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Visionaries
Native Foreign
Leading with vision often means embracing the new, the untested and uncharted. The team at creative storytelling agency Native Foreign, led by Chief Creative Officer Nik Kleverov, leverages deep knowledge of AI to generate compelling, groundbreaking work for clients– and sometimes using tools in ways never seen before. We sat down with Nik to discuss the creative ethos and the company culture that propelled this company to win 12 Davey Awards for their commercials and creative innovation in Emerging Tech.
The Creative at Native Foreign
Nik Kleverov
Chief Creative Officer, Native Foreign
Nik Kleverov is an Emmy-grade storyteller known for his clean and captivating commercial style paired with a distinctive design sensibility. As an immigrant and son of a nonconformist artist that was persecuted by the Soviet government, Kleverov has a layered and unique story to tell. His life story and varied experience informs his diverse approach to creative work, from explorative use of AI within storytelling, to design-led title sequence work, and live action commercials. As a creative director, he’s won numerous advertising and creative industry awards. As an entrepreneur and executive, he has started and operated successful innovative business enterprises.
The Creative Ethos at Native Foreign
From the start of our conversation, Nik emphasized that creative success at Native Foreign goes beyond accolades and awards. “Aside from looking at our reflections while polishing all our shiny Davey Awards, the proof is really in our very high retention rate,” he said. Nik believes that retention rate is due entirely to Native Foreign’s strong, trust-based relationships with their clients. Native Foreign consistently meets partner objectives while pushing creative boundaries, a testament to their accountability and the trust they cultivated with legacy brands. “Building that trust has taken Native Foreign to the heights we’ve achieved today,” Nik asserted.
As Native Foreign grew, their service offerings expanded to meet client demands in innovative ways. “Our goal is to expand beyond traditional content creation as we continue to explore and refine what we have done with AI and how we can better support existing and new brand partnerships,” said Nik. He is committed to staying ahead of the curve and continuously enhancing Native Foreign’s creative capabilities.
The team begins every project with the client’s needs at the forefront. As Nik explained, “We always start with the client’s need and use that as a launch pad to deep dive into research. Lately, we have really been focused on consumer insights, feedback, and online reviews – anything we can find online about a brand’s product or service.” This comprehensive research informs their creative strategy. From brainstorming sessions, the team narrows down to “3-4 best ideas,” which are then polished by copywriters, brand ambassadors, designers, and producers before being packaged for the pitch.
But, Nik admitted that maintaining uniform creative standards can be challenging due to the diverse nature of their clients and requests, especially within their AI Labs division. “We don’t subscribe to the ‘one creative standard fits all’ for any of our clients,” he said. Instead, they ensure that every client receives a personal touch by involving the same team members who work on the pitch with the project itself. “Everyone on our pitch calls works on these accounts. If there is one standard, it’s excellence, and every client partner gets that from us,” Nik emphasized.
The Creative Future at Native Foreign
Native Foreign was already a leader in AI implementation, integrating their technology pipeline into their storytelling techniques. Nik, himself a pioneer in the use of AI tools like DALL-E and Sora, is steering the agency towards even greater AI collaborations and partnerships. “Over the next half decade, we will continue to expand our offering,” he predicted. “Our strong storytelling foundation combined with new technology gives our clients a groundbreaking creative edge that drives real business results.”
Already, Native Foreign and their clients have seen groundbreaking success with their AI projects. “We just helped Toys ”R” Us studios launch the first branded spot utilizing Sora, OpenAI’s latest text-to-video technology,” Nik shared. And the team at Native Foreign is keen to support other brands with similar tools.“We think AI is the future and we can’t wait to show our brand partners what else it can do!” he added.
Even as AI tools became more widespread, Nik believes that true storytellers will remain paramount. No matter how advanced the technology, the foundation of compelling and strong storytelling would always be the key to creative success. “Nothing matters if there isn’t a strong compelling story,” he said.
In the realm of cutting-edge commercial video, Nik Kleverov is leading Native Foreign with vision, exploring uncharted territory while personally championing the needs of their clients. As they continue to push the boundaries of what new technology is capable of, the future holds unlimited potential for Native Foreign and their clients.
Are you a visionary creator like Nik and his team at Native Foreign? Enter your projects before the Final Entry Deadline on Friday, July 26, 2024.
Featured Davey Award-Winning Projects
Camping World’s “Drumline” Commercial by Native Foreign
2023 Gold – Commercials: Automotive
Brooks Green Silence 15 by Native Foreign
2023 Gold – Online Film & Video: Sustainability
Critterz by Native Foreign (Critterz.tv)
2023 Gold – Emerging Tech: Creative Innovation – AI Creative Integration
Rage on the Red Sea x Swizz Beatz by Native Foreign
2023 Gold – Commercials: Events & Venues