Choose your language

Choose your language

The website has been translated to English with the help of Humans and AI

Dismiss

A Vision Ten Years in the Making by Media.Monks Milan

A Vision Ten Years in the Making by Media.Monks Milan

6 min read
Profile picture for user mediamonks

Written by
Monks

Milan lettering with Italy in the background

Arrivare prima degli altri, comprendere prima che accada, prevedere la next best thing, saper evolvere e cambiare, puntare in alto. Questa potrebbe essere la sintesi di una storia iniziata poco più di 10 anni fa a Milano, tra un gruppo di amici - diventati poi soci - professionisti del settore e appassionati di cinema, pubblicità, comunicazione. Tutto è cominciato da un’intuizione: le agenzie di comunicazione si affidavano sempre a case di produzione esterne per realizzare i loro contenuti, cercando altrove editor, producer, motion designer. In Miyagi, invece, abbiamo da subito proposto un approccio “all inclusive”, dove per inclusività si intendeva anche l’idea di fondere la creatività con la capacità produttiva, realizzando in house quello che gli altri cercavano fuori. In questo modo abbiamo integrato strategia, creatività e produzione sia come nostra forma mentis che come nostro modus operandi, sapendo risolvere problemi subito e prima degli altri, come novelli Mr Wolf della comunicazione. Snelli, veloci, smart. Senza dimenticarci quella coolness che tanto piace a Milano, ma in fondo a chi non piace?

Content first, because content is our king. 

Siamo sempre stati una realtà orientata al contenuto. Ma come si arriva prima? Come si anticipa un trend? Seguendo l’evoluzione tanto social, quanto sociale. È arrivato prima TikTok o i suoi contenuti? Perché certi temi diventano dei trend e altri no? Cosa “funziona”? Dobbiamo tenere ben presente che società e social si contaminano a vicenda, sempre. Uno sguardo attento e attivo, partecipe e non solo da spettatori, ci ha guidato nelle nostre scelte e intuizioni. Ma non basta essere creativi. Bisogna avere una struttura in grado di plasmarsi continuamente, mossa dalla voglia di novità e in costante mutamento, capaci così di adattarci allo Zeitgeist del momento, arrivando preparati ai cambiamenti e non facendoci travolgere una volta diventati sistemici. Eccoci lì, con la nostra bandierina piantata sulla Luna prima che diventasse (pure quella) mainstream.

Anticipare i trend significa saperli cogliere ma anche accogliere, senza pregiudizi, con curiosità e interesse. 

Quando, ad esempio, per Ray-Ban ci chiesero di trovare un’attivazione social, soprattutto per TikTok - un canale dove il brand non era ancora percepito - che coinvolgesse gli utenti e li portasse a realizzare contenuti user generated, ci ispirammo a quello che a tutti gli effetti sembrava un trend in arrivo, ma ancora inespresso. Ci domandammo: che fanno questi in ascensore? Perché si mettono a fare video in cui ballano tra le porte che si aprono e si chiudono verso il prossimo piano? E se ci mettessimo degli occhiali da sole? 

Così, in un pomeriggio su un divano a scrollare TikTok, è nata una campagna esplosiva, di grande successo. C’era tutto, il brand, l’effetto wow, la dinamica di gioco e il perfetto posizionamento del brand all’interno di un contesto come quello di TikTok. Ray-Ban stava parlando la lingua giusta, e si stava pure divertendo.

17.2 Billion Views

3.2m+ new videos created

Engagement rate of 14

Monk Thoughts Quando la comunicazione di un brand riesce a coinvolgere spontaneamente il target significa che è stato fatto un ottimo lavoro
Gabriele Goffredo

Pensiero creativo con approccio produttivo.

Back in the days le agenzie offrivano ai clienti contenuti social principalmente statici. Belli, originali, ingaggianti. Ma statici. E i video erano un altro campionato, spesso nemmeno erano richiesti, perché percepiti come troppo complessi sia da realizzare che a livello di sostenibilità economica. La cosiddetta “macchina produttiva” che andava attivata era impegnativa, richiedeva un effort che era visto come lungo nei tempi e dispendioso negli investimenti.

