Cannes Contenders: Media.Monks Shares 10 Top Projects from its Creative Mission
This year, Media.Monks has been mixing together art, craft and culture with digital excellence in a potent and heady creative brew, as their Cannes Contenders selection shows. Monks from across the world have picked out their favourite projects, including work for brands like Oreo, Netflix, Brewdog, Cerveza Aguila and more.
LBB has asked every major agency network to share its best work from the past year ahead of Cannes Lions 2022. Check out all the lists published so far here.
Netflix - The Witcher: Welcome to the Continent
Client: Netflix
Agency: Media.Monks
Production Company: Media.Monks
Sophie Dean, Associate Account Director:
What I love about this piece of work is that by putting the fans and the fan’s desires at the centre, it offers a digital experience that fully immerses you into the brand world of The Witcher. The project utilises so many of Media.Monks’ capabilities and brings them together to create one completely engaging and cohesive journey; from best-in-class website design, to interactive development, illustration and animation, and not to mention the user-first approach to the creative concept. We know that for brands to truly create a long-lasting impact on their audience, the brand world needs to extend far beyond the product and campaigns and into something tangible that users can feel a part of. This platform completely embodies that notion—it’s not just a marketing tool, but an additional piece of content that adds value to a user’s experience.
Mexican Football Federation - Mario
Client: Mexican Football Federation
Agency: Media.Monks
Production Company: Media.Monks
Johanna Lubin, Creative Producer:
I’m learning about Maribel's journey through this film and it's truly inspiring. It takes the courage of one person to shake things up and in this case, it literally changed the game.
I love that they used a true story to tell the tale of discrimination and the strength it takes to overcome it. This reminds everyone of the importance of empathy and understanding one another. She not only pushed through adversity, but also became the women’s national team’s historical top scorer! It’s a story of resilience that everyone can relate to in their own way and be inspired by it.
This campaign shows how Media.Monks is able to create an impactful film, thoughtfully choosing a female director from the lgbtq+ and feminist active groups who could really relate to Maribel's story, as well as develop a perfect go-to-market strategy, launching the campaign on the national day against discrimination. Moreover, it shows Media.Monks' capabilities to create and produce a film with stunning cinematography and a narrative that amplifies women’s voices. The film truly empowers them and refocuses the debate on the sport itself, no matter the gender playing it.
Moncler - #MONDOGENIUS 2021: Interactive Livestream Experience
Client: Moncler
Agency: Google Creative Works Italy and EMEA
Production Company: Media.Monks
Vincent Quak, Associate Creative Director:
What I love about this project is that even though it was forced into digital execution due to the pandemic, the outcome is one that will stay interesting and relevant long after this time. From design to sound, film and interactive live streams, everything you can do on the internet is here and it’s very inspiring to see how the team turned it into a cohesive and engaging experience. Next to that, it’s the ultimate showcase of the production power we have at Media.Monks, combining film with beautiful design and innovative tech.
Burberry - TB Summer Monogram Landscapes
Client: Burberry
Agency: Media.Monks
Production Company: Media.Monks
Keeke van Paassen, Content Writer EMEA:
This project for Burberry is not only an amazing piece of art, it’s also a perfect visualisation of the brand’s heritage in nature and modernity. On top of that, the campaign is incredibly aesthetically pleasing and has a very serene and mysterious yet exciting feeling to it. While both installations are completely different in terms of creative concept and execution, they flawlessly tie together Burberry’s focus on technology and sustainability as well as celebration of the unexpected, exploration and nature’s inspiration. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve watched this campaign over and over again—it’s safe to say, when it comes to creating sustainable digital campaigns, this one has definitely raised the bar.
Aguila - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Client: Cerveza Aguila
Agency: Media.Monks
Production Company: Media.Monks
Jelske Driessen, Creative:
What I love about this project is that it is a perfect example of how successful and fun campaigns are if you dive deeper into the culture of your target group. This is apparent in everything within the campaign, from insights into important cultural heritage in music and literature to the love for modern-day popular Colombian artists, events and platforms. Not only is this campaign relevant for the target audience, it also completely makes sense for the Áquila brand to launch a project like this—highlighting their knowledge of and roots in Colombian culture and trying to reach their audience in a meaningful way is typical for their brand. This project proves how coherently a campaign can come to fruition if you work with an agency like Media.Monks that can offer services from start to finish, from strategy all the way to production and going live, taking into account every single creative detail and being able to huddle such an iconic and important group of people to make it come to life for the love of Colombian culture.
