World-renowned ad-man and Sydney creative director Christen Monge has passed away at his Sussex home. Monge was thought to be only 61 years old.
For more than three decades Monge was active in the advertising space in several countries. He was well-known to the Sydney advertising industry, being brought into Ogilvy Sydney from Ogilvy London in 1988 as creative director, and remaining active in the Australian industry until 1992.
Key accolades include launching Fosters in the UK and working on some of Guinness' most iconic adverts.
In 2010 he left advertising to renovate Kingscote Estate Vineyard in Sussex
Former Ogilvy chairman John Hopkins paid tribute to Monge on hearing of his passing:
"When I was running Ogilvy in Sydney I, with the help of others, was able to persuade Christen to come to Australia and work with me as creative director. This must be a dreadful time for his wife and young children. They still had so much to achieve together.
"As a past colleague I am more fortunate. Yes I too am sad, but I'm also lucky - our team with Christen managed to achieve so much together as we challenged each other to do outstanding/interesting work that sold stuff, hire talented people, further improve the image of Ogilvy's, try and keep head office at bay and in the process have considerable fun.
May that spirit that he had for big and unusual ideas be remembered by those trying to create sales for their clients in the advertising world today."
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