global whiskey brand has launched a new program called ‘The Walkers’, which aims to celebrate actions that drive positive impact for people in Thailand. 

The new program, which is developed in partnership with VICE’s creative agency Virtue, will be brought to life in the country through a series of locally relevant initiatives which bring communities together to support local venues and bars. Singer and actress Violette Wautier will be leading the agenda to revitalize local street culture and encourage Thais to taste the richer experience of local communities.

Julie Bramham, Johnnie Walker’s global brand director, shared that they wanted to explore how the latest chapter of the brand’s ‘Keep Walking’ campaign could support its partner communities across the world as people start socializing again.

“The Walkers program is a meaningful way to work with locally loved and valued voices to help reinvigorate social spaces like bars, clubs, and venues to help get the local culture back on its feet and moving again,” said Bramham. 

Meanwhile, Nate Woodhead, Virtue’s group creative director, noted that they wanted to create a campaign that honored those changemakers driving action at a time when the world felt powerless. 

“When we looked at the context of each of our key markets it was clear that reconnecting people through social and cultural experiences was the perfect starting point for The Walkers program,” said Woodhead.

Aside from Thailand, the program will also run on other key Johnnie Walker markets, including South Korea, India, Africa, and Brazil, as well as Mexico, and Colombia, among others.

The campaign follows US$100m of investment over the past 18 months from parent company Diageo to help pubs’ and bars’ post-pandemic recovery by supporting jobs and communities around the world through its ‘Raise the Bar’ program.