VIRTUE Asia bolsters strategy team with Cherish Lee appointment and Marie Lee promotion

VIRTUE Asia has strengthened its strategy leadership, appointing Cherish Lee as Strategy Director following her return to Singapore after 13 years in the US, where she worked at leading agencies including Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5 and Anomaly, and promoting Marie Lee to Strategy Director.

Together, they represent a new breed of strategists who are equally fluent in culture, creativity, entertainment, social and content, and equipped to help brands build lasting value inside culture.

Huiwen Tow, head of strategy at VIRTUE Asia, said: “The strategist of the future needs to be fluent far beyond advertising. They need to understand how culture moves, how entertainment shapes behaviour, how communities form and how partnerships create lasting value. Cherish and Marie bring very different experiences to that challenge, but share the curiosity and creative ambition we believe modern strategy demands. As VIRTUE Asia continues to evolve, they’ll help our clients build from inside culture, rather than simply show up in it.”

The appointments come as VIRTUE Asia expands both its geographic footprint and the kinds of problems it solves for brands. The agency launched VIRTUE Arabia in July adding to its existing India operations. It also recently announced Inside Microdramas, the upcoming industry upfront exploring the rapidly expanding vertical entertainment economy, alongside V47 Entertainment, the joint venture from VIRTUE Asia and Goldfinch International to develop and commercialise brand-enabled entertainment IP across Asia.

In the US, Cherish Lee (pictured left) worked across brands including Amazon Music, Starbucks, Lululemon and HOKA, spanning music, entertainment, community and brand-building, and bringing a global perspective to VIRTUE Asia’s ambition to build brands deeper inside culture.

She said: “Coming back to Asia after 13 years in the US, I’m excited by how quickly the creative possibilities here are expanding. The most interesting briefs no longer fit neatly into advertising, entertainment or experience, and that’s exactly what drew me to VIRTUE. There’s an opportunity to bring those worlds together and build ideas that don’t just communicate a brand, but give people something worth participating in.”

Marie Lee (pictured right) is promoted to strategy director after joining VIRTUE Asia as senior strategist in 2024. Since then she has helped expand the role of strategy from cultural intelligence into client growth, entertainment and new business models. This year, she led strategy on the global Shiseido Clé de Peau Beauté social AOR pitch, helping the agency retain the relationship for an eighth consecutive year, while also working across V47 Entertainment to develop opportunities at the intersection of brands, entertainment and IP. With a background spanning documentary research, cultural prediction, social insight and content strategy, Lee represents a generation of strategists increasingly working beyond the traditional brief, turning cultural shifts into new platforms, partnerships and sources of growth.

She said: “Brands have more opportunities than ever to participate in culture as creators, not just advertisers. The most exciting thing about my time at VIRTUE has been seeing the remit of strategy expand. Increasingly, our role starts before there’s even a brief, spotting where culture is moving and turning that into new opportunities for brands, whether that’s a platform, partnership or entertainment property. I’m excited to keep pushing what strategy can contribute, not just to the work we make, but to what we build next.”