S4 Capital's Monks Accelerates Regional Growth Strategy in EMEA and APAC Expanding Nirvik Singh's Remit to APAC, Names Ash Smith Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific and Fay Denis du Peage Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand

LONDON, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Monks, the purely digital, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc, today announced an evolution of its regional leadership across EMEA and Asia-Pacific. As global brands demand more agile, connected and AI-enabled marketing models, Monks is expanding its integrated Marketing and Technology Services footprint to help multinational clients operate at speed and scale across both regions.

Positioned as a change agent for modern enterprise brands, Monks unifies three core capabilities—Intelligence, Creation and Orchestration—through its flagship Monks.Flow platform to build brands as living systems. Across Asia Pacific, this evolution allows Monks to deliver end-to-end marketing transformation, helps clients accelerate media performance, eliminate operational silos and orchestrate intelligent marketing that turns real-time data into measurable business impact.

To lead this next chapter, Monks has expanded the leadership remit of Nirvik Singh to lead both EMEA and Asia Pacific, reporting to Bruno Lambertini, CEO of Marketing Services. Working alongside Nirvik, Ash Smith joins Monks as Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, effective 13 November 2026. Fay Denis du Peage has been appointed Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

Nirvik recently stepped down as a Non-Executive Director from the S4 Capital Board to join Monks as CEO of Marketing Services, EMEA. In the new expansion of his role to APAC, he will integrate oversight for Marketing Services across both regions, recognizing the connected growth opportunities and delivering greater value and scale for clients.

Nirvik brings more than 35 years of experience in the industry, most recently as Global Chief Operating Officer and President International at Grey Group. Nirvik has spent decades running multi-region businesses and partnering with enterprise brands including Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Volvo and Haleon to navigate complex market dynamics and deliver commercial impact.

Reporting to Nirvik, Ash Smith will focus on accelerating regional business growth, strengthening client partnerships and scaling Monks' product and solutions capabilities across Asia Pacific. Ash brings more than 18 years of experience across Australia, Europe, China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, spanning product development, client solutions, innovation and business leadership. Throughout his career, he has focused on combining human intelligence, data and technology to create value for brands, translating local and regional market insights into innovative solutions and business growth.

Prior to joining Monks, Ash served as Chief Product and Solutions Officer for JAPAC at Tag, a Dentsu company, where he led the talent, products and technology needed to address complex client challenges, including driving Tag's AI and innovation agenda. Previously, as Managing Director for Southeast Asia, he built strategic client partnerships and developed integrated, scalable solutions by bringing together expertise from across the network, delivering strong business growth.

Over his career, Ash has worked with leading global brands across technology, CPG, luxury and automotive, building long-term partnerships and delivering solutions that drive real-world impact. He has also shared his perspectives at industry forums, most recently NRF and ATS.

"We are excited to welcome Ash to our leadership team in Asia Pacific as we continue to scale our integrated offering and deepen our partnerships with clients across the region. His experience spanning client leadership, product, solutions and innovation will be valuable as we bring together creative, media, production, data and technology to deliver greater agility, efficiency and real-time relevance for brands. As we continue to advance our unitary model and the capabilities enabled by Monks.Flow, Ash will play an important role in translating our regional ambitions into meaningful outcomes for our clients and our business," said Nirvik Singh, CEO, Monks EMEA and APAC.

Ash joins Monks as the company continues to evolve its integrated Marketing and Technology Services offering, bringing together creativity, media intelligence, production, data, and technology to help brands compete in an increasingly complex and fast-moving market. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks is connecting insights, creativity, and execution to enable real-time relevance and turn marketing into a growth engine. Ash's experience in product and solutions leadership, AI innovation and integrated client partnerships will support the continued development and deployment of these capabilities across Asia Pacific.

