MediaMonks hires new ECD as it eyes KL expansion and SEA growth

MediaMonks Singapore has appointed former dentsu chief creative officer, Joao Flores, as its ECD in SEA, Korea and Japan. In his new role, Flores supports the organic growth of MediaMonks business across the Asia Pacific region by developing creative partnerships with its clients to strengthen disruptive positioning. He is also tasked to influence teams across the region with a growth mindset and to ultimately, elevate and the standards for creativity in the region.  Flores leads a team of 40, with 10 more creatives the agency is looking to hire. Flores reports to Joris Knetsch, managing director, MediaMonks Singapore.

Flores' appointment comes as MediaMonks takes a bigger step into the Southeast Asia market. The agency has plans to expand into Malaysia, opening 17 job opportunities for the market, including creative director, digital producer, head of films APAC, head of production APAC, and senior copywriter. Separately, it has also opened nine job openings for its Singapore market earlier this month, to work with the social media account of "a global automotive brand", according to a LinkedIn post by Werner Lucksch, head of social media, APAC at MediaMonks, The roles included strategist, data insights lead, associate creative director, and art director. 

Flores was previously chief creative officer at dentsu. Phil Adrien, managing director, creative group, dentsu international, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that Flores was a critical member of the leadership team in the agency’s creative group and played "a significant role" in building its vision and strategy. Following Flores' exit, dentsu Singapore has expanded that remit of its chief experience officer, creative group, Stan Lim, to take on the role of chief creative officer as well. Flores started his journey more than 16 years ago across the big networks in Portugal, guiding him into the creative leadership at Cheil Iberia. He was then responsible to lead FCB’s creative vision in the Middle East, which guided him into dentsu in Singapore, where he gained recognition while growing the business, being promoted to chief creative officer.

“We are living in a new age for creativity, [and] the pioneers of that mindset are MediaMonks and S4 Capital. How to structure creative teams at scale in this new era? How to define a new creative identity elevating data and tech? And what does that mean for people, for the ones living those experiences? The passion for craft, connected ecosystems and the commitment to create product ideas with a tangible positive impact, that’s the Monks way, that’s my why, and what made this opportunity so appealing to me,” Flores said.

Knetsch said he is excited to work with Flores adding that he is known for his creative leadership and disruptive creative process, as well as vision for integrated ideas which positively impacts people, businesses and culture. Knetsch also said that the both of them share the passion for creative excellence, and with the rest of the team, MediaMonks is perfectly set up to "scale to new heights". 

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