Q&A with Wesley ter Haar, Founder of MediaMonks

As the founder of MediaMonks, a global creative production company, ter Haar’s role as head of operations has been key in the growth of the shop. There are now 450 Monks, 10 offices and MediaMonks has won 67 Lions at Cannes. He now heads-up the US offices in LA and NYC. He will also serve on the 4A’s 2017 Partner Awards Jury.

How has digital advertising changed since MediaMonks was founded 15 years ago?

We used to call it “The Internet” which I think captures the main difference between then and the digital now. The work we do is everywhere, and no longer captured or encapsulated on a single (at that time) niche channel. The upside to that is the work we do is now often front and center of the campaign, the downside is there was a looseness to those early years that allowed for more experimentation. The industry has grown up, and with it so has the work we do and deliver.

Has technology opened new pathways for design, or has it simply caught up to our imagination?

I think some of the best work tends to happen when you work with limitations, it’s really about expanding what’s possible within an existing technology or platform that often makes work exciting. The interesting thing in our industry is that the technology that carries the creative content is always changing, and not in a linear fashion. It isn’t a naturally upward swing, often jumping to completely new channels or platforms that are at the beginning of their evolution. It’s a game of snakes and ladders, the playing field constantly shifts and you need both the technical acumen and creative capacity to stay in the game.

How does Design Thinking pervade the work at MediaMonks?

It’s at the base of almost everything we do, keeping in mind that design is so much more than aesthetics. It’s about user experience, use of data, copy, motion, smart integration of technology and more. Our goal at MediaMonks is to design a great user experience, and to do that well requires a very broad definition of design, and a very narrow focus on the quality of it.

You were the head of the Digital Craft award at Cannes this year. What role does design play in Digital Craft?

It’s impossible to talk about Digital Craft and not focus on design, it’s the representation of all the ideas and information that have gone into the work. If it’s bad, the work is bad. There is a broader discussion to be had about what encapsulates design in a digital piece, as it is so much more than just the visual aesthetic, but there is no discussion about its value as part of the digital craft category.

You have offices all around the world, is Design Thinking a global language, or does it take different forms in different parts of the world?

The number one goal for our global offices is to be culturally relevant. You cannot be myopic about design, it’s a global language, but it comes with dialects you need to celebrate and make part of your creative.

To hear more from Wesley Ter Haar and other cutting edge digital leaders, be sure to attend 4A’s CreateTech on November 9 & 10 in New York City.