La nostra proposta è sempre stata, invece, quella di un gruppo variegato, un assetto produttivo con la creatività orizzontalmente condivisa tra le diverse professionalità. La fantasia, insomma, era nel team, che vedeva figure strategiche come videomaker, editor, graphic designer, ecc, collaborare insieme.

Così a un cliente potevamo proporre idee laterali, disruptive, cool e ben più dinamiche di contenuti statici. Ma tutto questo era assolutamente affordable. Non era magia, era il nostro valore aggiunto: creatività con assetto produttivo. Qualcosa di diverso da un’agenzia, qualcosa di più di un’agenzia.

Ai tempi quindi il nostro cliente diretto b2b si ritrovava con contenuti video anziché statici, ma a prezzi che difficilmente si potevano trovare in giro, e, allo stesso tempo, i clienti finali e i consumer potevano giovare di contenuti fighi che si distinguevano dagli altri. 

D’altronde, oggi come allora, quando affrontiamo un brief non ci lanciamo subito sull’execution di una buona idea, ma facciamo un passo indietro e analizziamo il brand approfonditamente. Questo ci permette di individuare, non solo i problemi di business, ma tutti gli aspetti che hanno portato a quel problema, per poter dare una soluzione creativa che non sia soltanto bella ma anche efficace. E coerente.

Monk Thoughts Smart production non è solo un claim. È una regola d'oro che ogni agenzia creativa deve seguire se vuole essere rilevante nel mercato contemporaneo.
Francesco Bragonzi

Smart fa rima con flessibilità.

Oggi sempre di più abbiamo a che fare con un mondo liquido, dove i progetti si fondono con i canali, i brand con i contenuti, e le dinamiche sono ancora più veloci e in continua evoluzione. Non è più tempo per ragionare in una sola direzione, ma bisogna avere uno sguardo ampio, per sapersi declinare in tanti aspetti diversi.

Il nostro essere “smart” è soprattutto una flessibilità produttiva, che si adatta in continuazione a qualsiasi esigenza. Ci sono progetti che iniziano in un modo e poi evolvono in nuove forme e possibilità, come riuscire a non andare in tilt?

Progettando sin dal principio sapendo anticipare problematiche e necessità. Non si può essere rigidi, pena trovarsi bloccati ad ogni step imprevisto. Ed ecco che allora il nostro portarci avanti, vedere lungo, saperci adattare diventa un metodo e una mentalità che riguarda tutti i reparti, dalla creatività alla produzione.

Alzi la mano chi ama gli imprevisti, ma se diventano uno stimolo, allora siamo pronti a metterci in gioco.

In questo modo smontare e rimontare un piano produttivo diventa parte del percorso, un lavoro di team che si adatta alle esigenze e che si pone come obiettivo sempre la qualità e l’efficacia del risultato.

Monk Thoughts L’approccio produttivo modulare e flessibile da sempre definisce il nostro modo di pianificare e affrontare progetti diversi, nei quali le competenze si fondono e si contaminano. È un valore, un mindset, un posizionamento di mercato.
Tommaso Marucchi

La tecnologia come super potere.

L’intelligenza artificiale è il grande tema di questi giorni. Il mondo si divide tra chi la vede come la fine dell’umanità e chi come la via verso un futuro migliore. 

Per noi l’AI deve essere un alleato, uno strumento al nostro servizio. 

Se quando abbiamo iniziato la nostra avventura, oltre 10 anni fa, ci siamo saputi inserire nel mercato come un’agenzia diversa dalle altre, proprio perché il nostro metodo e il nostro “know how” sapeva essere un valore aggiunto, oggi vogliamo essere i primi a saper interpretare le nuove tecnologie, integrandole nel modo in cui lavoriamo.

Invece di averne paura, dobbiamo conoscerla, capirla, studiarla. E farla diventare parte del nostro team. 

