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New Monarq: The Creative Agency For Creatives, By Creatives

New Monarq: The Creative Agency For Creatives, By Creatives

We’re celebrating their vision as they turn one!

 

 

“Lifestyle” is the buzzword of brands today, from telco to retail and even F&B (food and beverage). The strategy? Create millennial content, Instagram-like visuals, hugot videos and whatever else is palatable to the younger and contrastingly, more discerning market.

 

Only few understand what “lifestyle” means or why stock photos no longer work. But if one thing’s for sure, creative work should be left to, well, the creatives.

 

And that’s exactly what New Monarq offers—creatives made by creatives—and their very reason for being. “The inspiration behind [it] was founded on my artistic background, which allowed me to work with so many creative talents and beautiful models for various clients and campaigns,” explains makeup artist and founder Anton Patdu. “Eventually, I realized there is no agency in the Philippines that handle models and creative talents, and so New Monarq was born.” Anton’s idea is to create a one-stop-shop for clients looking for creative services. “From models to photographers and filmmakers, to makeup and hair artists. We even have a [full-service] studio. This makes it easier for clients to produce materials for their campaigns since they’re only talking to one company.”

 

 

This October, New Monarq Management, the modeling arm of the agency is celebrating its first anniversary (New Monarq Creativx's first birthday will follow shortly on January 2019). We look back on the year that has passed, the challenges the young company has had to overcome and a look into their future.

 

Can talk us through how the agency has grown in the past year? What were the biggest challenges you’ve had to face?

“As the founder, I want to be able to stabilize the whole company as the structure is very much different to how I handled my career as a makeup artist. This time around, you have to be a full time mother to each artist or model that you handle.

Consolidating the look of my agency was also very hard. I realized that flying in models was a risk. You don’t know what kind of look works in the market. After about 15 fly-in models, I have finally found the look and market of my agency which is very much seen in the photos we produced for our anniversary shoot.

 

I wanted to be able to show that Filipino taste is high class and global. Flying in models with looks that are not often seen in the Philippine market became the agency’s strength. At first, introducing these looks were really hard as more often than not, clients would prefer the typical textbook handsome men who have the body of Adonis. I tried to stay away from that and flew in young, fresh, lean and cool-looking models; those you see in the runways of New York and Paris. This is the ideal look of the agency.

 

What about the wins you're most proud of?

There are a lot of projects we are definitely proud of, but one project I am very much happy about is when we won a Global Campaign for Clear Shampoo with the whole New Monarq team. Unilever Singapore flew in to see how we work [and liked our output]. This somehow validates the agency’s ability to produce international campaigns.

 

[Another would be] when one of my male models bagged the Penshoppe Colored Hair Wax campaign along with four big billboards on the [out-of-home] prime slot of Megamall. That’s one of my memorable winning moments—proof that we know what works for the local market.

 

Congratulations! That said, any plans to expand to regional? Any exciting updates we can look forward to?

Right now, I can’t really disclose my 2019 plans for the company but I am very sure there are so many things to be excited about the agency. For one, we just opened our new studio in Mandala Park in Mandaluyong, The Creativx Studio, which is a studio and home to our models and creative talents.

 

Complete this sentence, “Creatives are…”

Like a work of art; every eye has its own take on every outcome that is considered their masterpiece.”

 

 

 

Want to be part of team New Monarq? Interested applicants can send their sample works to [email protected]. For more information on the agency, visit newmonarq.com.

 

 

Produced by Anton Patdu

Photography Erwin Canlas

Makeup Boggy Diaz and Angeline Dela Cruz

Hair Renz Pangilinan and Aloja Carvajal

Styling Edrick Paz

Production design Chris Diaz

Props Archetype Manila

Videography Sam Morales

Models Tim Troetschel, Katerina Karpova, Luis Montero, Jared Celma, Evaristo Pereyra, Nicolas Da Silva and Victor Steensig all at New Monarq Management.

Shot at the Creativx Studio

Art Alexandra Lara

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