Sydney, Australia – Virtue, the creative agency by media company VICE, has appointed Victoria Fernandez, former account director of advertising firm BBH Singapore, to be its new business director for APAC.
In her previous role at BBH APAC, Fernandez has led brands to create award-winning work for big companies like Nike, Google, Netflix, and Disney, as well as Unilever, and Uber, among others. Aside from this, she has also worked as account executive at Ogilvy & Mather.
As the new business director of Virtue, Fernandez will be leading key APAC clients and driving new business. She will also be bringing her mentoring experience, where she led BBH’s internship program during her stint, to help develop Virtue’s young talent and ahead of the launch of a new young creators initiative next year.
Commenting on her new role, Fernandez said, “To join an agency which is able to operate from within VICE to see the cultural forces shaping society even before they become trends, is very exciting, to say the least,” said Fernandez.
Just recently, Virtue has also announced the appointment of Lesley John, former head of client services of creative technology company MediaMonks, to be its new managing director for APAC, where she will be establishing the company’s focus on the region as a key growth market.
John commented on Fernandez’s appointment, “Victoria has significant experience working with global brands that recognize the importance of playing a visible and valued role inside the culture. I’m delighted she is bringing her expertise to Virtue as we continue to grow the agency across the region.”
This November, Virtue has entered MARKETECH APAC’s Top 5 Stories for John’s appointment.
During the interview, John shared her advice to brands when creating content for APAC audiences.
“Don’t be afraid to tap into emerging themes or subcultures if they’re relevant to the theme [or] story you want to deliver. Be authentic, reward your audience intellectually. I guess there’s always a temptation about going to the lowest common denominator, [and] that results to be very bland, inauthentic, doesn’t feel like it’s coming from a real point of view,” John said.
