Howatson unveils Plus Also Studios to enhance AI branding

Howatson+Company has announced the launch of a new sister agency, Plus Also Studios.

Plus Also Studios is a creative technology company that utilises artificial intelligence to enhance brand asset creation, personalisation, and orchestration, alongside providing thorough performance attribution. The company operates independently of Howatson+Company and is co-founded by Hoang Nguyen. It is led by Managing Director Jessica Coulson and Creative Director Effie Athanassiou.

Hoang Nguyen, Co-Founder of Plus Also Studios, said, "2024 was the tipping point of AI being a viable alternative for branded asset creation and high quality creative rollout. Where other market offerings have aligned to an AI partner, we remain agnostic, creating value in how we train, secure, fine-tune, and combine multiple AI models to create the perfect, highly crafted output to the brief. It's not unusual for over 50 AI models to be 'canvassed' to create a campaign visual indistinguishable from the traditional production process. In this way, the Plus Also difference is in the people, compliance and process. We leave the AI development to well funded global tech innovators."

Renee Hyde, Group Managing Director at Howatson+Company, remarked, "Plus Also Studios offers a blend of traditional and AI production methods, but most importantly is investing in people and process with a view that 85-90% of brand asset creation will be informed by AI in the next 3 years. PAS will ensure all our clients benefit from the most cutting-edge applications of IP compliant AI in marketing communications."

Endeavour Group has been named as the foundation client of Plus Also Studios, including their Australian retail and hospitality consumer brands.

Jo Rose, Chief Marketing Officer at Endeavour Group, stated, "At Endeavour Group, our vision is to be the leading platform enabling social occasions. A key part of this strategy is to deepen how our customers experience the benefits of Endeavour Group as a whole, more fully than the sum of their engagement with each brand alone. This experience is core to Endeavour's transformation from being a family of retail, hospitality and product brands to an intuitive ecosystem of beloved brands that come together to make good times happen for customers."

Katie Dally, General Manager of Brand, Creative and Operations at Endeavour Group, added, "It was the combination of creativity and innovative technology that spurred us to establish this market leading capability that transforms the traditional production mindset to deliver both efficiency and effectiveness. Endeavour is delighted to be Plus Also Studios foundation client."

Chris Howatson, Founder and CEO of Howatson+Company, commented, "With Jo and Katie we have built a world class team, inverting the traditional focus on rollout that exists in production models and reinvesting in upstream strategic, creative and technology roles. This enables content to be more strategically aligned to audience and business needs, and therefore play a more fundamental role in commercial performance. This is not a me-too AI capability. Instead, Plus Also Studios reflects 3 years of significant investment, application and testing to create a market leading proposition."

Plus Also Studios will also license their technology to internal production teams at Qantas, Foxtel, and Petbarn for various use cases including static, motion, and email.