Ci piace pensare l’AI come un super potere nelle nostre mani, e - proprio perché di potere si tratta - citando Spiderman “da grandi poteri derivano grandi responsabilità”. Tradotto in ambito Monks, l’AI è un’enorme occasione per migliorare la qualità del lavoro. Sta a noi decidere come.

In primis integrandola nella nostra routine lavorativa, come supporto utile e non come scorciatoia. Per un copy è un alleato nel realizzare tante variazioni sul tema, testare idee e contenuti, giocare a generare testi che possano dare nuove ispirazioni. Per un art è un modo per poter viaggiare con la fantasia, spingere l’acceleratore su idee complesse e audaci, potendosi permettere di sfruttare al massimo il tempo. La velocità che ci offre l’AI non è tanto nel fare in meno tempo quello che prima richiedeva ore, quanto invece poter fare di più, potersi dedicare più approfonditamente alle vere priorità, e non bloccare processi creativi per compilare dei documenti.

L’AI si inserisce nel nostro percorso smart e flessibile, perché, oggi come ieri, siamo capaci di essere sempre competitivi e veloci, abbattendo i costi, ma fornendo qualità e originalità. Ecco perché vogliamo essere pronti da subito, prima degli altri, imparando a governarla, gestirla e prevedendone utilizzi e nuovi scenari. In linea con la nostra storia, ci piace farci trovare pronti e sempre preparati.

Monk Thoughts Giocare d'anticipo, anticipare i trend, per acquisire un vantaggio competitivo. Questa è la vision, lo spirito imprenditoriale con cui abbiamo sempre approcciato alla nostra industry e al nostro business. Con questa prontezza proponiamo ai nostri clienti azioni evolutive piuttosto che soluzioni ai problemi.
Giuseppe Azzone

We’ll be there for you.

E adesso? Continueremo ad esserci prima degli altri, affamati di curiosità e carichi di entusiasmo. Milano ci ha insegnato a essere sempre aperti al futuro e in ascolto rispetto a quello che accade intorno a noi. Ci è sempre piaciuto arrivare dritti all’obiettivo con idee concrete, coerenti e realizzabili, ma quando ci vuole anche stupire con effetti speciali. Crediamo nel valore del team inteso davvero come gruppo di persone che collabora per condividere insieme una passione comune. È emozionante e una bella soddisfazione allargare oggi sempre di più il nostro gruppo, aprendoci a nuovi mondi e ad un contesto internazionale. Sentirci, dopo averla sempre cercata, un po’ anche noi quella “next best thing”.

Miyagi, ora Media.Monks Milano, porta un approccio "tutto incluso" unendo creatività con capacità di produzione, tutto internamente. creative design creative production in housing content production

A Vision Ten Years in the Making

A Vision Ten Years in the Making

Monks news Monks news, Social, Studio 6 min read
Profile picture for user mediamonks

Written by
Monks

Milan lettering with Italy in the background

Enjoy this article in Italian as well.

Getting there before others, understanding before it happens, predicting the next best thing, knowing how to evolve and change, aiming high. This could be the summary of a story that began just over ten years ago in Milan, between a group of friends who later became partners: professionals and enthusiasts of cinema, advertising and communication.

It all started with a hunch: communication agencies always relied on external production houses to create their content, looking elsewhere for editors, producers and motion designers. At Miyagi—now Media.Monks Milan—we immediately proposed an "all inclusive" approach, where inclusiveness also meant the idea of ​​merging creativity with production capacity, creating in house what others were looking for outside. In this way we have integrated strategy, creativity and production both as our mindset and as our modus operandi, knowing how to solve problems immediately and before others, like the new Mr. Wolf of communication. Lean, fast, smart, without forgetting that coolness that is so popular in Milan.

Content first, because content is our king. 

We have always been a content-oriented company. But how do you get there first? How do you anticipate a trend? You do it by following the evolution of both culture and social media. Which came first, TikTok or its content? Why do certain themes become trends and others don’t? What “works?” We must keep in mind that society and social media always influence each other.

