[Interview] Robert Verberne, Co-CEO, Wenneker Amsterdam

Robert Verberne sits at the forefront of the transformation reshaping content production

Robert Verberne, Co-CEO of Wenneker Amsterdam, sits at the forefront of the transformation reshaping content production. In this interview, he discusses AI, personalization, the rise of always-on content, and why brands need strategic content partners rather than traditional production suppliers.

What sets Wenneker Amsterdam apart in today's market?

Wenneker Amsterdam is the founding creative studio of PAKT, our content group built over 12 years. With around 35 specialists across production, creative, post, 3D, animation and AI, we create much of the product-led work for brands like Philips, Henkel and Signify.

What sets us apart is that we start with the business problem, not the brief. Brands need more content across more markets and formats, delivered consistently and at scale. Using a combination of craft, technology and AI, we help clients produce premium-quality content more efficiently. In e-commerce, for example, we can now create top-tier assets at budgets that previously only covered basic content.

How do you foster creativity and innovation?

Creativity starts with craft, one of PAKT's three pillars alongside technology and scale. We don't rely on a fixed talent roster; we source the best directors, writers and artists globally for each project.

Innovation is practical rather than theoretical. We help clients use new technologies today, not someday. Because we have specialist production teams across PAKT and build our own workflows, successful innovations scale quickly. A recent example is our AI-powered e-commerce pipeline for Signify, which transforms simple product imagery into high-quality content without traditional shoots or complex 3D production.

What major shifts are you seeing in the industry?

Three stand out.

First, agency consolidation. Brands want integrated services, but mergers often create scale rather than agility. PAKT was designed differently: a unified group of specialists working under one strategic framework.

Second, content demands are growing faster than budgets. Brands must show up across the entire funnel, making smart use of technology essential.

Third, platform evolution is accelerating. From Instagram to TikTok and now TikTok Shop and live commerce, brands need partners that evolve alongside changing channels. Agility is becoming a key competitive advantage.

How do you keep work culturally relevant across markets?

Global campaigns can't simply rely on translated content. Cultural relevance has to be designed in from the start through talent, casting, creative references and production planning.

Our "world is our roster" approach allows us to bring in the right regional expertise for each market. AI adds another layer by enabling us to adapt environments and creative details for different audiences without requiring additional shoots.

How do you see AI's role in content production evolving?

AI is embedded throughout our workflow, from planning and production to post-production and distribution. We've built a dedicated AI team because we believe this capability needs to be owned, not outsourced.

Our approach is workflow-driven rather than tool-driven. As technology evolves, our systems evolve with it. The higher up the funnel, the more craft leads; the lower down, the more AI can scale production. Going forward, the biggest opportunity lies in pre-production and planning, where AI can help shape decisions before content is created.

What shifts are you seeing in client expectations?

The focus has shifted to time-to-market. Media channels evolve so quickly that brands struggle to keep pace.

Clients expect more output without increased budgets, while also demanding greater personalization. Content increasingly needs to feel relevant not just to a market but to an individual. Balancing speed, scale, efficiency and personalization is exactly what PAKT was built to deliver.

What is the biggest misconception about content production today?

The first is that AI makes content creation cheap and easy. AI is powerful, but it doesn't replace judgment. Without strong creative oversight, it simply produces more mediocre content faster.

The second is that agencies think while production companies execute. That distinction has largely disappeared. We increasingly work on strategy, concepts and content frameworks because we combine strategic thinking with production expertise.

Where do you see the greatest growth opportunities in content production?

The biggest opportunity is the move toward long-term partnerships. Brands increasingly want a single strategic partner across the entire content journey, from concept to distribution.

The second opportunity is AI lowering the cost of premium production. It enables brands to create higher-quality content at scale and opens new possibilities for both performance and brand-building activity. What excites me most is that the conversation is shifting from "What can we afford?" to "What's the best idea?"

Final thoughts

My advice to CMOs is simple: stop treating content as a series of campaigns and start treating it as a growth system. Brands that invest in long-term content pipelines create compounding value over time.

Technology, platforms and trends will continue to change, but a strong content framework endures. The earlier we are involved in the process, the more value we can create. We're not here to execute briefs faster; we're here to build content systems that drive growth. That's the idea behind PAKT.