Nari Kim elevates diverse voices for Belvedere and Canada Goose

For Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, once again this year Ad Age is highlighting key moments in the careers of AAPI talents across the industry. 

Today, we have Nari Kim, group creative director at Virtue Worldwide and industry vet of two decades. Born in Toronto to parents who immigrated from South Korea, Kim made made her mark at creative agencies including TBWA/Chiat/Day, Mother, FCB Global, Saatchi before arriving at her current post. Her CV includes global projects for major brands including Adidas, McDonald’s, Belvedere Vodka, Canada Goose and more. She's also a passionate advocate for lifting up BIPOC talent in the ad industry through programs including the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP), where she herself started as an intern. Here, she recalls a pair of meaningful campaigns in which her passion for elevating diverse voices came to the fore. 

As a kid I didn’t think my voice really mattered because I was always the minority. At my school in Toronto, I was one of four Asians (one of them being my sister). Then I moved to a giant school in the suburbs of Houston that was predominantly white and southern. And then as an adult pursuing creative advertising, it was pretty much white and male, from my peers to my bosses. So diversity (or lack thereof) has always been something I was aware from a young age. But over time it really motivated me as a creative and now as a leader to push for more diversity in all aspects, and I’ve been fortunate to have worked on two projects that really sharpened that purpose for me.

In 2018, while at TBWA/Chiat/Day N.Y., I worked on a campaign for Belvedere Vodka in collaboration with the musical artist Janelle Monáe. Both Janelle and Belvedere wanted to create a meaningful project that aligned with both their beliefs, and Janelle was already passionate about promoting the power of women with her “Fem The Future” movement and all under-represented talent.

That year was also when Natalie Portman famously called out the “all-male director nominees” while presenting the award at the Golden Globes. And the Oscars weren’t doing a better job at it either. So on Oscar weekend, we launched a project called “A Beautiful Future,” where we gave four talented female directors a simple brief: Show the world what a beautiful future looks like to you. Our directors were the amazing Janicza Bravo, Lacey Duke, Kirsten Lepore (the film above), and Megan Park (below). 

Turns out, when you promote diverse storytellers, you get amazing diverse stories.

Then in 2021, I had the incredible opportunity at Virtue Worldwide to lead the global campaign launch for Canada Goose’s first-ever footwear collection, featuring Indigenous spokespeople as our hero talent: Sarain Fox (Canadian Anishinaabe activist, broadcaster and filmmaker) and Jordin Tootoo (Canadian Inuk, former professional NHL player and activist for mental health awareness). Inspired by their unique personal journeys, we crafted beautiful hero films for each of them, to share their story of resilience, hope and ability to thrive no matter where life has taken them.

Both projects were a labor of love and there were moments that were extremely challenging, but they were worth the fight to get their stories out into the world. And I hope that it helps others realize that their voice does matter and inspires them to help others be heard as well, to hear more voices, to share more perspectives, and to open people’s minds.