It’s not enough to be creative. We need to have a structure capable of continuously shaping itself, driven by the desire for novelty and constant change, and thus become capable of adapting to the zeitgeist of the moment. There we were, with our flag planted on the moon before it became mainstream.

Anticipating trends means knowing how to grasp them but also welcoming them, without prejudice, with curiosity and interest.

When, for example, for Ray-Ban they asked us to launch a social activation on TikTok—a channel where the brand was not yet established—with the goal of eliciting user generated content, we sought to understand the inkling of what would become common tropes: what are these people doing in the elevator? Why do they start making videos of themselves dancing between doors that open and close on the next floor? What if they put on sunglasses?

Thus, in one afternoon on a sofa scrolling TikTok, an explosive, highly successful campaign was born. It was all there: the brand, the wow effect, the gameplay mechanics and the perfect positioning of the brand within a context like that of TikTok. Ray-Ban was speaking the right language, and it was having fun too. The campaign earned 17.2 billion views, 3.2+ million new videos and an engagement rate of 14%.

Monk Thoughts When a brand's communication manages to spontaneously involve the target, an excellent job has been done.
Gabriele Goffredo

Creative thinking with a productive approach.

Back in the day, agencies offered clients mostly static social content. Beautiful, original, engaging—but static. And videos were another category, often not even requested, because they were perceived as too complex both to create and in terms of economic sustainability. The so-called "production machine" was demanding, requiring an effort that was seen as time-consuming and expensive in investment.

Our mindset, however, has always been that of a varied group, a production structure with creativity shared horizontally between each profession. In short, the team saw the power of strategic figures such as videomakers, editors, graphic designers, etc., collaborating together. Thus we could propose lateral, disruptive, cool and much more dynamic ideas to a client than static content. And all this was absolutely affordable. It wasn't magic, it was our added value: creativity with a production structure. Something different from an agency, something more than an agency.

At the time, therefore, our direct B2B customer found himself with video content instead of static, but at prices that were difficult to find elsewhere. And at the same time, end customers and consumers could benefit from cool content that stood out from the others.

On the other hand, when we face a brief we don't immediately launch into the execution of a good idea. We take a step back and analyze the brand in depth. This allows us to identify not only the business problems, but all the aspects that led to that problem, in order to be able to provide a creative solution that is not only beautiful but also effective. And consistent.

Monk Thoughts Smart production is not simply a claim. It is a golden rule each creative agency needs to follow if it wants to be relevant in the contemporary market.
Francesco Bragonzi

Smart flexibility.

Today we are increasingly dealing with a dynamic world, where projects merge with channels, brands with content, and the dynamics are even faster and constantly evolving. There is no longer time to think in just one direction; but we need to have a broad outlook, to be able to interpret ourselves in many different aspects.

Our being "smart" is above all a productive flexibility, which continuously adapts to any need. There are projects that start one way and then evolve into new forms and possibilities, how do you manage not to go haywire? By planning from the beginning and knowing how to anticipate problems and needs. You cannot be rigid, otherwise you will find yourself blocked at every unexpected step. And so moving forward, taking a long view and knowing how to adapt becomes a method and a mentality that concerns all departments, from creativity to production.

In this way, dismantling and reassembling a production plan becomes part of the journey, a team effort that adapts to needs and which always focuses on the quality and effectiveness of the result.

Monk Thoughts The modular and flexible production approach has always defined our way of planning and tackling different projects, in which skills merge and influence each other. It is a value, a mindset, a market positioning.
Tommaso Marucchi

Technology as a superpower.

Artificial intelligence is the big theme these days. The world is divided between those who see it as the end of humanity and those who see it as the path to a better future. For us, AI must be an ally, a tool at our service.

If when we started our adventure, over ten years ago, we were able to enter the market as an agency different from the others, precisely because our method and our "know-how" could be an added value, today we want to be the first to know how to interpret new technologies and integrate them into the way we work. Instead of being afraid of it, we must know it, understand it, and study it. And make her become part of our team.

