Brazilian digital technology company Cricket has become MediaMonks’ eighth international office. The company continues to produce digital work for the Brazilian market as MediaMonks São Paulo. The new office will support MediaMonks’ global business as a hub for producing experiential work. The partnership with Cricket follows after MediaMonks’ acquisition of Stopp in LA and Stockholm in December 2015. With the move into Brazil, MediaMonks grows its in-house production team to 450 Monks worldwide. It also strengthens its capabilities in physical computing and installations, for which Cricket is internationally renowned through over 100 awards including eight Cannes Lions. Most importantly, it brings MediaMonks closer to the talent and creativity in Brazil, according to MediaMonks CEO, Victor Knaap.
“There’s a reason Brazil brings so many award-winning ideas to the stage every year. We’re excited to now be at the source of all that creative talent and partner with local advertising, technology and entertainment companies to turn their best ideas into amazing campaigns, products and services.”
Hitting the Ground Running
MediaMonks and Cricket have been looking into the integration of their teams for almost a year, exchanging Monks from different disciplines to work on projects for both local and international clients. Knaap: “We’ve been looking to open in Brazil since 2014. When the opportunity to join forces with Cricket emerged, talks never stopped. Cricket has the team, reputation and culture that has allowed us to hit the ground running. They have consistently proven themselves as technical innovators, especially in the field of installations, which is an important capability for us to grow in. We are proud to bring them on board as partners and be able to expand their team and offering, and work side by side on amazing digital concepts.”
Cricket cofounder Rafael Fittipaldi: “The growth has been incredible. In the lead up to partnering with MediaMonks, we have added 21 new hires to our team and moved to a brand-new office that is essentially one big playground. The whole space is an amazing place to work and we now have a dedicated lab for our makers and engineers. We’ve been working on some really great pieces of work lately that I look forward to sharing with the rest of the world soon.”
Key for wanting to join MediaMonks was the matching company culture and shared love for digital, according to Alex Fittipaldi, who cofounded Cricket together with his brother Rafael and André Tatiyama in 2004. “We both care a lot about being a fun and easy company to work with yet we’re super dedicated to producing great products. Like MediaMonks, we specialize in technology and production for creative agencies and this deal allows us to do so on a much larger scale. We are now a global hub for installation work. At the same time, being part of MediaMonks has let us expand in a whole range of new disciplines such as games, film and VR that we are now also offering to our clients locally.” Alex Fittipaldi, Rafael Fittipaldi, André Tatiyama and Daniel Magnanelli will all remain with the new MediaMonks São Paulo team as partners.
