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Next Stop, Cannes: A Conversation with Our Top NextUp.Monks Winners

Next Stop, Cannes: A Conversation with Our Top NextUp.Monks Winners

AI AI, Industry events, Monks news 7 min read
Profile picture for user Jouke Vuurmans

Written by
Jouke Vuurmans
Chief Creative Officer

A young woman with a large afro hairstyle is holding a smartphone and looking at the screen. Her profile is highlighted with a pink outline. In the background, there is a mirror image of her smiling, framed by a pink rectangle. The backdrop features abstract yellow and white swirls.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is just around the corner, and many are in the midst of settling their itineraries and finalizing their travel plans. Among them are six up-and-coming creatives who have spent only a handful of years formally honing their craft in the industry, yet have already shown incredible promise and excellence: the winners of the annual NextUp.Monks competition.

In partnership with Cannes Lions, this contest showcases emerging talent globally. Open to employees with up to seven years of industry experience, participants join in pairs to compete across multiple categories. Three teams will earn a trip to Cannes, with one standout team gaining the additional honor of attending the prestigious Creative Academy.

The contest includes three categories that explore creativity in different ways:

  • Film: Deliver cinematic stories for screens of all sizes, featuring elements like original concepting, scriptwriting, visual treatments, film treatments, shooting, directing, editing, VFX, post—and everything in between.
  • Innovation: Turn visionary, future-facing ideas into reality using the latest in emerging tech and formats, resulting in groundbreaking experiences and new possibilities.
  • Interactive: Go beyond the mundane while putting the audience at the heart of every moment, giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in compelling, transformative digital experiences.

So, what creative challenge were they trying to solve? This year, the brief focused on a fictional beauty and skincare brand called TriVitalize. The mission: build an innovative and social-first campaign to launch a new line of sustainable, luxury shower products, with the goal of recapturing market share and shelf space.

Interestingly, all three winning teams were from Latin America, with two teams from Brazil and one from Argentina. Juan Orlievsky and Julia Calvo won in the Film category for a campaign that plays on the “shower thoughts” phenomenon; while Everton Souda and Thiago Assunção won in the Innovation category with the “feelings translator,” an AI-powered technology that turns customer testimonials into beautiful, synesthetic works of art.

But the top win went to Hitamara Tamizou and Matias Marcossi in the Interactive category. Their project, “My Side of the Mirror,” is a clever take on self-affirmations inspired by the insight that women criticize themselves on an average of four times a day. Realizing that feeling good about yourself while looking in the mirror can often be a challenge, their concept centers around an AI-powered app that features a personalized digital double, based on the user’s likeness and voice, that greets them with messages of affirmation.

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We had a chance to speak to Hitamara and Matias to learn more about their winning concept and how it came to be. Read below to peek behind the scenes into the creative process.

What were your initial impressions of the brief, and how did that lead to the beginning stages of developing your concept?

Matias: First of all, we found it a little challenging to work with a brand that is fictional, because you don’t have previous information of how the brand communicates with the public. So the challenge begins there.

We started by doing our research, which was pretty easy because we had a lot of material based on the struggles that women face through their lives. As a transgender person, I remember those struggles very well—and now I have new ones. So, the first thing was to think about this fictional brand and how we could bring them to life in a way that spoke to those struggles.

Hitamara: I say myself in those statistics about women criticizing themselves. So this work means a lot to me, because I not only saw myself within it but could participate in discussions that help solve those challenges and support women by building the self-confidence that they usually lack. That focus on confidence, for me, helped shape the creative idea.

Matias: Next, we tried to think how we could universalize that experience. We are both based in Brazil, so a lot of our initial thinking focused on that experience—but given the fact that this is a global brand, we had to think of how we could connect with women everywhere.

Universalizing the idea for “My Side of the Mirror” grew from the trope of fantasy and fairy tales that are well known across different cultures. For example, you see the queen in Snow White ask, who’s the most beautiful woman in the world? And it’s not her; it’s Snow White. We wanted women to be able to seek approval from themselves through self-affirmation.

You mentioned research, and your concept draws heavily on insights and statistics. What were you looking for when embarking on the research phase?

Hitamara: A lot of our research focused on the experience of Black women in particular, as they make up a significant portion of our population in Brazil. But while our finished concept is focused on fun and self-confidence, we were initially thinking around heavier themes like harassment and the lack of safety women feel, because in order to have the opportunity to take care of yourself, you have to make it home first. In Brazil, many women face harassment on the street.

Matias: We thought a lot about external issues like harassment and violence, but realized that we were creating more fear rather than finding solutions. This prompted us to look internally at what we can change within ourselves, seeking positive solutions to more personal challenges like self-confidence.

You had a diverse range of personas in mind when developing your concept. How did their particular needs influence your creative approach?

Matias: This goes back to what I said before about universalizing the experience. The personas were a very important part here, because while the creative idea is designed to appeal to everyone, how people engage with it can be very different. How does someone in the Deaf community see themselves, how might a blind person feel their skin differently?

