Droga5 announces Mark Green as new Global CEO; The Monkeys set to rebrand to Droga5 as of Dec 1
Droga5, the award-winning creative agency founded by Aussie expat David Droga within Accenture Song, has today announced the appointment of Mark Green (pictured above) as the new global CEO. Droga5 has also revealed plans for international expansion, which includes bringing current CB Australian Agency of the Year The Monkeys under the Droga5 umbrella with The Monkeys’ offices in Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney becoming part of Droga5 as of 1 December 2024.
Green, co-founder and CEO of antipodean creative agency The Monkeys, and currently the Accenture Song ANZ lead, will relocate to New York City and take on the role of global CEO of Droga5 starting in October 2024, the role previously held by Sarah Thompson, who departed in early 2023.
Green, who was appointed Accenture Song ANZ lead nearly five years ago, will work alongside the recently appointed global chief creative officer, Pelle Sjoenell, to oversee all Droga5 creative offices around the world, including in Dublin, London, New York, São Paulo and Tokyo.
Says David Droga, CEO of Accenture Song and founder of Droga5: “Droga5’s mission has always been to deliver creativity rooted in strategy and purpose, that is humanity-obsessed. We create experiences that deeply connect with people and add value to their lives. Mark is a proven leader, who embodies these ambitions and will take Droga5 to the next level of excellence and meaningful influence.”
Says Green: “I’m a firm believer creativity can influence business and people in big and impactful ways. We have proven that our combination of creative firepower and tech transformation is a winning formula in the current market. It’s a privilege to take on this role at Droga5 to steer it into its next chapter, and I’m particularly thrilled to have the incredibly talented team at The Monkeys on board with me for the journey.”
By integrating The Monkeys into Droga5, which has a global presence, local clients will gain greater access to one of the world’s most influential and recognizable creative entities. This integration leverages the immense tech, design and data capabilities of Accenture Song to help clients grow, innovate, and move at the pace of opportunity.
This announcement follows a strong year of growth and success for Droga5, whose client roster includes some of the most influential brands from around the world, including JPMorgan and Chase, Molson Coors, and Tourism Australia, among others.
Droga (pictured above) founded Droga5 in 2006. From integrated communications and experience innovation to business design, Droga5 has consistently helped redefine the global marketing and advertising landscapes with creativity, ambition and reinvention. It has been recognized as Agency of the Year more than 25 times and was named both Ad Age and Adweek’s Agency of the Decade (2010-2020), among many other accolades.
The Monkeys, one of Australia’s most awarded advertising agencies, was acquired by Accenture in 2017. Since becoming part of Accenture Song, and under Green’s leadership, it has experienced strong growth through major account wins, as well as global creative recognition. The agency has picked up Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Lion Advertising Festival for the last two years in succession. This year, it won the Film Grand Prix for ‘Play It Safe’, celebrating 50 years of the iconic Sydney Opera House, and in 2023, it took home the Titanium Grand Prix for ‘The First Digital Nations’ for the Government of Tuvalu.
Green co-founded The Monkeys with creative partners Scott Nowell (far left) and Justin Drape (centre) in June 2006. They each invested $10K with a vision to create the most provocative creative agency in the country.
Drape departed The Monkeys in 2021 saying at the time: “What has always made The Monkeys special, is the talented people who committed to shaping the agency’s culture, brand and story. The talented people who continually turn up and challenge the status quo with their creativity, intelligence and relentless belief in making provocative ideas happen. I want to thank all of them.”
Drape later partnered up with former M&C Saatchi executive creative director Michael Canning to launch Exceptional ALIEN.
After 17 years with The Monkeys, Nowell announced his departure in November last year, at the time saying: “It’s been quite a ride, starting with Mark, Justin and I staring at each other in an empty room to now being part of the most exciting global creative agency model going around.”
Green and Sjoenell’s remit will be to lead the agency into its next exciting tech-infused chapter while upholding Accenture Song’s promise to clients to drive business growth and relevance.
Green’s successor as Accenture Song lead in Australia and New Zealand will be announced in due course.
45 Comments
THIS IS HUGE NEWS!!!!!
TELL US MORE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS HUGGEE NEWWSS!!!!!!!!!!
what an era it’s been
era
SO COOL WHY DON’T YOU BUY OMNICOM ACCENTURE AND ABSORB THAT TOO LOL LATE CAPITALISM
Sad day for the agency formerly known as The Monkeys.
Commiserations. Accenture won.
Droga won.
Wowza that is big news on every level. Maybe too much for one article.
Exciting, proud, sad, wonderful, surprising, crazy, beautiful, inevitable, and everything in between. Mark deserves that stage and opportunity as he had achieved all he could have here. He started with a three and now is a five.
…drop to his knees in Woolworths.
THIS IS HUGGGGEEEEE NEWWWWWSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
What an amazing run. Going but not forgotten.
