Since Kiser Barnes joined Digitas at the start of 2022 he has combined experience design and user experience with his experiential design background to lead several important client activations, including Delta and Starbucks’ Wonder Window at the 2023 CES conference. As senior VP and director of experience design, he also played an essential role in growing the agency’s client roster with Walmart, Sephora and financial company FIS.

Barnes was a key member of Dept. W, made up of a group of leaders from Digitas, Publicis New York and Fallon that helped Walmart launch Walmart Land and The Walmart Universe of Play. The activation attracted 4.9 million visitors and increased the brand’s likeability among Gen Z consumers, with a 10% lift in “Brand Affinity” and a 21% lift in “Likely to Recommend.” The experience was named one of the Top 5 gaming activations of 2022 by Ad Age.

“Strategically, it was super sound,” Barnes said. “But then how it came to life as an experience overall, it was really successful in the sense that it took all of these great products and experiences and gamified them, making them really fun for the audience.” 

All of Barnes’ work culminated in his being promoted to head of design in December 2022, becoming the core lead of Digitas’ Web3, metaverse and gaming practices, and then to executive VP, head of design and innovation lead in April. 

What advice would you give to teens about using social media today?

I think that social media is not going to be as relevant to teens, to be honest. I have a close-to-teenage son, and he’s not on social media and doesn’t really care about social media. I think the evolution of social media is going to go into these worlds that are more immersive, more gamified—spaces where people can have conversations with their friends but also have fun in the process. So, the advice that I would give to teens on social media today is try to have your own voice and try to build your own community in ways that feel authentic.

How is new technology changing the way you work?

A big part of my role is having conversations with some of the great brands of the world about innovation overall, and we have conversations every single day about AI. AI is really accelerating the creative process. Developing an experience used to take like a month between mood-boarding and sketches to actual execution. But now we’re entering this era of what I like to call hyper-creation, where we have this ability now to think about AI as a tool that redefines the creative process as a collaboration accelerator, so we can test out opportunities for how brands collaborate.

What piece of technology could you absolutely not live without? 

Currently, my favorite piece of technology is my Bullet Blender. I’m so obsessed with making different smoothies on that thing. But also my computer because that’s how I connect to my world of design and creativity.

What’s your favorite blog, TikTok account, podcast or any must-follows in your media diet?  

I follow @metav3rse, which is a great hub for innovation news. Then @zero10.app, because I’m excited to see how augmented reality evolves, specifically for product-like fashion. This is a great app and space to follow as we go into a summer of Apple releasing their mixed-reality headset. Finally, @reisingerandres is of my favorite digital creators. Absolutely beautiful work leveraging Midjourney and 3D software to reimagine objects, experiences and architecture.

What is the biggest technical leap you’ve had to adjust to in your career and how did you do it? 

The biggest technical leap is the one that we are encountering now. In my work, I’m taking all the principles of real-world experiential into the virtual world. The reality is that the foundation of those experiences isn’t that different. Technology and all those things are big tools. I don’t know that they’re necessarily leaps, I think they’re evolutions of the way that we do the same stuff, which at its core is about human connection and building community.