We didn’t have a star at the center of the campaign; it’s about putting the focus on yourself. I think brands should do more of that strategy—instead of hiring a famous musician, how can we allow the consumer to be at the center of the experience? Many people with disabilities, for example, never see themselves in a beauty campaign, but we can change that. And focusing on a minority doesn’t limit the appeal, either; it creates empathy for everyone, because empathy is a universal feeling.

Did the experience of participating in the contest give you the chance to use skills outside of your day-to-day roles?

Matias: As a copywriter, representing and expanding upon the idea through copy was routine. But for the real clients that we work with, the brand is already well defined in terms of its visuals and overall look—so we have a limited range sometimes when it comes to producing really big ideas like this one.

Hitamara: I am a motion graphic designer, but in this work, I was able to take on the role of an art director. Like Matias said, real brands often have their design language and visuals laid out, so I was excited to have the opportunity to develop all the visual aspects of the fictional brand and its campaign—and I love working with Matias! This opportunity really encouraged me to do my best and to show my creativity. When we finished the project, I felt really proud of what we accomplished.

In addition to the AI-powered experience, your pitch also touches on making the experience shareable on social and using that to hijack toxic beauty trends. Could you discuss that aspect of the work?

Matias: Effectively using social media is key for a young brand, especially on channels like TikTok where it’s easy to go viral with the right content. Still, social media harbors a lot of toxic content that shapes how we perceive ourselves, so we thought, let’s hack that to deliver a positive message to people who need to see it most. Our concept prioritizes an organic strategy to social rather than a paid one, thinking that that approach would make the message more appealing and relevant to our audience.

Your work takes a very socially purposeful approach to the use of AI. AI is a technology that inspires both excitement and unease; what’s your take on its use and potential in marketing?

Matias: I see AI as a powerful tool to change self-perception. I have a bunch of ideas that involve AI now, especially when related to the trans community. I think it has the power to amplify connections, but for that we need to develop a very responsible and empathetic vision for it. We are trying to make that here, not just with “My Side of the Mirror,” but in other ways that we use AI.

For example, we can use generative AI to aid in representation; if I type “transgender person” as a prompt and keep pressing enter, it’s going to show me a different result every time. That can teach people that we can’t be put in a box; you may have expectations about my body, but there are infinite ways we can express ourselves.

Hitamara: As an art director and motion designer, AI can be incredibly helpful throughout the creative process, but there are ethical concerns as well. Artists are afraid of their style being stolen, and there’s a similar discussion to be had about the risk of cultural appropriation in AI’s output. So while I’ve relied on AI a lot to optimize and amplify my own work, I don’t forget or shy away from those moral or ethical concerns. It’s a powerful tool, but it comes with responsibility.

Finally, your prize for winning the contest is a trip to Cannes. How does it feel?

Matias: I couldn’t sleep in the days following the announcement that we won! I was really, really excited. It’s a great opportunity, especially as a transgender person; you don’t see a lot of us in the industry, so bringing that representation to such an important place is almost like a duty.

Prior to my time at Media.Monks, I was a teacher, but decided to switch careers in search of better working conditions. So, this is a message for all the people out there like me that you can do it as well. You have such great ideas—it is achievable.

Hitamara: I had originally studied chemistry, so I made a big change in my career as well. Media.Monks is the first agency that I’ve worked at, and I’ve been here for almost three years. During that time, I’ve found it to be a great place for talent development. Winning NextUp.Monks is like a dream—I’m living a dream.

Finally, we would also like to congratulate our Silver and Bronze winners.

Interactive, Silver:

  • Leah Zhao, Creative Technologist
  • Ed Lee, Developer

Interactive, Bronze:

  • Rodrigo Escobedo, AV Social Developer
  • Carlos Cravioto, AV Social Developer

Film, Silver:

  • Santiago Cifuentes, Motion Graphics Designer
  • Felipe Chavez, Art Director

Film, Bronze:

  • Sergio Cardozo, Designer
  • Alejandra Gonzalez, Designer

Innovation, Silver—which includes a tie between two teams:

  • Eyleen Camargo, Art Director
  • Kyara Ortega, Copywriter
  • Mariana Ramirez Feijoo, Art Director
  • Evelyn Su Pérez Islas, AV Developer

Innovation, Bronze:

  • Grace Tankersley, Copywriter
  • Diana Backer, Senior Creative
Meet the winners of NextUp.Monks, our creative competition in partnership with Cannes Lions, and the process behind their award-winning idea. Cannes Lions AI creative process AI Monks news Industry events

Turning Possibility Into Reality: 3 Key Insights From POSSIBLE Miami

Turning Possibility Into Reality: 3 Key Insights From POSSIBLE Miami

AI AI, AI Consulting, Industry events, Media 4 min read
Profile picture for user Michael Dobell

Written by
Michael Dobell
EVP, Innovation

Collage photo featuring panelists at POSSIBLE Miami.

We’re always on the lookout for new possibilities in creativity, in understanding what makes audiences crave, and in better ways of working. So we’re thrilled to see POSSIBLE return this year in Miami, a three-day extravaganza in all things related to people, culture, business and ideas.

