MediaMonks launches in Shanghai to tap into 'Chinese DNA'

SHANGHAI - MediaMonks (摩课士) is officially open for business in China, headed up by executive producer Niels Monsieurs (李傲思, pictured).

MediaMonks CEO Victor Knaap (维克托) said China is a unique market with its own digital platforms and culture, so the company needs to be close to the prevailing platforms to stay current and produce culturally relevant work.

"With a Shanghai office, we are doubling down on innovative advertising platforms such as WeChat while extending our footprint as a global production partner to creative agencies and brands," he said. "We’ve been looking at leveraging the digital infrastructure of China, and we need the Chinese DNA to be part of a bigger picture.”

MediaMonks Shanghai (officially called "MediaMonks Information Architects" for trademark reasons) is the ninth international office of the production company, which was founded in Amsterdam in 2001. Plans for Shanghai have been in the making since 2014. The company already works with the Chinese offices of AKQA, JWT, Ogilvy and TBWA. Its most recent project was for Intel's 'History Comes Alive' produced for JWT Beijing (see showreel below).

Monsieurs is supported by a local team, with Chen Zhang serving as the office’s technical director.  

The specifics around technology in China are vastly different, explained Monsieurs. “Apart from the Chinese firewall, which basically encompasses all the issues in life, it has also created near-replicas of Chinese companies providing similar services as their foreign counterparts. To give an example, if we do a global project that uses a Google API, we have to find an alternative within China to cater to the local market”.