The Future of Agencies? Ask SuperHeroes’ Rogier Vijverberg

SuperHeroes always lives up to its name. The independent agency has built its reputation on making advertising exciting again, or to use their motto: “We Save the World from Boring Advertising.”

Whether through a cheeky Netflix x NFL execution that resembles a blimp caught between two buildings or Buick cars reimagined as digital art installations, SuperHeroes has found ways to break through clutter and connect with a new generation of audiences. It’s no wonder the Amsterdam-founded shop, with offices in Brooklyn, New York, and Singapore, was recently named Ad Age’s 2025 Small Agency of the Year, Gold.

But Rogier Vijverberg, co-founder of SuperHeroes, isn’t stopping there. At the annual Fast Company Innovation Festival, he joined a lively panel to explore the “curious, quirky, and unexpected” side of artificial intelligence. His takeaway was clear: AI isn’t just a tool for speeding up production or analyzing data—it’s a playground for creativity.

That perspective resonates with SuperHeroes’ larger mission. From assembling a collective of 80 Gen Z tastemakers to experimenting with CGI and AI artistry through its Jimmy studio, the agency thrives on reinvention. Campaigns for Lenovo, Buick, and Netflix have shown how bold creative ideas, rooted in cultural insight, can travel across platforms—from TikTok to showrooms to city skylines—while delivering measurable business results.

Disruptive Creativity That Demands Attention

From cars to cookies to cultural phenomena, SuperHeroes continues to prove that advertising can be anything but boring. Each campaign reimagines how brands show up in people’s lives—whether on screens, streets, or social feeds—always with a twist that steals attention and sparks conversation.

For Buick, a century-old brand with a sleek new lineup, SuperHeroes created Buick Reframed, positioning cars as modern art. In “stumble upon” videos set in gallery-like spaces, vehicles were revealed as striking installations with digital flourishes that made viewers question what they’d just seen. The result? Over 16 million views and 125,000 engagements, Buick’s most-viewed social posts ever.

With OREO, the agency unleashed a playful Out-of-Home campaign in the Benelux, styled to mimic everyday ads—a sneaker drop, a film teaser, a gallery invite—until a character suddenly broke script and reached across to steal a cookie from the billboard next door. Mischievous, surprising, and impossible to ignore, it reminded everyone that no one can resist an OREO, especially when it’s bold enough to hijack another ad.

And for Netflix, SuperHeroes has been pioneering a new form of social storytelling, merging real-life settings with CGI to hype releases like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bridgerton, and Jurassic World: Chaos Theory. (The creature blocking freeway traffic, pictured above, for those not familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender, is Appa, a sky bison or a flying bison.) The SuperHeroes approach has turned short-form videos into cultural talking points, delivering over 115 million earned media views—the equivalent of $4.5 million in exposure—by tapping into fan passion and making the surreal feel vividly real.

Together, these campaigns showcase SuperHeroes’ signature style: thumb-stopping, earned-first, and relentlessly inventive. Whether reframing a heritage brand, reimagining a cookie ad, or recharging a global streamer’s launches, the agency continues to prove that the best advertising doesn’t just sell—it surprises, entertains, and becomes part of culture itself.

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 In our conversation, we discuss the following:

• SuperHeroes has had an extraordinary year—23 new clients, double-digit revenue growth, and now being named Ad Age’s 2025 Small Agency of the Year, Gold. What do you think most contributed to this kind of momentum?

• When you look back at campaigns like the Netflix blimp stunt, the Buick art transformations, or Lenovo’s “Made with Yoga” creator program, which one best captures what makes SuperHeroes different right now?

• There’s a lot of debate in the industry today: are the agencies that thrive the ones who specialize—whether that’s Gen Z, social-first storytelling, or AI-driven creativity—or is it still about being a full-service partner? How do you define the “sweet spot” for an independent agency like SuperHeroes?

• One of the things you’re known for is connecting with young people who are often advertising-averse. What have you learned about what really works with Gen Z?

• How has your in-house network of 80 Gen Z tastemakers shaped the way your team develops campaigns? And do you think their perspective is helping advertising feel more exciting rather than intrusive?

• SuperHeroes also has Jimmy, your collective of CGI and AI artists. How are you seeing AI change the creative process? Do you see it mainly as a production tool, a creative partner, or something that’s beginning to influence strategy as well?

• If you step back and look at the agency business overall, what do you see as the most significant changes happening right now? Is it about how clients select partners, how campaigns get scaled, or how agencies themselves are structured?

• SuperHeroes has always said its mission is to “bring excitement back into advertising.” How do you personally keep things fresh—and how do you keep the agency reinventing itself year after year?

• What’s next for you and for SuperHeroes? Are you looking toward new capabilities, new geographies, or maybe different kinds of partnerships? 

Advertising Shift Underway

Rogier Vijverberg also sees a bigger industry shift underway. In a world where young audiences are often advertising-averse, creativity has to work harder to be relevant, not just visible. AI, he argues, can help agencies do that—not by replacing human ingenuity, but by amplifying it, unlocking humor, playfulness, and even surprise in ways that algorithms alone can’t.

His message at the Innovation Festival landed as both a provocation and an invitation: in a business often pressured by metrics and margins, don’t forget that creativity—and even AI—should make us smile. And if SuperHeroes’ latest streak is any indication, that philosophy isn’t just fun—it’s working.

Takeaways for Marketers

1. Lean into Playfulness with AI
   Don’t just use AI to optimize or automate—explore its potential for humor, curiosity, and delight. Playful experiments can become cultural moments.
2. Listen to Youth Without Losing Perspective
   Gen Z tastemakers can reveal what resonates today, but great campaigns succeed when they scale across audiences and generations. Use youth culture as a spark, not a silo.
3. Reinvention is a Constant, Not a Phase
   The most successful agencies—and brands—aren’t locked into a single formula. They adapt, experiment, and surprise continually, even when the current model is working.

It All Started in 2009…

SuperHeroes got its start in a tiny office in Amsterdam with a massively ambitious goal of saving the world from boring advertising. Rogier Vijverberg came from a small Dutch village, where his family worked as greenhouse farmers and bakers. “An advertising career wasn’t the obvious path,” he says, “but I was always drawn to creativity — I loved to draw, write, read comics, and make stuff.”

SuperHeroes’ focus is simply on big ideas. He adds, “We’re dedicated to making work that’s unignorable, but we also want to have fun while we do it. Otherwise, what’s the point? We’re independent, so we’re free from the bureaucracy and legacy processes of bigger agencies. By keeping our finger on the pulse of pop culture and that weird thing kids are doing these days, we make sure to keep ourselves fresh.”