POSSIBLE, organized by MMA Global, first launched last year with the goal of curating content and offering masterclasses, workshops, programming and more focused on the future of marketing, communication, culture and technology—all delivered by the biggest names in the business. Naturally, we were there too, where Monks from across our practices together shared a holistic view of practical ways that AI is transforming marketing right now. Touching on content, data, media and the technology that makes it all possible, here's what we covered on the stage.

Brands accelerate success with a test-and-learn approach to AI implementation.

First, our Co-CEO, Content Wesley ter Haar joined MMA’s AI Leadership Coalition (ALC), a group of marketers dedicated to responsibly and effectively integrating AI into marketing. The coalition seeks to equip the industry with tools and resources to harness AI across creative, media, and operations—and met on the stage to share how major brands are embracing the technology through a test-and-learn agenda, where ter Haar shared insight into our strategic approach to AI adoption.

We follow a three-phase process designed to create self-evolving systems that are not only efficient, but also effective. This includes an initial consulting phase where we define high value workflows quickly: ones that increase revenue, decrease costs, and most enhance productivity. Next, we integrate tools and technology into cutting edge software workflows to deliver growth, cost reduction and performance effectiveness. The process concludes with an execution phase—but that’s actually just the beginning, because as the brand rapidly reaches cost neutrality, investments can be made to fuel further innovation.

“AI has transitioned from toy to tool,” ter Haar said. “This evolution is outpacing even the most optimistic forecasts from industry experts. With these advancements, we are finally on the path to realizing the initial promise of digital advertising: enhancing precision and delivering personalization at scale.”

Wesley ter Haar, right, spoke about how brands are implementing AI strategically and at speed.

Wesley ter Haar, right, spoke on how brands are implementing AI strategically and at speed.

Augmented by AI tools, teams extract more value from their data.

SVP, Media Greg Kirby participated in a panel hosted by Tracer, the marketing reporting and analytics platform, which focused on data-driven trends that are defining digital marketing. Tracer’s technology enables brands to unify data sources to gain a holistic understanding of their audiences; likewise, Kirby shared how our focus on embracing emerging media helps brands better follow their audiences and engage with them more effectively, especially when augmented by AI-powered workflows that span the entire marketing function.

This can lead to surprising insights, three of which were covered in the talk. For example: Taylor Swift drove female viewership for the Super Bowl—but social media ad delivery to women dipped because they were so busy watching the game instead of scrolling. The finding opens up interesting conversation into ways that consumer data and content can reach new audiences in innovative ways.

On a related note, the panel moved on to how AI is driving creative analytics. Marketers increasingly rely on AI to optimize their creative, identifying variables like messaging, colors and objects or models depicted and their effects on performance. But this is also familiar territory for marketers in the data and digital media space.

Monk Thoughts Any marketer who earned their stripes running Google Ads accounts are particularly well-suited to guide advertisers through this next major stage in digital transformation.

Finally, the conversation turned to emerging platforms and formats, including new ones from Pinterest, which enable high-engagement, low-cost opportunities for brands. It can be tricky for a brand to understand how to best engage their audiences on emerging channels, but with Persona.Flow, an expansion of our Monks.Flow professional managed service, brands can translate their first-party data into interactive audience personas, then converse with them to quickly adapt to trends and fuel continuous learning and evolution in their marketing strategies as formats continue to evolve. This exemplifies the crucial role of a mature first-party data strategy, enabling brands to not only respond to but anticipate market dynamics data that continuously feeds into AI-driven workflows.

AI-powered platforms drive emotional relevance in creative delivery.

In addition to understanding audiences more effectively, AI-powered tools are also helping marketers make the most of their media investments. Our Head of Brand Investment Matthew Kramer participated in a panel, hosted by marketing platform business Wurl, whose tools power advertising, marketing and distribution across the world’s connected TV (CTV) ecosystem. The panel ruminated over the prevailing challenges that advertisers face in CTV today, including clutter, fragmentation and breaking through the noise.

One solution to these problems is building emotional resonance with audiences. This is being solved by a newly launched service from Wurl called BrandDiscovery, which Kramer and his team got to explore hands-on in work for a financial client. This led to impressive results, including a 33% lift in aided brand awareness and a 15% increase in purchase intent. “What’s even more promising, the campaign saw a 200% improvement in cost per engagement—as measured by EDO—when the ad creative’s emotions matched the content right before the ad break,” he told StreamTV Insider.

Matthew Kramer, far left, speaking on a panel at POSSIBLE Miami.

Matthew Kramer, far left, spoke on challenges in CTV and how AI is helping brands better reach their audiences through emotional resonance.

The use of new, AI-driven tools like BrandDiscovery to overcome significant challenges like capturing attention in the competitive CTV ecosystem, and nurturing close partnerships with the teams who build those tools, reinforce our approach to embracing new media channels and formats to better serve consumers. “From a partner perspective, we’re thinking about how we use these data tools and targeting driven by AI to make CTV—which historically hasn’t been tied to lower-funnel results—into a full-funnel driver,” Kramer said.