"The best agencies don't just make work, they solve problems. When people and technology come together in the right systems, we can move faster, think bigger and unlock growth for brands in ways that weren't possible before. That means bringing media, creative, production and data to the table as one team, not a set of silos. Our job is to put clients at the centre of everything we do and help them win through new ideas and experiences," said Ash Smith, incoming EVP, Monks Asia Pacific.

Based in Sydney, Fay Denis du Peage will report to Ash Smith and lead Monks' growth and market development across Australia and New Zealand. She will focus on strengthening the local offering, deepening client partnerships and bringing together Monks' capabilities across creative, media, data and technology.

Fay brings experience across media, data, digital and operations from her career at Monks and MightyHive. She steps into the role after serving as Senior Vice President, Media, APAC, where she has helped strengthen Monks' regional media proposition and drive greater integration across data, technology and media.

"AUNZ is a sophisticated and fast-moving market, and there is a significant opportunity for Monks to bring more of our capabilities together around the challenges our clients are facing, empowering them to become Real-Time Brands. The future of marketing isn't about one discipline working in isolation—it's about connecting media, creativity, data and technology with AI to create better outcomes in real time. My focus will be on making that capability even more relevant and accessible to clients, while building on the strength of our local teams and partnerships. I'm excited about what we are about to create together in the market," said Fay Denis du Peage, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Monks.

"Nirvik and Ash bring complementary leadership experience and a strong understanding of what clients need in an increasingly complex and fast-changing market. With Nirvik's expanded regional leadership and Ash's expertise in client solutions, product, and innovation, we are strengthening our ability to drive growth, connect capabilities, and deliver greater value for clients across our markets. Fay's appointment is an important step in strengthening our presence across AUNZ, with Australia as our largest APAC market. I would also like to thank Kenny Griffiths for his leadership and the valuable contributions he has made to Monks," said Bruno Lambertini, CEO, Marketing Services, Monks.

Media Inquiry

Evelyn Hsu
VP, Marketing and Communications, APAC
Evelyn.hsu@monks.com

About Monks

Monks is the global, digital-first, data-driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global Marketing and Technology Services to redefine how brands interact with the world. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks transforms marketing into a growth engine, collapsing timelines and connecting brands to culture in real time. By deploying bespoke intelligent agents across disciplines and delivering culturally relevant, high-impact creative and digital solutions, Monks solves key critical business challenges across the entire brand enterprise to help brands sustain long-term impact.

Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services and a leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Global Digital Marketing Agencies. It ranks among Cannes Lions' Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-25) and remains the only partner featured in AdExchanger's Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). Named Adweek's first AI Agency of the Year (2023) and The One Show's inaugural AI Pioneer Organization (2025), Monks was also awarded Business Intelligence Group's 2026 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in the Human-Machine Interaction Team category. Additionally, Monks.Flow earned AI-based Marketing Solution of the Year at the 2026 AI Breakthrough Awards and a 2026 Global Generative AI Award in the Agentic Marketing Innovation category. Finally, Monks achieved a record-breaking number of FWAs and continues to hold the most of any partner.

About S4 Capital

S4 Capital is a purely digital advertising and marketing services business built for global, multinational, regional and local clients, as well as millennial-driven influencer brands. The business operates through two data- and digital-media-driven practices: Marketing Services and Technology Services, emphasising 'faster, better and more efficient' execution in an always-on, consumer-led environment. Its unitary structure positions the Company as a systems integration partner delivering real-time relevance in the post-agency era.

The Company has approximately 6,200 people in 34 countries, with approximately 82% of net revenue across the Americas, 12% across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 6% across Asia-Pacific. The longer-term objective is a geographic split of 60%:20%:20%. Marketing Services accounted for approximately 91% of net revenue and Technology Services 9%. The target allocation is a practice split of 75%:25%.

Sir Martin Sorrell was CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million 'shell' company in 1985 into the world's largest advertising and marketing services company, with a market capitalisation of over £16 billion on the day he left. Prior to that, Sir Martin was Group Financial Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Company Plc for nine years.