OREO x Pokemon
Client: Oreo
Agency: 360i
Production Company: Media.Monks
Sasha Schmitz, Head of Data and Digital Media, EMEA:
This collaboration shows how two brands have embraced their long iconic history, playing into our nostalgia for retro comic book animation and afternoons spent munching on a binge-worthy snack. While it’s a throwback, it’s also vaulting us into the future by blending the boundaries between our real-world cookie and virtual gaming experience—each dot is a cookie! This combination of craft, creativity, and memory is then thoughtfully highlighted in Venice Beach, a place where we’d all want to go and play!
David Correa, Executive Creative Director:
We all grew up watching Pokémon on TV and perhaps even eating oreo cookies at the same time. In my opinion this is the kind of idea that people love to see despite the fact that it is advertising. It’s a perfect idea that any client would love to bring to life, with a product that is so familiar.
In terms of craft, storytelling and innovation, we can see some capabilities from Media.Monks, a cool and smart execution that I have never seen before. What an amazing and tasty partnership.
Brewdog - Lost Lager
Client: BrewDog
Agency: Media.Monks
Director: Taz Tron Delix
Production Company: Media.Monks, Compulsory Films
Vivian Opsteegh, General Manager Film.Monks:
Media.Monks strives to change the work, who does the work and how the work is made. To me, this is a great example of this mission. As with Lost Lager, this film is everything you would not expect from a beer brand, even though you know that these 60 seconds serve as a social commentary to stimulate you to buy Lost Lager. The spoken word artist, the colour contrast between black and white, the sound design, the cinematography—nothing is what you’d expect from a beer commercial. While in this day and age “changing the way the work is made” often means using virtual production methods, director Taz Tron Delix went back to Media.Monks’ cinematic roots and used light and shadows to craft aesthetically pleasing film show on a 35mm camera—adding to the spirit of the brand.
Gorillas - Red Cabbage
Client: Gorillas
Agency: Media.Monks
Production Company: Media.Monks
Ibrahim Seck, Creative Director:
The best ideas are often the simplest. How do you say that you deliver incredibly fast? By creating the slowest movie in the world. The concept of a film that lasts eight minutes—as long as the average Gorillas delivery—and allows viewers to discover hidden coupon codes, is both entertaining and smart. It not only plays into the search for entertaining content, but it also generates traffic on the app. This is probably one of the best examples of how to combine data with creativity.
Anne Frank House - The Bookcase for Tolerance
Client: Anne Frank House
Agency: Innocean
Production Company: Media.Monks
Liam Osbourne, Global Head of Fashion and Luxury:
Technology is a powerful tool, as is storytelling. I'm always impressed by how my Media.Monks colleagues are able to harness the power to create moving digital experiences that both connect and educate people across the world.
By partnering with the Anne Frank House and utilising AR as the vehicle, we did exactly that. Visitors were taken on an empathetic journey to learn about the struggles of those facing intolerance. Supporting the #DontHateEducate campaign, the AR model of Anne’s bookcase we created acted as a portal into the rooms and lives of five adolescents and their varying experiences with discrimination.
Victoria - Cempasúchil
Client: Victoria
Agency: Ogilvy
Production Company: Media.Monks
Vincent van de Wetering, Executive Creative Director & Pitch guru:
Brands that lean into their cultural identity win, every time.
Brands that hope to be everything to everyone often leave the audience distracted, overstimulated and uncertain of a brand’s values. Victoria, to the contrary, dares to be extremely authentic.
In this industry, we all want to make things beautiful and meaningful. So, when we can partner up with a brand like Victoria and offer them a level of craft that makes their Dia de los Muertos ads feel at home in a cinema, it’s like a dream come true. That’s the strength of Media.Monks: seizing an opportunity and maximising its impact through craft.
