Background

Major brands like Coca-Cola, Ecolab, and Unilever rely on Hogarth Worldwide, WPP’s premier global production agency, to ensure their campaigns resonate with their target audiences across dozens of markets and languages. Hogarth acts as a central hub managing complex localization pipelines under tight deadlines and high-quality standards. 

They know that voice over is key,

Did you know that using voice-over can more than double audience recall- from 17% without VO to 44% with localized VO? It’s a powerful proof point that supports Hogarth’s mission to make global messages feel local, credible, and emotionally resonant.

Challenge

Scaling authentic localization involves two core challenges:

Operational Complexity

With campaigns spanning multiple languages and regions, Hogarth has to manage:

• Hyper-Localized Casting: Generic accents won’t cut it. A member of their team explains
  “A generic accent or non-native VO actor is instantly recognizable and can damage brand perception.”
  
• Scheduling: Managing talent, studios, engineers, directors, and clients often across different time zones requires active communication and flexibility.
  
• Budget Constraints: AI tools still can’t provide the emotional subtlety and precise pronunciation required for high-quality voice over projects.
  

Creative Authenticity

Emotion moves the needle, says Hogarth’s Production Director, Marcela Pardo:
“Emotion is Heard, Not Read.”

Proper localization–including an authentic localized voice over–communicates humor, cultural slang, and emotional cues far beyond what subtitles or literal translation can provide.

Working with Voices

The Hogarth team expressed deep appreciation for working with Voices, highlighting the team’s ability to source professional voice over talent and coordinate localization at scale. 

Marcela Pardo shares:
“I love working with Voices because we have paired up real nicely on projects.  We get the scope from the client, and sometimes we understand what the client is asking. But we often go back to Voices to further understand the ask. Voices has been able to help us see those extra details. It’s been great working with Voices; we feel like a team.”

Sergio Solorzano emphasizes the value of native talent:
“We need to have native talents… The voice from all these voice over actors had the same intonation and the same quality… it’s a good example because it’s kind of the same voice.”

Andrea Lira appreciates the efficiency and organization of the project teams:
“A clear agenda so everyone is aligned with what we are doing… And a good project manager and really good organization and communication, it’s the key.”

Marcela further describes the thoroughness Voices brings to session prep:
“We actually test our connections, our software, everything… Then when we get into the session, it all smooths out. We do a 10-minute call with the studio and talent to make sure all the parts are working.”

Outcome

With Voices’ global network and platform, Hogarth delivers hyper-localized, authentic voice overs for global brands. Check out recent work with Ecolab, where Voices managed casting and coordination for versions in English, Hindi, Mandarin, and Arabic.

Hogarth sums it up,
“The more targeted the better… the audience will know if the voice over isn’t authentic”

This partnership exemplifies localization’s hybrid future: blending talent from Voices’ platform, a dedicated team, and reach with Hogarth’s industry expertise and commitment to genuine human storytelling.

“The success of projects like this comes from working as a true partner to the client team. We focus on fitting into their existing workflow rather than creating extra steps, which is especially important when managing multiple languages and talents,” Sara Hunt, Manager, Agency Team at Voices, said.

“Regular check-ins help us stay aligned, refine processes, and keep things running smoothly from one project to the next.”