Scottsdale-based marketing agency leverages AI to help luxury clients stay on brand

By Mignon A. Gould  –  Associate Editor, Phoenix Business Journal

May 22, 2023

Increasingly, companies are incorporating artificial intelligence into how they do business and the Valley luxury industry is no exception.

Scottsdale-based company Victor + James, a brand development agency — founded in January by Jeff Victor and Clayton James — is making its mark using AI technology to maintain brand consistency, while keeping companies on brand and aligned with their target market.

“We've learned a lot about how to leverage AI for our clients. A lot of it has to do right now with creating a brand messaging consistency. Because a lot of times, a big brand will have multiple tentacles of outreach to different audiences and whatnot,” said James, the firm's managing partner and creative director. “It's easy for a large brand like that to kind of get confused about what it's saying in certain areas. AI can serve as a way to create this consistency.”  

James, a native of Atlanta and Victor, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, both moved to the Valley five and six years ago, respectively. Based in north Scottsdale, they said the area is ideal for this type of luxury-driven company.

Since launching in January, the agency has worked with myriad companies including purveyor of fine spirits Rémy Martin, during the Super Bowl; a Vancouver, Canada, company called Virtu Resorts & Residence; a Milan fashion brand that is a spinoff of Valentino; and a London-based sustainable confectionary brand called Noshy that blends edible roses with high-end chocolate and other flavors that comes boxed like a bouquet of flowers. They are also in talks with Mercedes-Benz North America.

The co-founders each bring more than 30-plus years of brand, tech, entertainment and luxury experience to their new venture. 

Victor, who owns TechWood Media, is a media and entertainment executive, and James, is an Emmy-award winning ad agency executive. With their combined experience and expertise, they have positioned themselves to work with brands across industries with a focus on the luxury market. 

James said they pride themselves on helping companies develop and tell their story, and differentiate their brands from competitors. For maximum impact, they are joining forces with luxury expert Daniel Langer, who owns Los Angeles-based Équité Brands. Langer serves as executive professor of luxury strategy at Pepperdine University and is a professor of luxury at New York University.

Together they provide workshops where they guide companies and their leaders through a brand audit. “They're a key component of what we provide, and Daniel Langer does,” said Jeff Victor, managing partner and director of business development. 

Ushering in an era of sustainable luxury

Sustainability is another significant component of what Victor + James will do for brands.

Victor said that sustainable luxury is a huge trend and Victor + James is at the forefront of navigating companies on “how to play in that world, and be in compliance.”

In partnership with Équité, they are also collaborating with Positive Luxury, a London-based company that issues sustainability certificates identifiable by the Butterfly Mark, which verifies that companies and organizations have met the highest standard of sustainability best practices across ESG Plus (Environmental, Social, Governance).

In a statement, Victor said the goal of the collaboration is to create extreme value for brands through an authentic, sustainable business model that is tailored to a company’s strategy.

“Sustainability is the most significant business opportunity in luxury,” Victor said. “Our partner Équité and Positive Luxury developed a radically new approach in building sustainable luxury, lifestyle and consumer brands, through a process called the Sustainability Accelerator.”