Monks names SEA MD, bolsters regional leadership team

Monks, the purely digital and data-driven agency under S4Capital has named a new Southeast Asia leadership team, helmed by Munas van Boonstra as MD for the Southeast Asia offices.

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Munas van Boonstra has been promoted to the role of MD, Southeast Asia, after leading the Malaysia office and taking regional operational leadership responsibility since joining in 2022. Prior to Monks, van Boonstra had leadership roles at Publicis Malaysia, MYTV Broadcasting and GroupM.

Following the launch of the Indonesia office, Monks has elevated core talent from its team to take the business into a new era of strategic growth. The new roles represent a commitment to SEA as a growth market, with offices in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the importance of leading with world-class local talent.

"Bringing the Southeast Asian perspective to Monks' global portfolio of marketing and technology services allows us to impact clients on a large scale. By combining cultural insights and data-driven media strategies, powered with AI, we strive to lead creative disruption that truly makes a difference. Together with my SEA colleagues, we are dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that shape our clients' present and future success," said van Boonstra.

Meanwhile, Saufi Salleh has stepped into the role of head of clients, marketing services Southeast Asia, a newly created position that pulls client leadership across all SEA markets under his mandate. Clients in Southeast Asia include PayPal, Google, M1, and ABC. Salleh has almost two decades of experience leading clients through digital-first thinking at businesses across agencies. He’s been with Monks since 2021, when he joined as regional business director.

Monks has also given Kryse Ynieto a broader remit, as he will now lead strategy for the region as Head of Strategy, Southeast Asia. Ynieto has been at Monks since 2021, when he was brought on to work with local and regional clients. He has worked in senior strategy positions at companies including Landor, TSLA, and JWT.

Van Boonstra, Salleh and Ynieto are part of a wider management team for the Southeast Asia region, which also includes SEA regional executive creative director Anam AS, Yasmine Mansour head of growth SEA and executive producer Lee Kwok Leong.

Matthew Godfrey, EVP, at Monks APAC, said, “Our new SEA leadership team has deep professional and cultural experience across the diverse region. This is fundamental to Monks' growth strategy. While the business model and our focus on AI-driven workflows deliver the promise of faster, better, cheaper, more, our team’s connection to the market allows us to achieve this while driving culturally rich, digital-first work for brands.”

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