You can hear Kramer cover some of these possibilities in a recent episode of the Nex6 Project, hosted by John Ghiorso, where the two discuss how CTV is affecting creative and the role that AI is playing in that evolution.

Embrace the future, now.

From ter Haar's insights on AI's evolution from a novelty to a fundamental tool, to Kirby's exploration of data-driven audience engagement, and Kramer's discussion on emotional relevance in CTV advertising, POSSIBLE captured a detailed picture of how AI is transforming marketing—along with actionable strategies of how marketing teams can adapt and thrive within it. It's clear that as we continue to build and harness these tools, the potential to drive brand growth and engage with audiences in meaningful ways is not just possible—it's happening now.

We showed up at POSSIBLE Miami 2024 to give a comprehensive view of how AI is fueling marketing-led transformation. AI ai transformation POSSIBLE AI Consulting Media AI Industry events
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17 - 21 June, 2024

Media.Monks Returns to The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity

AI is bigger than marketing—it’s the beginning of a new economy. Join us to discover how AI is unlocking new realms of creativity and innovation for brands.

Les.Monks Cafe branding over an image of people speaking

We’re back at Les.Monks Café this year.

Get in touch with your favorite Monk to set up time to swing by, then find us right across from the Palais at 5 Sq. Mérimée.

Café Event Details

Join us at Les.Monks Café everyday for open sessions.

  • Why AI Cannot Replace the Need for Diverse Teams

    19 June, 11:00 - 12:30

    Les Monks Café, 5 Sq. Mérimée

    With Jordan Cuddy, EVP, Global Head of Experience, Media.Monks; Sheryl Daija, Founder & CEO, BRIDGE; Jordan Saxemard, Chief Marketing Officer, Sonos; Tony Coles, President, Black Information Network, iHeart Media

    Join us as we discuss the essential role of diversity in AI and how inclusive teams can drive equitable AI solutions. Delve into ethical considerations and actionable strategies for fostering inclusivity within organizations.
    Register your interest here.

  • The Marketing Society | Cannes Sundowner Spotlight Session

    19 June, 17:30 - 19:30

    Les Monks Café, 5 Sq. Mérimée

    With Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder & Executive Chairman, S4 Capital

    For brand-side marketers and partners, Sir Martin shares perspectives on creativity today, necessary disruptions, CMOs' needs, and preparing for future challenges.
    Register your interest here.

  • Media Mix Mastery: Optimize Your ROI with LinkedIn & Media.Monks

    20 June, 11:00 - 12:30

    Les Monks Café, 5 Sq. Mérimée

    With Paolo Provinciali, VP of Marketing Growth and Performance, LinkedIn; Brittany Blanchard, EVP, Head of NAMER Performance Media, Media.Monks; Nik Cuculovski, Global SVP, Analytics and Product, Media.Monks; Jonathan Hunt, Head of The Hustle, VP of Media, Hubspot

    Discover actionable strategies for media effectiveness, including automation, unified measurements across platforms, and leveraging real-time data for optimized budget allocation and media accountability.
    Register your interest here.

  • From Shortlist to Supreme: A Showcase of Next-Gen Creativity

    20 June, 17:30 - 19:00

    Les Monks Café, 5 Sq. Mérimée

    With Pau Bartoli, Dove Global Brand Director Masterbrand & Strategy, Unilever; Amy Luca, EVP, Global Head of Social, Media.Monks; Hitamara Tamizou, Motion Designer and Next.Up Supreme Winner, Media.Monks; Matias Marcossi, Copywriter and Next.Up Supreme Winner, Media.Monks; Tomas Almuna, Head of Creative, Media.Monks; Federico Duran, Social Executive Creative Director, Media.Monks; Marina Pires, Managing Director, Media.Monks; Jo Cotton, Managing Director, Media.Monks

    Explore groundbreaking work from this year’s Cannes Festival for Creativity, including projects like The Dove Code and Literacy Pen, which each illustrate unique points of view on how AI can be used for social good.
    Register your interest here.

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Monks Wins 3 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards

Monks Wins 3 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards

AI AI, AI & Emerging Technology Consulting, AI Consulting, Monks news 4 min read
Profile picture for user Kate Richling

Written by
Kate Richling
CMO

Image featuring the Media.Monks logo and the Business Intelligence AI Award logo.

I’m thrilled to share that Monks has earned three honors from the Business Intelligence Group’s Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards! This awards program aims to recognize organizations, products and people who apply AI to solve real problems in their respective industries—and I’m proud to say that we’ve been placed among all three of those categories.