We like to think of AI as a super power in our hands, and—to quote Spiderman—"with great power comes great responsibility." Translated into the Monks context, AI is a huge opportunity to improve the quality of work. It's up to us to decide how.

One way is by integrating it into our work routine, as a useful support and not as a shortcut. For copy, it is an ally in creating many variations on the theme, testing ideas and content, and generating text that can provide new inspiration. For an artist it is a way of being able to travel with the imagination, accelerating the creation of complex and daring ideas, allowing oneself to make the most of time. The speed that AI offers us is not so much in doing in less time what previously took hours, but rather being able to do more, being able to dedicate ourselves more deeply to real priorities and not blocking creative processes.

AI is part of our smart and flexible path, because, just like in our early days, we are capable of remaining competitive, fast and cost-efficient without sacrificing quality and originality. This is why we want to be ready immediately, before others, learning to govern it, manage it and foresee its uses and new scenarios. In line with our history, we like to be ready and always prepared.

Monk Thoughts Playing in advance, anticipating trends, to gain a competitive advantage. This is the vision, the entrepreneurial spirit with which we have always approached our industry and our business. With this readiness, we propose transformative actions to our customers rather than solutions to problems.
Giuseppe Azzone

We’ll be there for you.

And now? We will continue to be there before others, hungry for curiosity and full of enthusiasm. Milan has taught us to always be open to the future and listen to what is happening around us. We have always liked getting straight to the goal with concrete, coherent and achievable ideas, but we also want to amaze. We believe in the value of the team as a group of people who collaborate to share a common passion together. It is exciting and a great satisfaction to expand our group more and more today, opening ourselves up to new worlds and an international context. After always looking for it, we too feel a bit like that "next best thing."

Miyagi—now the Media.Monks Milan—bring an "all inclusive" approach by ​​merging creativity with production capacity, and creating in house what others were looking for outside. creative design creative production in housing content production Social Studio Monks news

Is It Time to Go All-in on In-Housing?

Is It Time to Go All-in on In-Housing?

4 min read
Profile picture for user mediamonks

Written by
Monks

Is It Time to Go All-in on In-Housing?

The growing trend in brands taking their content production in-house has prompted both agency partners and their clients to do some soul-searching. Growing at what feels like an exponential rate—78% of ANA member organizations have taken work in-house, according to an ANA webinar on agency partnerships—some have said that the trend is just a fad.

But is it? Not likely. Half of ANA member organizations work with an agency of record, according to the same webinar above, but only 14% are satisfied with the model. Experimenting with in-housing has the promise of releasing brands from frustrations they may feel with juggling several different partnerships and vendors, though their malleability—every brand’s IHA operates differently, after all—can make it tough to understand which setup works best.

With each organization taking a different approach to in-housing, what are the shared benefits to the trend, and where do traditional agencies fit within them? Tackling both these questions together will help brands ensure their IHA is equipped to support their unique needs.

Why Everyone is Going In-House

There are numerous factors that encourage brands to work in-house. A major one is the need to produce content faster; the proliferation of social channels and their always-on nature requires a constant stream of content for brands to retain relevance. The idea is that in-house agencies offer greater proximity to decision-makers in the organization and can therefore produce content at a greater speed than an external agency relying on briefs and back-and-forth feedback. Though whether an IHA achieves this is dependent on how well aligned and integrated it is with its organization’s business needs, and whether it has the talent or workflows in place to support rapid content production at scale—more on that below.

Monk Thoughts 78% of ANA member organizations have gone in-house.

What IHAs do offer over the traditional agency model is extensive brand knowledge. Though this is a double-edged sword; wholly focused on the brand, in-house agencies often lack the broad experience that a traditional agency offers, which in turn can inhibit creativity. IHAs can enjoy the best of both worlds by tapping into new agency models that provide dedicated teams armed with broad, extensive creative experience.

And one can’t forget that in-house agencies can also save their organizations a significant amount of money. One of the key offerings of our sister company, MightyHive, is to help brands save by taking their media and programmatic in-house. The move not only saves them money, but offers transparency into a previously esoteric practice. As brands embark on taking on these new capabilities, partnerships will remain essential.

