Ogilvy, CAA plan AI celebrity replicas for brand pilots

WPP-owned Ogilvy and CAA project a 65–75% cut in cost per asset, while a few pilots featuring AI-generated celebrity appearances are under negotiation and could go live toward the end of the year. Several campaigns are planned, initially using social assets, but the savings and timing remain projections: Ogilvy’s Carol Reed named no clients and disclosed no campaign results.

The one-year partnership gives Ogilvy access to opted-in CAA actors, athletes and high-profile creators, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews. Reed, Ogilvy’s global chief innovation officer, characterized the model as an NIL moment, referencing the name, image and likeness business around U.S. college sports influencers. She said verified digital replicas give brands faster execution and talent more control.

Inside Echo

Echo links Ogilvy to The Vault, an in-house scanning studio CAA built with Veritone four years ago. It uses 204 cameras to capture voice, body language, facial expressions and the way a performer walks. CAA clients refresh the scan material every three to five years, and films already use it for de-aging and post-production fixes.

Through WPP Open, Ogilvy can pull that material into workflows for internal storyboards, mock-ups and final creative assets. WPP Open also supports the holding company’s creative production, agentic media buying and self-service tools, so the partnership spans preproduction through finished output rather than only performance-media placements.

What changes for brands and talent?

Ogilvy expects Echo to produce more assets than conventional shoots and deliver them faster. Gartner analyst Nicole Greene said the combination of digital capture and generative AI could “fundamentally change celebrity endorsement economics.” Ogilvy executive creative director and global AI creative lead David Raichman argued that Echo could deliver more content faster while increasing trust.

Alex Shannon, CAA’s head of strategic development, said the model lets stars take work when day jobs block them, such as during training or seasons. It lets brands move at the speed of culture and catch peak moments, including a season climax or film and TV launches.

Reed expects the system to suit athletes, who have long unavailable stretches but can keep engaging fans throughout a season. For talent, that means more sponsor opportunities without requiring them to abandon their primary work.

Reed also hopes brands will use several lower-profile athletes rather than pay for one movie star, expanding the endorser pool without location shoots. That pitch matters as chief marketing officers put more weight on managing large creator and influencer rosters cost-effectively. TikTok personalities or podcasters could contribute without appearing on location.

The approach already has precedents. Coca-Cola and Snickers ran campaigns earlier this year featuring CAA client José Mourinho’s digital clone, while a five-year-old Ogilvy project used scans of Shah Rukh Khan to promote small Indian businesses during Diwali. Reed called the Diwali effort a prototype, and she said the CAA partnership could later extend to other talent companies.

Approval and regulation

CAA clients own their digital likenesses and choose which businesses and markets may use them for ads or endorsements. A partnership framework governs those permissions, while negotiations among talent, representatives and Ogilvy clients continue as usual. Reed said: “Talent always gets to see everything and approve everything at the end.”

Finished videos and images will carry a watermark identifying both AI generation and the star’s approval. Reed said the label should reassure consumers that the material is not a deep fake and help Ogilvy anticipate regulation. The European Union has required generative-AI providers to watermark content produced with their tools since August.

CAA separately signed a 2024 agreement with YouTube to remove celebrity deep fakes, showing why rights holders are pressing platforms as well as brands. The watermark does not settle the trust problem. Gartner’s Greene said celebrity talent’s value rests on authentic relationships and credibility, and she warned that labels may not help consumers understand what they see.

The trust test

YouGov found that 49% of Britons viewed AI-generated actors in ads negatively, while 92% said AI-generated content made online information harder to trust. The announcement offered no campaign-level trust data to bridge that gap.

Reed said Echo extends Ogilvy’s creative palette rather than flooding the market with celebrity slop. She insists human craft and a human decision remain behind each ad, and the agency will still recommend a traditional shoot when a brief demands it. She expects authenticity to matter more, not less.

AI tools are increasingly common in agency and in-house creative production, but brands usually use them for display, paid social or mobile-app performance ads rather than campaigns centered on famous faces. Ogilvy sees Echo as a way to apply those efficiencies across the full advertising spectrum. Greene’s counterpoint is simple: agencies need a first-mover advantage, but a technical lead does not guarantee public acceptance.

The first real test will come when the unnamed pilots go live toward year-end: whether lower costs, faster output and star approval can coexist with audience skepticism. Until then, the 65–75% savings estimate remains a promise, not evidence.