California, USA – S4Capital’s operating brand Media.Monks, a digital-first, data-led advertising and marketing services company, has launched ‘Persona.Flow,’ a professional managed service that gives brand marketers the ability to talk to their data. According to the agency, said solution addresses a unique need within enterprise AI workflows by converting owned customer data into dynamic consumer personas. Said transformation then allows marketers to interact in real-time, significantly augmenting their speed to market.

The ‘Persona.Flow’ solution offers a user-friendly interface to help brands streamline strategy workflows, increase their precision, and democratise deep data insights. Its core technology is driven by a robust retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) framework that synergises brand-owned data and factual data from extensive consumer and market research libraries provided in partnership with data-driven marketing firm Claritas. 

Moreover, the solution negates the need for the weeks of planning and deliberation that are commonly associated with building consumer intelligence. The service amplifies speed to market by delivering detailed, granular insights in real-time and in natural language, making it easier than ever to respond to market trends as they emerge.

According to Media.Monks, owning a comprehensive dataset is crucial for brands to future-proof themselves and stay competitive in today’s data-intensive and AI-dominated creative landscape, and with ‘Persona.Flow’, it serves as a reliable, single source of truth for all of a brand’s marketing data, fostering the discovery of new creative concepts that may in turn generate further data based on their performance with real audiences.

“As a consultative AI partner, Media.Monks aids brands in leading the new economy and becoming AI-first through the deployment of customised solutions. Unhindered by traditional agency compartmentalisation, Media.Monks’ in-house team of data scientists, machine learning engineers, and creatives boast profound expertise in AI and machine learning technologies. Consistently at the forefront of integrating and applying these technologies, Media.Monks is pioneering a revolutionary commercial model for the marketing and advertising industry that addresses brands’ most urgent commercial requirements,” the agency stated.

Singapore – As a key to further advancing the leadership across the region, S4Capital’s digital operating arm, Media.Monks, has appointed Matthew Godfrey as the new executive vice president and head of content for the APAC region.

Having more than 15 years of experience, Godfrey has an extensive background in innovation and creative business management, bringing together the company’s entrepreneurial drive as well as the capacity to develop its aspirations.

For this role, he aspires to position the company towards a new era, introducing “We Are Now” mission, an initiative aimed at driving industries forward, charting a course toward ambitious outcomes, and enabling clients and individuals to unlock their complete growth potential.

He also intends to leverage creative innovation and cutting-edge technology for a more efficient delivery scale, impact, and among APAC’s leading and fast-moving brands. 

Initial plans for his term include the company’s expansion into key markets such as China, Australia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, which will be supported by content excellence hub offices in Malaysia and India.

Following this remarkable feat, Matthew shared his enthusiasm about this role, stating, “The content industry is now at a very dynamic time. As global leaders in AI, social media, and all digital platforms, Media.Monks is ideally placed to help APAC brands create and orchestrate powerful and efficient communication solutions. The opportunity for innovation has never been greater, and I’m excited to help APAC clients gain a competitive advantage by accessing our incredible talent.”

On the other hand, Bruno Lambertini, co-CEO, content, at Media.Monks, also stressed the importance of Matthew’s appointment, saying, “Matt has everything we are looking for as we reshape our leadership structure at Media.Monks in APAC. With an extensive background in the region and a wealth of knowledge based on his experience in the market, we are confident Matt is the right person to drive the business forward, fostering our client relations.

“He will add a lot of value to our vision, especially when it comes to the single P&L and single brand, along with our mission to shift industries forward by reshaping how businesses interact with the world,” Lambertini concluded.

With this appointment, Godfrey will work with Kenny Griffiths, the managing director of APAC of data, digital, and media, in which they will connect a single global P&L model to the next level in APAC.

Shanghai, China Media.Monks, the digital-first creative company, has announced the promotion of Darren Crawforth to executive creative director of Media.Monks China, effective immediately. In his new role, Darren will work with Rogier Bikker, the office’s Managing Director to fulfill Media.Monks’ FutureProofed business vision in China.

With over 20 years in design and technology, the former group creative director, with stints that spanned London, New York, Boston, LA and Beijing, spent the past 10 years living and working in China to help brands in the country connect with global audiences whilst enabling international brands to nestle into China. He has created award-winning work for the world’s most prestigious brands such as Nike, Google, Puma, Riot Games, OPPO, HP, Golden Goose, to name a recent few.

In the past two years, Crawforth has been building a team that brings the talent and perspective needed to challenge the industry status quo and build the unique creative culture in Media.Monks China.

Commenting on his appointment, Crawforth said, “It’s an epic journey to establish what a creative agency from the future looks like and how it behaves. Can’t wait to see what’s next as we continue to build Media.Monks in China together with our teams and client partners.” 

Rogier Bikker, managing director at Media.Monks China, shared, “Darren has been instrumental in bringing our FutureProofed vision to life, attracting the best talent and consistently delivering industry-beating pitch wins. I’m excited for Darren to further build out our digital-first creative capabilities, advocate our FutureProofed vision, train the next generation of creative monks and guide our 40+ Shanghai creatives towards even more award-winning creative work”

Meanwhile, Joao Flores, regional executive creative director at Media.Monks APAC, commented, “Darren represents the very best of a new way of thinking, from a media-driven approach to a more experience-driven approach. He’s a Monk at heart and a key part of our creative collaborative process. We are extremely excited to have him leading the way for growth and extraordinary creativity with our China Team,”