Virtue Worldwide Hires Rob Newlan as CEO EMEA

Virtue Worldwide extends its offering to cover content strategy, development, production, activation & distribution on all platforms globally, giving solutions and systems for brands to tell their stories more effectively to audiences around the world

Leading youth media brand VICE Media has unveiled a potent expansion of its creative agency offering, Virtue Worldwide. Under the leadership of newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, EMEA, Rob Newlan, Virtue Worldwide is to galvanise its offering across its existing 18 European offices and expand its services into the Middle East and India.

Virtue Worldwide is a global creative agency that leverages the capabilities, expertise, and international infrastructure of VICE Media to create culturally rich, multi-platform content campaigns for the biggest and best brands on the planet. Virtue Worldwide was created in response to audience demand for brands to add value to their lives by publishing, rather than interrupting, the content audiences want to watch, and client demand for seamless content, culture, social and mobile communications globally. Across it’s European operations, Virtue Worldwide already partners with many of the world’s leading brands, including: Unilever, Nike, Google, CHANEL, City Football Group, UBS, Timberland and many more.  

Under Newlan’s leadership, Virtue Worldwide will expand its offering across the group with the addition of: Pulse Films, VICE’s award-winning production house; Starworks Group (SWG), a leader in brand strategy, communications and content creation for the fashion and beauty industries; and Carrot Creative, specialists in strategy and digital production, whilst leveraging VICE Media’s international network of multi-platform channels and vast worldwide collective of content creators.

Reporting into Matt Elek (CEO, VICE Media, EMEA), Newlan will focus on uniting and strengthening Virtue Worldwide’s offering, forming a world-class agency network as the group launches into the Middle East and India this summer.

Matt Elek, CEO, VICE Media, EMEA, commented: “Rob is one of the sharpest minds and innately creative people in the industry, who's understanding of brands' changing demands and evolving audience behaviour makes him uniquely suited to lead Virtue's next phase of growth.”

“I could not be more thrilled to be joining Virtue Worldwide as it embarks on this stage of expansion,” adds Rob Newlan, Virtue Worldwide CEO, EMEA. “By growing from Virtue’s exceptional core capability in the craft of content creation, and adding on the solutions and systems required by the CMOs of tomorrow, our aim is to create the defining agency for the mobile age.”  

Prior to joining Virtue, Newlan spent the last seven years in global leadership roles at Facebook, serving as EMEA Regional Director, Creative Shop and working across Facebook, Instagram, Oculus and Mesenger, delivering award-winning campaigns for the some of their biggest brand clients. Before Facebook, he worked at Unilever, Diageo and Coca-Cola and running major brand campaigns for the likes of Guinness, Powerade and Relentless

The expansion of Virtue Worldwide comes in the midst of a major global expansion at VICE Media.  Last year, VICE unveiled an expansive slate of international deals that will make its multi-screen programming available to audiences in over 80 territories by Q1 2018. The joint ventures between VICE and The Times of India Group and with The MOBY Group (Middle East), pave the way for the launch of Virtue Worldwide in India and the Middle East, which will see Virtue bring its award-winning branded content production capabilities to both these burgeoning youth markets.

Alongside Newlan’s appointment, the regional expansion sees Priya Matadeen promoted to UK General Manager, Virtue Worldwide and Nick Chapin elevated to Commercial Director, VICE UK. Both Matadeen and Chapin report into Matt O’Mara, VICE UK, CEO.