First, Co-CEO of our Content practice, Wesley ter Haar, has won an award in the Individual category for his role in rallying our team around AI innovation. Our collective team has been awarded in the Organization – Strategic Planning category for our accomplishments in building AI workflows designed to help marketing teams overcome a wide breadth of creative and marketing challenges. And one of those workflows was honored as well, with Monks.Flow achieving a win in the Product – Hybrid Intelligent System category, just three months shy of the service’s initial launch.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, Monks.Flow is an AI-centric, professional managed service that streamlines how humans and machines work together. News of the win comes hot off the heels of the launch of Persona.Flow, an expansion of the Monks.Flow service that provides deep consumer intelligence by simulating detailed, interactive consumer personas that marketers can engage with in real-time conversation. But overall, the trio of wins showcase the holistic efforts of our team—from individual influence to collective experimentation and innovation—to lead the industry in the AI economy.

Monks.Flow solves high-value use cases for marketers.

The powers of generative AI grow more impressive by the day, but we noticed a key perception challenge in early discussions with brand leadership: while AI-generated visuals are certainly remarkable, marketers felt that the output still lacked the kind of quality required for their specific marketing needs. We also realized that AI’s benefits went far beyond making individuals more productive; rather, automated workflows could help align business units and enable greater collaboration across teams.

We sought to address both challenges and opportunities in the development of Monks.Flow, which empowers marketers to exercise complete control over AI’s output across the life of a campaign. The service weaves together numerous workflows designed for developing insights, building assets at scale, adapting content, measuring performance and optimization and more—meaning teams can shape and influence the AI according to their precise requirements with custom brand models that are accessed in a safe and secure environment.

We continue to expand Monks.Flow to solve emerging needs with AI.

Ultimately, our goal is to streamline the ways humans and AI work together—and our latest innovation Persona.Flow takes this goal a step further, bridging the gap between brands and their customers. Persona.Flow is an interface that allows brands to speak to their data and get inside the minds of their audiences by conversing with dynamic, AI-powered personas. The core technology behind Persona.Flow is driven by a robust RAG framework that weaves together brand-owned data and factual data from market research libraries provided in partnership with data-driven marketing firm Claritas.

All of this enables brands to build up their customer insights, identify trends that resonate with consumers in real time, and act on those trends with incredible speed. Wesley ter Haar, who was also honored with an Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in the Individual category, compares these smart personas to digital twin technology. “Traditionally, digital twins allow you to test different scenarios, optimize existing workload and get warning signs when it comes to wear and tear. So that's quite a tried and tested concept when it comes to supply chains and factories,” he says. “Persona.Flow is a digital twin concept in which you create digital twins of your consumer base, allowing the ability to run hypotheses of your creative and marketing space.”

From workloads to workflows, we’re transforming the service model.

Monks.Flow represents another challenge that AI presents to our industry: the need to move beyond traditional, time- and materials-based business models to better reflect AI’s impact on work.

Our win in the Organization – Strategic Planning award category honors the work we have been doing to build a new service model designed for the AI economy. Others have shied away from the existential question of how you would rebuild an existing business for today’s reality, but we’ve embraced it. In pioneering a new commercial model for our industry, we’re building proven workflows that brands engage with via an SLA-based billing model that is focused on output.

Monk Thoughts Rapid innovation will continue to accelerate, and our industry will have a very different operating model because of it.
black and white photo of Wesley ter Haar

Looking ahead, there’s far more innovation to come. Following the keynote at this year’s NVIDIA GTC conference, ter Haar spoke on how the presentation focused on compute as a catalyst for transformative change that shows no signs of stopping. “If you had to make the case for what is the most important accelerator for our world at the moment, it seems to be compute. We're looking at a historic upswing in the ability to deliver that at scale."

Speaking to a Digiday reporter at the conference, he noted, “I think [NVIDIA President Jensen Huang’s] point is that everything that can either be automated or done by robots will be automated or done by robots.” With the growing importance of AI in the marketer’s toolkit, and NVIDIA’s growing role in building the foundational infrastructure that underpins it, shows like GTC will make their way onto more and more marketers’ calendars, serving as further evidence of how our industry continues to evolve with technology.

Looking ahead at accelerated technological transformation.

The world keeps changing—and fast. Our wins from the Business Intelligence Group’s Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards underscore our collective ambition to not only improve individual productivity, but rather fundamentally transform the entire business with AI, enabling a higher degree of coordination, speed and scale for brands.

This is marketing-led business transformation at work, adapting and evolving the enterprise to better reflect the AI economy. There is no doubt that AI will continue to play an integral role in ensuring that we operate smarter, faster and on a larger scale than ever before—and we’re excited to lead the charge along every step of the way.

Monks has earned three of Business Intelligence Group’s Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards in its journey to transform the industry. artificial intelligence AI monksflow business intelligence group AI & Emerging Technology Consulting AI Consulting AI Monks news

Media.Monks Will Be at NVIDIA GTC 2024—Why You Should Go and What There Is to See

Media.Monks Will Be at NVIDIA GTC 2024—Why You Should Go and What There Is to See

AI AI, AI & Emerging Technology Consulting, Industry events 4 min read
Profile picture for user henry.cowling

Written by
Henry Cowling
Chief Innovation Officer

Abstract image that features the Media.Monks and NVIDIA GTC logos.

