ADGEEK
Building brands through entertainment
Gautham Narayanan discusses how brands compete with entertainment for attention, drawing on Guinness and VICE to examine cultural credibility, client trust and the strengths of network agencies.
The conversation
Gautham Narayanan runs Virtue, VICE Brand Group's creative agency, across Europe. Before that, 13 years at AMV BBDO London on brands like Guinness and BT, doubling profits at BBDO South Africa, and a run as Managing Director at Wieden+Kennedy Delhi.
In this episode, Gautham talks about what network agencies still do better than anyone else, why he pushes back on the term "anti agency", and the WhatsApp message from a client that unlocked Guinness's Made of Black campaign. He also unpacks how VICE convinces brand-safety-nervous Fortune 500 clients to work with it, why brands are now competing with MrBeast and Netflix for attention, and the one thing he'd bet on for advertising's next five years that has nothing to do with AI.
As Gautham puts it, culture isn't something you tap into. It's something you earn your way into.
The Indian AdGeek, Episode 32
Key Takeaways
- Gautham challenges the “anti agency” label while discussing what network agencies still do well.
- A client’s WhatsApp message forms part of the story behind Guinness’s Made of Black campaign.
- VICE’s work with Fortune 500 clients brings brand-safety concerns into the conversation about entertainment-led branding.
- Gautham frames brands’ attention competition around entertainment players such as MrBeast and Netflix, and culture as something brands must earn.