We Are Social welcomes HELO into its fold

CANNES Lions Grand Prix winner HELO has been acquired by leading social creative agency We Are Social. HELO’s team will be integrated into We Are Social US’s production division Narrative, adding AI and advanced tech expertise to Narrative’s experiential and creative capabilities.

Commenting on the deal, We Are Social CEO Rebecca Colman said: “Bringing HELO into the fold gives us the edge we need to continue to deliver bold, culturally relevant ideas that push boundaries. With a history of audacious work, HELO is supercharging our ability to lead the evolution of marketing into our next chapter of campaigns.”

Since launching in 2013, HELO has delivered some of the industry’s most talked-about work. In 2023, it won a Grand Prix in the Entertainment for Sport category for Dreamcaster. Created for Michelob Ultra, the AI-powered campaign centred on enabling a blind man to fulfil his lifetime ambition and commentate an NBA game.

More recently, the company launched BiG GEN, a content pipeline that blends AI models with live-action production to create personalised celebrity AI content and experiences at scale. According to HELO, BiG GEN is based on “proprietary tech that safeguards talent interests while ensuring brand and stakeholder safety”.

As part of the deal, HELO co-founders Brendan Kiernan (right) and Justin Moore-Lewy become principals of Narrative, which itself merged with We Are Social in 2023.