GTC, NVIDIA’s global AI conference, is just around the corner, running from March 18-21 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. An annual computer graphics and AI event long frequented by developers, business leaders, researchers and IT professionals, GTC has become important to our industry as marketers seek to leverage the latest advances in AI and CG, explore how they can be applied to the consumer experience, and create a positive impact on their marketing bottom line.

Our world is moving toward accelerated computing, with workloads being adapted into efficient AI workflows—including our Monks.Flow professional managed service, which connects exceptional talent with the greatest AI tools, APIs and models, all within easily orchestrated pipelines. Integrated with the latest innovations from NVIDIA, AWS and other technologies, we’ve built best-in-class solutions across each of our practices: Content, Data and Media. At GTC, we’ll demonstrate these solutions, and attendees can get a chance to see them in action.

Check us out at the NVIDIA XR Zone Pavilion – Monks.Flow and OpenUSD.

Stop by the NVIDIA XR Zone Pavilion to get a sneak peek at Monks.Flow, an AI-centric professional managed service that streamlines how humans and machines interoperate at every step of the marketing journey, from building business intelligence to delivering hyper-personalized creative content. Monks.Flow leverages NVIDIA CloudXR and the NVIDIA Omniverse OpenUSD development platform to help brands virtually explore different customizable product designs and unlock scale and hyper-personalization across any customer journey.

Stop by the AWS booth (#708) for more on Monks.Flow, implementations and its use cases.

In addition to the NVIDIA XR Zone Pavilion, you’ll also find our featured space at the AWS booth, #708. There, we’ll have a dedicated kiosk where you can meet the Monks and learn all about the AI solutions built on AWS and NVIDIA technology that we’re delivering to CMOs.

We have designed a state-of-the-art workflow that helps marketers make better decisions by allowing them to chat directly with their customer personas, which are enriched with a comprehensive knowledge base and multiple large language models. This workflow delivers a tailored, secure, and scalable AI language framework for clients. Providing an understanding of language, context, emotion, and tone, these demos showcase the types of dynamic, low-latency interactions made possible by AI.

An animatronic in the form of an alien sits atop a crate.

Meet Wormhole, our animatronic alien, at the AWS booth (#708).

Wormhole, our out-of-this-world animatronic alien, will be stationed at our kiosk, ready to chat with passersby. Connected to the cloud and powered by AWS AI tools, including Bedrock, Amazon Sagemaker and Amazon Polly, Wormhole demonstrates lifelike movement and speech and serves as a prototype for the kinds of human-to-robot creations that are made possible by advances in AI—with a touch of humor.

After chatting up Wormhole, stick around for a showcase of Novo, a lifelike virtual human. The ultra-realistic avatar integrates NVIDIA NeMo and NVIDIA Audio2Face, both part of the NVIDIA ACE suite of technologies, to deliver an immersive and engaging conversational experience.

Don’t miss informative talks throughout GTC.

How Media.Monks Builds Generative AI Experiences (March 20, 10am PDT)

If you want to learn more about Wormhole and how it all came together, don’t miss this talk led by Iran Reyes (VP, Global Head of Engineering, Media.Monks), Peter Altamirano (VP, Global Head of Technology, Media.Monks), and Gregoire Rouyer (Global Partner Strategy Lead, AWS). Taking viewers behind the scenes into the creation of Wormhole, the trio will discuss relevant AWS AI tools, including Bedrock, Amazon Sagemaker and Amazon Polly. Learn how it was built and pose your questions to the team!

Revolutionizing Fan Engagement: Unleashing the Power of AI in Software-Defined Production (March 21, 10am PDT)

Presented by Lewis Smithingham, SVP of Innovation and Creative Solution at Media.Monks, this talk will discuss how software-defined broadcast and Monks.Flow for Media and Entertainment are transforming broadcast and unlocking cost reduction, content scalability, talent acquisition, sustainability and more.

Our advanced live production pipeline is powered by NVIDIA hardware, including NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs and NVIDIA L40S GPUs, to support 8K 60fps pipelines for live broadcast. Media.Monks’ latest iteration of broadcast and content delivery tools integrates NVIDIA Holoscan for Media to serve hyper-personalized content to fans across new media formats. In order to build this content at speed and scale, Media.Monks utilizes the NVIDIA DeepStream SDK, part of the NVIDIA Metropolis platform for developing vision AI solutions, to identify in-frame images within specific broadcast segments. It also uses the NVIDIA NeVA model, hosted with the NVIDIA Triton Inference Server, which etches relevant metadata information to accurately deliver the segment to interest-based audience groups. Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) is used to aggregate and segment audience data sets, and, in turn, serve hyper-personalized content to viewers with incredible precision. Finally, the software-defined production pipeline brings together a series of technologies from AWS, including EC2 (instance types G4dn and G5), CloudFront, Route 53, CloudWatch, and CloudTrail.

Watch the presentation to learn how it all comes together to help brands and broadcast rights-holders reach incredibly specific and granular audiences—for example, a basketball viewer in Utah who likes rap music, collecting sneakers, and gaming.

Image of a volleyball game overlaid with digital information.

