Ogilvy and CAA Develop Echo Platform for Consent-Based Celebrity Ads

Ogilvy and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) are developing Echo, an AI platform for celebrity advertising designed to let brands create content using talent likenesses with permission.

The companies describe Echo as a tool for making celebrity-focused ads and other content. Its design is intended to prioritize talent rights, intellectual property protection and brand integrity, with consent mechanisms. The celebrity endorsement market is estimated at about $25 billion.

Actor Terry Crews is the platform’s first participant and has contributed his likeness. The project comes amid concerns about digital replicas that became a major labor issue during Hollywood’s 2023 actors’ strike. Performers raised concerns that studios could scan their faces and reuse the resulting likenesses indefinitely.

Ogilvy and CAA plan to present Echo during an OgilvyOn Live webinar Thursday, Nov. 12, at 11 a.m. ET (16:00 UTC). Presenters include Carol Reed, Ogilvy’s global chief innovation officer, along with David Raichman of Ogilvy and Liz Randall and Alexandra Shannon of CAA.