…The Three Drunk Monkeys
Will it be known as Droga5 (formerly The Monkeys, formerly Three Drunk Monkeys) part of Accenture Song?
‘Guys don’t worry we’re not moving to the Accenture building and we’ll never change our name from the Monkeys’
FINALLY THE EARTH CAN HEAL
so it’s gonna be called Droga 5 but it’s still gonna be in the Accenture offices as part of Accenture Song. With all the bureaucracy and systems and roadblocks that are making most of the best creative people in there want to leave if they haven’t already
How ‘Droga’ is it really going to be? Or is this a lipstick on a pig move like when WPP decided ‘we’ll just change the name of DT Digital to AKQA’ but we won’t change anything else?
Darwin was right!
I get that David Droga is a big name in advertising, but WHY would you think ditching an established name like ‘The Monkeys’ for ‘Droga5’ (which, let’s face it, sounds like a type of agricultural insecticide)? Ironically, it seems like a really bad branding decision for people purporting to be advertising geniuses.
Wow
This is huge huge huge huge. Bringing droga back to australian soil.
Details missed.
Droga5 Aust PL was created in 2007 and then closed its doors in 2015, making all staff redundant at that time.
30th November will be a hell of a wrap party
Where were you on August 29, 2024?
I remember.
I remember exactly.
The warm RGB of my Mac screen washed over me as I gently tickled my keyboard.
‘campaignbrief.com’ I fingered.
And there it was…
Like the falling of the Berlin Wall, or the Apollo 11 landing, or the introduction of stuffed-crust pizza, a moment bigger than Ben Hur. Or, at least Ben Stiller.
My jaw fell to the floor clumsily, like a competitive breakdancer, and I scrambled to collect it.
What was I reading?
Could it be true?
Like an Amish person at Sega World, I had so many questions.
How would I react to this news?
I mean, this news is huge.
I felt like screaming, so I activated all caps and typed in my name: ‘WOW’.
Then I exclaimed: ’THIS IS HUGE NEWS’.
Then I popped on some Enya and explored myself. It was Thursday after all.
…in a fight between Bear and Monkey?
https://youtu.be/RExw_jcdcp8?si=aWXdgto58FVhx-Lk
By the sounds of it, ‘WOW ‘ (and all the other lock cap names), You’ve got a chip on both shoulders.
Interesting how the big boss gets to keep his brand name… but forces the littler boss to get rid of his.
Accenture Song is such a good name, surely you’d just ditch the Droga brand name too in this move? It is all integrated… right?
Congratulations Mark. Clearly well deserved and what a brilliant opportunity.
Seems like all the chess pieces were strategically placed for this moment over a period of time. I know there a heap of positives but it’s still a sad day for the agency formerly known as The Monkeys. Thank you for leaving your mark on the Aussie ad industry.
10 years ago this would have garnered thousands of comments.
Congrats Mark. You and the Monkeys have smashed it over and over. When our best are recognized and given bigger platforms, it is good for all of us.
Such a missed naming opportunity. One can only dream of the world in which the pitch of the year pits MonkeySong5 vs TBDDBOWA OmniCollective.
Portmanteau a portmanteau.
To the death. Or at least to the pain.
MonkeySong5 sounds like a pretty cool agency.
Heck yeah
No comment on all the staff that have left in the last few years. Or staff looking to leave.
I wonder if this version of Droga5 in Australia will last longer than the first glorious one …
Amazing and well deserved for Greeny. One of the smartest operators, and hardest workers, around. End of an era, but undoubtedly the start of a new one.
Smart move the Monkeys name would not work
internationally.
This is big Monkey News
Droga was the top AWARD School student and Mark was a kind of quiet, shy account guy at Saatchis Sydney. Haven’t they done well!
It will be sad to see The Monkeys name cast aside, but taking a global view, the coming together of these two brands has to be a smart move. No doubt with Greeny at the helm the true magic is yet to come. The celebration of just how great the Monkeys has been will be very well deserved.
Holding companies take note. No silly brand smashing together – just sensible and clear consolidation of the most valuable brand assets
Congrats Mark on the gig and the fun life change.
Reading from overseas I’ve always thought ‘The Monkeys’ sounds a little daft. Probably doesn’t go down well around boardrooms.
Sad to see the Monkeys brand retired in name, but in truth it hasn’t been the Monkeys we all loved and admired since Scott and Justin left. Epic news for Greenie. Well deserved.
How does no one seem to understand why this is happening.
Droga clearly knew he wanted to make Greeny the Global CEO, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen if it meant he would have to step away from The Monkeys. So, they changed it to Droga5 so he could still technically lead Droga5 and hold onto The Monkeys (sort of). This is just a way for Greeny and Droga to have their cake and eat it too.
Greeny and Sjoenelle sound good on paper, though. So, not mad about it.