A Key Challenge for IHAs: Talent

Despite the benefits to in-housing outlined above, key challenges still remain for IHAs, especially those driven by a need for increased output of digital content. A shift to digital requires organizations to bolster their teams with new skillsets, and IHAs designed to support a growing need for digital content are likely to feel challenged in hiring and retaining this talent. Unilever CEO Alan Jope said as much in the Campaign article linked above: “It turns out that when you’re shifting directly and aggressively into digital, the constraint is not money in the [brand and marketing investment] line, it’s people to run the digital campaigns.”

adidas run for ocean 01

This skillset gap is where in-house teams will continue to benefit from working with external partnerships, often organized into specific skill rosters. We have worked a lot alongside sportswear brand Adidas in platforms and digital activations, perhaps most notably with the brand’s Run for the Oceans initiative in collaboration with Parley.

The global run united nearly a million runners from around the world to raise money for educational programs benefiting those in coastal communities affected by plastic pollution. We lent our technical and creative expertise to build a web platform that pulled running data from partner apps like Joyrun and Runtastic, which we translated into a hypnotic WebGL visualization that grew and changed based on the number of participants and distance run over the course of the event.

The platform is unique for visualizing the initiative’s theme of unity—but not every experience requires a best-in-class WebGL experience, nor does every brand need to hire a WebGL developer. In this case, the technology fit the goal of the campaign very well—and by reaching out to a partner, Adidas was able to meet that one-off need with ease.

Brands Still Draw on Agency Knowledge & Experience

And while an IHA’s dedication to its brand is certainly a unique benefit, this often means sacrificing the breadth of experience provided by an agency or production partner, which can make it more difficult to support new technologies and formats. Unilever is no stranger to tapping partnerships to augment the creative capabilities of its in-house teams. For their Magnum sub-brand, we put together a Snapchat game that’s almost as addicting as the ice-cream bars themselves. We also produced a series of educational Facebook AR Camera Effects for Unilever’s Signal toothpaste brand, which teaches children healthy toothbrushing habits.

Little Brush Big Brush Case Video.00_00_18_22.Still012

MediaMonks is a preferred partner for both Snap and Facebook platforms. The Signal Camera Effect was one of the first educational AR effects on Facebook Messenger, demonstrating the kind of innovations that IHAs can achieve by tapping into partners with a comprehensive understanding and experience in current and emerging digital platforms.

So, are Agencies Obsolete? Not with New Partner Models

As you might imagine from the shared challenges held by IHAs detailed above, agencies aren’t obsolete in the trend to go in-house. Rather, they must evolve their offerings into hybrid models that help “fill in the gaps” in their clients’ in-house capabilities. But there’s no simple answer to this; IHAs will each have different ways of integrating within their organizations, and might focus on different capabilities in the creative, production or media-buying processes. This is where partnerships can truly shine by offering more consultative services—like helping brands align their goals across the organization or achieve more agile workflows.

Partnerships can also solve the critical challenge of scalability. Resources are often tight within IHAs—but work is abundant. We saw this need in some of our clients, resulting in a partially in-house model that effectively allows clients to view us as extensions of their own teams, and dedicated content studios that make them achieve greater global and local relevance, like the one we made for Avon.

Given brands’ dissatisfaction with the traditional agency model, it’s clear that the shift in-house probably isn’t going away. In fact, it may just be the first step in an ongoing evolution in how agencies and clients can work with one another within a fast-changing digital environment.

The rush to in-house advertising is gaining traction. Find out whether it’s just a fad—and where partnerships still fit in the equation. Is It Time to Go All-in on In-Housing? We check in on the state of in-housing and where partnerships fit.
in-house agency iha in-housing in house agency in housing cpg unilever facebook adidas marketing trend advertising trend advertising environment agency environment

Choose your language

Choose your language

The website has been translated to English with the help of Humans and AI

Dismiss