As Vice Media descended into bankruptcy last year, four of its top marketers decided to strike out on their own to continue the tech-driven work they were doing for brands like Coca-Cola.
The result is Sounds Fun, which they call an AI and innovation studio and announced this month. It’s led by Iain S. Thomas, the former global head of innovation for Vice agency Virtue Worldwide and a poet who cowrote a book on AI, “What Makes Us Human?” Thomas, who is chief vision officer, is joined by CEO Isabel Muñoz Cadilla, who was Virtue’s client services director; COO Alex Gangi, who was Virtue’s executive producer; and chief creative officer Martin Magner, formerly Virtue’s group creative director.
Thomas & co. are the latest example of Vice staff fleeing the once high-flying digital-media company after it declared bankruptcy last year. The company was later sold to a group of its lenders. In the case of some of Vice’s top technology journalists, they went on to start a tech-news outlet, 404 Media.
Companies have raced to exploit generative AI, which has led in some cases to regrettable headlines about AI being used to create fake models of color and imitate dead artists. Gen AI has also stoked fear for its potential to replace human workers. Some agencies and other practitioners have moved to develop ethical frameworks for using the technology.
Thomas and his colleagues’ contention is that AI carries great potential for brands, but that few are using it in good or meaningful ways. They also want to play a consultative role, recognizing a lot of brands don’t know what to do with the tech.
“We need brands to look beyond, ‘We can automate this, we can replace some people,'” Thomas said. “AI and progressive technology is an opportunity for incredible new forms of storytelling.”
He also said Sounds Fun would treat artists with respect, using their creative work with their consent and ensuring they’re credited and compensated.
“We’re going to be very clear who we’re working with and be very fair,” he said. “There’s an opportunity for brands to say we’re going to harness this technology without negating others’ work.”
One of their highest-profile projects at Virtue, and the kind of work Sounds Fun hopes to build on, was Coke’s Y3000 project. For the limited-edition futuristic flavor, they used AI to help determine the taste and packaging.
For Microsoft’s developer conference, Ignite, Sounds Fun worked with artists on a variety of AI experiences, including an AI vending machine that made individualized pieces of art and haikus based on people’s utterances.
Check out slides from the deck Sounds Fun is using to pitch marketers its work with AI and other technologies.
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