Monks

Notification sounds are designed to steal your attention, but we are taking it back to save lives. Last week we shared Life is Calling by SAINT X, but the melody hides a secret: the entire track is composed of the smartphone notification sounds linked to 419 fatal road accidents in France in 2024. 🚦 In partnership with the NGO Victimes et Citoyens contre l'insécurité routière, we created this “Killer Track” to hijack the attention of young drivers who have learned to tune out traditional safety messages. 📱With 83% of drivers aged 18 to 35 admitting to phone use behind the wheel, we chose to transform a deadly distraction into a call to live. By embedding this warning so deeply into culture, we are moving from simple awareness to active intervention. Take another listen to the track here, 👉🏽https://lnkd.in/e8gc6ZfQ & learn more about this campaign over on The Drum 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/gMCQGap7

How does a brand like Netflix manage to not just join the conversation, but lead it? As the platform’s creative partner for the launch of the new season of Bridgerton, our challenge was to connect with the fandom through pure authenticity. 📺 By featuring Karime Pindter in a TikTok takeover, we worked hand-in-hand with Netflix to transform her organic reaction into a cultural moment. ✨ This is a prime example of Real-Time Branding: a brand that knows exactly where its audience is, speaks their language, and elevates entertainment through genuine insights. Our Senior Creative Director, Polen Hinojosa, says, “Together with the Netflix team, we decided to bet on unfiltered honesty. We managed to speak to the audience in their own language by tapping into a very real sentiment—the experience of receiving only crumbs in a relationship—leveraging a locally relevant figure who is fun and deeply connected to that insight.”

How does a legacy brand turn a single word into a viral sensation? For Kraft Heinz, the answer was as simple as a shout of “MUSSSSTARDDDD!” 🌭Through the design of a real-time brand engine, we helped KraftHeinz pivot instantly when the Kendrick Lamar track “tv off” exploded. This agility transformed a traditional partnership into a live cultural moment that resonated far beyond their core audience, blending creative craft with cultural relevance and earning 2 Grand Clios at The Clios' Music Awards. 🏆 “While the team appreciates the recognition, the work is truly for the culture,” shared our Chief Strategy Officer, Aki Spicer (he/him). “This triumph was made possible through the incredible collaboration between Kraft Heinz and The Kitchen, Mustard and his management team, and all the avid fans who co-created with us.” The success of this campaign proves a repeatable way to win culture rather than a one-off hit. Head over to the LA Times to read the full feature. 👉🏽https://lnkd.in/gXeFBqfE

The traditional agency model is facing a structural reckoning. During a fireside chat at the India Brand Conclave 2026, S4 Capital Group’s Executive Chairman, Sir Martin Sorrell, sat down with Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld and exchange4media, to discuss why agencies must move toward output-based pricing. As generative AI continues to compress the time required for creative production, billing based on hours is no longer sustainable. By shifting the focus to the number of assets produced rather than the time spent, we can better align with the efficiencies of modern technology and the needs of global brands. 📈 “AI is not about technology. It’s about workflow. It’s about simplifying your workflow, automating it, and change management,” Sir Martin noted. “People build silos inside organisations by controlling data and information, and that is going to go.” Head to exchange4media to get the full rundown. 👉🏽https://lnkd.in/g2tsvD42

Love is a high-speed pursuit. For the fans who don’t just follow Cadillac Racing but live for the roar of the engine, we created something a little more permanent this Valentine’s Day. Our team used AI-powered creativity to develop a collection of exclusive V-Series tattoo illustrations that celebrate the ultimate declaration of brand love. 🏁 By blending our deep technical expertise with creative craft, we transformed iconic cars and legendary drivers into bold cultural statements. This application of technology to scale artistry and create meaningful touchpoints for the most dedicated audiences. 🏎️ Whether it is on the track or through a digital screen, the strongest connections happen when cutting-edge technology meets pure human passion. ❤️

In a region defined by its rapid digital evolution, driving impact requires a blend of sophisticated investment strategy and cutting-edge innovation. We are thrilled to welcome our Director of Investment, Asia Pacific, Euan Macdonald, to the team. 🌏 Euan will lead the charge in enhancing our media investment and performance offering, working closely with our strategy and measurement teams to unlock greater value for clients across the APAC landscape. His arrival comes at a pivotal moment as we accelerate our push into AI-driven media, including the launch of Discovery Rewired and new frameworks like engine optimisation and share of model. As media investment becomes increasingly complex, smart and connected investment leadership is more critical than ever, says our SVP of Media, APAC, Fay Denis du Peage. 📈She notes that Euan’s experience working closely with platforms and publishers, combined with his passion for innovation, will help us unlock greater value impact for our clients across the region. 💡 Please join us in giving Euan a warm welcome to the team! Head to LBBonline - Little Black Book to learn more. 👉🏾 https://lnkd.in/gwxCr5iX

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, we’re looking at aspects of innovation that deserve a bit more love. Our EVP Global Head of Data, Chris Wilhelmi, recently lent his thoughts for an article on Insights Association to discuss the evolution of market research. ❤️ While many are falling in love with the latest tech, Chris reminds us that true innovation requires a commitment to integrated intelligence and meaningful data. By pairing the speed of AI with rigorous methodology, we can move past vanity metrics and focus on the insights that drive bottom line growth. 🚀 True innovation in 2026 is about applying the best of our past to the speed of our future. Discover more expert perspectives on why we need to stop obsessing over what we can measure and start focusing on what we should measure in the full article. 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/e2M-Vtzq

The choice is becoming clear: evolve into a technology architect or get left behind as a legacy service provider.  According to S4 Capital Group’s Executive Chairman, Sir Martin Sorrell, AI’s ability to automate visualization and media buying is a “great leveler” that makes organizational agility more critical than ever before. 🤖 Speaking with Performance Marketing World, he explains how automating visualization, copywriting, and media buying will dramatically reduce structural costs, allowing content to flow faster and more efficiently. We’re already building the intelligence to make this a reality by focusing on outcomes rather than overhead. Catch the full discussion on the bifurcation of the industry and our role in building the next generation of AI operating systems at the link below. 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/g6k_PABq 

Love is in the AI(r). 🌹🤖 Tomorrow may be Valentine’s Day, but we’re starting the celebration early with a lineup of digital cards made for the industry. Whether your love language is prompt engineering or first-round approvals, there’s a perfect card to share with your favorite coworker or AI partner. 💌 Download your favorites and spread the love today!

To drive real-time relevance for the Dove Hair Intensive Repair line, we moved past the traditional beauty script and standard makeup artist tutorials that often saturate our feeds. 🧴Our approach focused on brand distinction by tapping into a variety of cohorts in unique spaces, including fitness enthusiasts, creative expressionists, and “unbothered babes.” Instead of a single creative concept, we provided creators with unlimited capabilities to integrate the products into their channels as organically as possible. In managing the end to end execution of the campaign, we ensured that we remained culture-driven rather than just product-focused, allowing the brand to show up authentically across diverse social niches. By empowering partners to lead with their own style, we created a range of content that feels human and maintains social competitiveness. ✨ Check out the unique approach from our partner, TikTok creator @Viva Design Miniatures, in the video below. 🎨