Augmented by AI, software-defined production enables brands to create hyper-personalized content at speed and scale.

AI Orchestration for the CMO with Monks.Flow

Take a look at Monks.Flow, our professional managed service for marketers that trades manual workloads for AI workflows. The platform-agnostic orchestration tool is designed to work across an organization’s existing tech stack and is built around the unique needs of the enterprise. Monks.Flow and our consulting practice help CMOs reduce costs, select tools and partners, develop model and owned data strategies, integrate teams, build business intelligence and maximize marketing impact.

Our latest Monks.Flow release is Persona.Flow, which provides deep consumer intelligence by simulating detailed, interactive consumer personas that are engaged in a question-and-answer format. Facilitated by a RAG framework that orchestrates brand and factual consumer data, Persona.Flow provides brands with the insights they need to fuel content generation and creativity at scale.

While we’ll have videos at the kiosk inside AWS booth #708 demonstrating the abilities of Monks.Flow, VP, Emerging Tech and R&D Sander van der Vegte and EVP, Innovation Michael Dobell will also be presenting on the solution at the nearby AWS In-Booth Theatre, located at the AWS booth. Stop by on March 20 at 1:50pm PDT for the formal presentation, or stop by at our kiosk any time to learn more. Viewers will learn firsthand how AI-powered workflows are enabling marketing-led transformation across the enterprise.

We can’t wait to see you!

As we approach NVIDIA GTC, we invite everyone to join us in exploring the incredible potential of AI and machine learning. From advanced workflows to immersive conversational experiences, we’re excited to provide a glimpse into how these technologies are transforming the industry now, not just in the future. We hope to see you there!

Check out everything we’ll be up to at NVIDIA GTC 2024, both on the stage and on the floor. AI Nvidia GTC AI & Emerging Technology Consulting Industry events AI

Harnessing the Power of AI: A Consultant's Perspective

Harnessing the Power of AI: A Consultant's Perspective

AI AI, AI & Emerging Technology Consulting, Measurement 2 min read
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Written by
Tim Fisher
SVP Measurement - Head of EMEA

Man versus machine playing chess

As an experienced consultant who has been building Market Mix Modelling (MMM) models since 2006, I understand the importance of delving deeper into data. It is crucial to uncover the “other” drivers of a business that may not be reflected in the data alone. These factors could range from regulatory changes to operational glitches or even roadworks that limit access to a store. By considering these nuances, I can build confidence in the recommendations around the controllable factors we make. This process involves spending hours researching and engaging with stakeholders to gather insights and build a robust model.

In the past, the idea of providing an automated MMM solution has terrified me. Blackbox solutions, which lack transparency, are as unsettling to me as they are to clients. However, the challenge lies in the fact that clients now demand speed and relevancy to ensure MMM thrives as it should. They require more models across their portfolio, greater granularity to account for channel fragmentation, and faster results and recommendations based on the latest campaigns and market conditions. If MMM cannot keep up with these demands, clients may resort to using easily accessible information, risking the possibility of making incorrect decisions based on inadequate data.

Therefore, I believe it is our role as experienced consultants to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to meet these needs, whilst simultaneously ensuring we still have a thorough understanding of the decisions which are being made within the process. We must guide the machine, set boundaries for AI, and sometimes intervene to provide information that the algorithms may not currently know or be able to find. AI and ML advancements should be utilized to build the core models, streamline hypothesis testing, and handle the heavy lifting. And we need to appreciate that a model itself provides limited insights. We (the consultants) must bridge the gap between the model and actionable recommendations, translating the statistics and the numbers into a language that clients understand and can implement.

The best approach combines the speed of machines with the detailed craftsmanship of the econometrician. It is a fusion of AI capabilities and the expertise of consultants that yields the most valuable outcomes. If you find yourself lacking in either aspect, I encourage you to get in touch with us. We would be delighted to discuss our approach further, ensuring that you benefit from the best of both worlds.

AI and ML offer immense potential for MMM, but they must be leveraged in a thoughtful and supervised manner. By guiding the machines, setting boundaries, and providing human expertise, we can unlock the full power of AI while ensuring accurate and actionable recommendations. Let us embrace the synergy between technology and human insights to drive success in the dynamic landscape of marketing.



For more information on how we can help with your Marketing Effectiveness measurement or Market Mix Modelling, visit our Measurement page or contact us.

Embracing the synergy between AI and human insights in market mix modelling (MMM) allows us to drive success in a dynamic marketing landscape. MMM market mix modelling AI Measurement AI & Emerging Technology Consulting AI
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Data

Digital Experience Optimization

Where strategy meets science—driving revenue and engagement through evidence-based testing.

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Our expertise is your asset — we build, you scale.

Successful experimentation is about thoughtfully testing hypotheses, learning from outcomes and iterating on strategies.

We empower brands to forge genuine, personal relationships with their customers by providing advanced, end-to-end digital experience services.

By offering future-proof, end-to-end services for experimentation and applying new standards of success through AI-driven insights, we help brands build a center of excellence for digital experience optimization—or can even serve as your center of excellence ourselves.

