Ogilvy launches Echo to scale AI-generated talent advertising with consent controls
Ogilvy has launched Echo, an artificial intelligence platform designed to help advertisers create more campaign assets from a single production shoot while preserving talent approval and usage rights. The WPP agency developed the system in collaboration with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), building on a partnership between WPP and the talent agency.
Echo is intended to address a mismatch between traditional advertising production and the demands of digital-first campaigns. Ogilvy estimates that celebrity- and athlete-led advertising is a $25 billion annual global market, but says conventional shoots do not always produce enough material for brands’ ongoing content needs. At the same time, unauthorized AI-generated depictions and deepfakes have increased concerns about trust and control over a person’s likeness.
“Clients want more content, and [talent agencies] have high quality assets. How do we bridge those things together?” said Carol Reed, Ogilvy’s global chief innovation officer. She said the effort is focused on making the use of human likeness with AI scalable and repeatable, rather than creating software simply to sell.
From approved likeness data to campaign assets
The workflow begins with voice and video capture through CAA Vault, CAA’s system for capturing, storing and licensing digital likenesses of its clients. Ogilvy uses the resulting models to develop storyboard elements and creative assets, which can then be turned into advertisements. Client and talent approval are part of the process.
Echo is powered by WPP Open, WPP’s AI-powered operating system, and became commercially available across the WPP network in November 2026. Ogilvy says a single asset shoot using the platform can produce 30 to 50 media-ready assets, compared with the eight to 10 it says are typical of traditional productions. The agency estimates that the approach can reduce average cost per asset by 65% to 75%.
Those efficiencies are one potential benefit, but Reed said the platform should also help creative teams explore ideas that would be difficult to produce through conventional shoots. She described the goal as expanding the range of concepts, not simply generating more variations or cutting production corners. The amount of additional creative work Echo enables will depend on how clients, talent and agencies identify appropriate use cases.
Approval and disclosure built into the process
Ogilvy says Echo checks generated assets against machine-readable talent usage terms and brand safety guidelines. Assets cannot be released until final approval is provided through an approval portal. The AI models are trained only on data from CAA Vault, according to the agency, and consumer-facing assets that receive clearance carry a visible disclosure: “[Talent Name] Approved | Recreated with AI.”
Ogilvy also tested consumer responses to the approach. The agency surveyed more than 1,200 people in the United States, United Kingdom and India, using intuitive association research alongside traditional survey methods. More than 80% of respondents globally recognized talent-approved messaging as a signal that AI use had been approved by the talent. More than 76% said that approval strengthened an advertisement’s appeal. Ogilvy said even respondents who were generally skeptical of AI reported greater trust, credibility and reassurance when talent sign-off was explicit.
“Trust in advertising has always come from two things: someone you believe and an idea worth believing. AI has challenged both,” David Raichman, executive creative director and global AI creative lead for The Ogilvy Group, said in a statement. He said Echo is intended to pair talent consent on each asset with a creative idea that merits the audience’s attention.
Ogilvy has not disclosed which advertisers or talent have used or intend to use Echo. Reed confirmed that pilots are in process. She also noted that the model brings talent, advertisers and agencies into closer collaboration, potentially changing how those parties discuss production and approvals. Finding the right applications will take time, she said, and the agency does not want to use AI or technology without a clear purpose.
