40 Under 40 2022: Rogier Bikker, MediaMonks

Rogier Bikker

Managing director, Greater China
MediaMonks 
China

Rogier Bikker may well be one of China's most promising figures in the digital sector. Born in the Netherlands, he moved to China in 2009 to launch his first Shanghai-based digital agency, Energise. Leaving Europe to build a career in China may have been unsettling for some people, but this 21-year old’s attention was pulled to the impressive rise of Chinese brands on the global stage.

To share his views with the world, he decided to drive from China to The Netherlands—a three-month journey through 11 countries—using only Chinese brands in a self-initiated project called Brand New China. Once back in Shanghai in early 2015, he founded the creative agency Tomorrow which he sold to Martin Sorrell’s S4Capital last year. As its youngest MD, Bikker currently heads MediaMonks China and oversees a team of  over 100 people.

Bikker’s future-proofed vision saw the agency achieve double-digit growth even in the face of macroeconomic adversity. Under his leadership, the agency won 15 competitive pitches including Polestar China (AOR) and Google China (AOR). He played a crucial role in creating some of the most forward-thinking creative work in the industry such as the world’s first augmented hotel chain for Marriott, the world’s first NFT curated by nature for Burberry, a Lunar New Year dance-off challenge with fans of League of Legends, and partnerships with ABInBev, Estee Lauder, Richemont and Starbucks on their China commitments.

Bikker proudly claims that his team “makes what we pitch”, which is to say that the in-house film, experiential and digital production teams are involved in each pitch. To further augment capabilities, this year, he hired a power-squad of creative technology experts, developers and UX/UI designers and built an in-house motion team. He invested in the agency’s biggest strategic planning team to date, comprising nearly 10% of the total Shanghai headcount. Seventy-two percent of Bikker’s team identify as women while 62% of his local leadership team identify as women. 

In his free time, Bikker brews tea and is a co-founder of Highlite, a sparkling tea brand. The brand is available in over 150 bars and restaurants across China, as well as in the MediaMonks office fridge.