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Monk Thoughts Experimentation and personalization lie at the core of our mission to marry creativity with data and technology to deliver transformative digital experiences. By continuously testing and refining our strategies, we can optimize the performance of creative and content, and deliver customers more relevant and resonant digital experiences.
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Here's how we plug in

  1. Services

    Our areas of expertise • Because every business has its unique needs, we design teams that flex for solutions as required. Our program can help you in any of the following areas.

  2. User Experience (UX)

    Our services cover the full spectrum of the user experience, from research to product design and evaluation. We adopt a holistic approach that considers the entire customer journey. This ensures products are designed for specific touchpoints across the global customer experience.

  3. Web & App Experience Optimization

    Strategize with precision and experiment with purpose. Embark on a path where strategy aligns seamlessly with your business goals. We craft bespoke experimentation frameworks that resonate with your business model, setting the stage for meaningful growth.

  4. Customer Experience Optimization (CXO)

    Deepen your understanding to engage better with consumers. Uncover the essence of customer engagement with a blend of AI and real-world insights. Our approach goes beyond data to create experiences that matter, fostering loyalty and elevating customer lifetime value.

  5. Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Optimization

    Each test is an opportunity for revenue enhancement and profitability. Our targeted experiments are not just changes—they're improvements that drive your bottom line. Expect not just results, but also measurable success.

  6. Personalization

    Personalize, engage and succeed. Transform your approach with advanced personalization strategies. We tailor user experiences to individual preferences, creating a unique journey for every customer.

  7. Want to talk more about the program?

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Impact

And it's working

  • 21% increase in mobile enquiry form submissions and a 9.5% decrease in abandonment for a home improvement retailer. This live optimization is projected to bring the brand an £6.4 million annual revenue increase.
  • Increased cookie banner opt-ins by 41% through rigorous user testing for a real estate company.
  • Helped a global telco build a robust experimentation program that resulted in >$1M incremental revenue and $8M in CLV from 150+ experiments.
  • Boosted revenue for key products by 34% for an insurance provider via testing personalized offers based on customer propensity models.
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Case Study

Ace Google Cloud Platform & AppPlatforms expertise combined with a Data AOR helped Ace Hardware drive over 150k reward account signups and $30M in omichannel revenue.

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Monk Thoughts Optimizing digital experiences often encounters challenges due to how data, particularly qualitative insights, is shared and used within teams. Success in product management hinges on finding the right balance in data usage, taking into account the diverse goals and needs of the team.
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Solutions

Here's how we can help

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Solutions

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We are a Google-certified partner for conversion optimization, helping brands of all sizes across every industry. Learn more about our Google partnership.

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mAI Colpevoli • Exposing Victim Blaming with ChatGPT

  • Client

    Sephora

  • Solutions

    SocialSocial CampaignsVideo (TV/CTV)AI & Emerging Technology Consulting

A mission to pioneer change with Sephora.

Sephora approached us with a mission to address the pressing issue of violence against women through a purpose-driven social campaign. Our goal was to challenge cultural biases that fuel victim blaming, showing the collective responsibility of this phenomenon and the total innocence of victims of violence, and also highlight Sephora's steadfast support for women's freedom and self-expression. Launched on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, our campaign, titled “mAI colpevoli,” was born. Translating to “never guilty,” the campaign is meant to challenge the status quo by exposing how common victim blaming is.

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Case Study

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Using AI to expose toxic societal ideologies.

We produced various media formats and edits for both the teaser phase and the maintenance phases of the campaign. Each film recounts distinct and typical episodes of violence: at home, in the workplace and in a bar setting. To authentically portray the harsh realities of the daily abuse that women endure, we began by gathering reliable data from the internet as well as analytics using artificial intelligence. We relied on ChatGPT to create three scripted monologues, realizing that the AI ends up blaming itself—underscoring the pervasive victim blaming that has become the default response to one’s story of gender-based violence. Because AI learns through imitation, this intentional exposure of artificial intelligence and its outputs, shaped by online user data, aims to encourage the audience to reflect on the impact of their online and in-person behaviors.

Championing a voice for the voiceless.

Together with Sephora, our goal was not only to show support for women but also to ignite transformative change by prompting viewers to rethink their immediate response to accounts of gender-based violence. Through the use of artificial intelligence, we aim to provide unequivocal support to victims who were, without a doubt, "never guilty," despite societal conditioning suggesting otherwise.

Digital looking image of a women who sits in a living room. And the logo from Sephora in white on top.

Recognition

  • The Drum: “A trio of videos from the beauty giant Sephora italy to illuminate a uniquely human problem: the enduring prevalence of female oppression around the world".
  • Vogue: "Monologues [...] that provide food for thought with dual objectives: to stir consciences and to encourage greater awareness among women".
  • Best Ads on Tv: "This campaign demonstrates how deeply ingrained victim blaming still is in our culture and how necessary it is to raise awareness and talk about it".
  • 1x The Drum Awards for Marketing EMEA

  • 5x Lovies

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