Mark Green, co-founder and head of The Monkeys, has two big life-changing events ahead.
Green, his wife and two teenage children, are heading to live in New York, the Disneyland for adults.
There he will become global CEO of Droga5, the creative agency now owned by Accenture and founded by fellow Australian David Droga.
In the process, The Monkeys will be folded into Droga5.
The move, bringing two Australian advertising wizards together, wasn’t a hard one to decide.
“As soon as David (Droga) offered it, it felt right,” Green, who heads Accenture Song in Australia, told AdNews.
“Your gut usually points in the right direction. It's a terrific city, it's a great brand. There's lots of opportunity in it.
“And it just felt like the right challenge at the right time.”
Green has been going to New York for years and his wife has relatives there.
“It's the eclectic kind of mix of everybody just getting on with doing their thing. There's an ambition about it, a creativity, a diversity and inspiration on every corner.
“Everyone shares the streets and shares the city and shares the park, an energy you can feel.
“We've got good friends there and we've spent quite a bit of time there over the years.
“We could always imagine living there at some point and this is the first real opportunity that's popped up.”
He’s been running The Monkeys for 18 years and sold the business in 2017 to Accenture.
“This feels like a move to see the world again,” he said.
He has no regrets. “I've really had an amazing adventure with starting The Monkeys, then selling to Accenture and then taking over the (Accenture) Song,” he said.
“All of those pieces have been really rewarding, and some of them have been really difficult and hard.
“Anyone that builds a business, sells and integrates a business … that's difficult. Then COVID hits and that's challenging for any leader.”
However, he wants the adventure to continue.
“You get a bit addicted to the challenge and that's what I see in the next step as well.”
He’s turned 50 and sees the move as a new experience. “This feels like a front foot experience for the whole family.”
The Monkeys has picked up Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Lion Advertising Festival for the last two years in a row.
It won the Film Grand Prix for Play It Safe, celebrating 50 years of the iconic Sydney Opera House and in 2023 took home the Titanium Grand Prix for The First Digital Nations for the Government of Tuvalu.
How did The Monkeys keep up that pace?
“It's probably taking your brain and focusing it on a few good things, rather than being focused on everything and not actually achieving anything,” he said.
“You've always got to have your eye on what's important in front of you, and the things that make a difference.
“There are only so many hours in the day and frankly working harder is not really an answer. It's working smarter.
“It's just focus and looking at things that make a difference to the business. And I think we've always been good at that.
“I've always surrounded myself with very talented people as well. I think the team has continually improved over that time that we've built a business.
“I feel like it's in great shape and it's always good to get new energy.
“And you don't want to be going around the same block every year. You need to find new challenges.
“And as you get older, you also want to make sure that you’re being a pretty decent member of the family.”
The disappearance of the name The Monkeys is bittersweet.
“It's a send off on a high and at the same time it's going into something (Droga5) with the same ambition, but bigger,” Green said.
“Logically, it just makes sense. As we tell our clients, people buy brands. Emotionally, I think it's largely about the people that represent The Monkeys, and have always represented The Monkeys, that have been why we've been successful.”
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