Accenture Song Appoints Mark Green's Replacements: Bronwyn van der Merwe and Matt Michael
Accenture has promoted Bronwyn van der Merwe to Accenture Song lead for Australia and New Zealand, and Matt Michael to Droga5 CEO. The duo replaces the recently-departed Mark Green, who relocated to New York to become global CEO of Droga5.
The promotions follow The Monkeys' rebadging to Droga5, which will take effect in December. Matt's promotion from managing director to CEO of the agency will take effect from 1 December, in line with rebrand taking effect. He will also continue to lead Accenture Song's marketing practice across the region.
Bronwyn, meanwhile, was previously the service practice lead at Accenture Song AUNZ. Her elevation is effective from tomorrow.
David Droga, global CEO at Accenture Song, said, “How lucky to be going from strength to strength in ANZ leadership. Bronwyn's integrated expertise and perspective, coupled with her deep commitment to both our people and our clients, makes her the ideal leader for this next chapter.
"At the same time, Matt who has a history of leadership and excellence is uniquely poised to lead Droga5, and will shape a local perspective that will undoubtedly have an impact on the agency and its clients globally."
Bronwyn has more than 20 years' experience in the design and innovation industry, and rejoined Accenture Song in 2023 after a stint at Culture Amp as VP of design. She previously created the design agency Fjord in Australia, building a team of 350 across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Japan. From there, she joined Accenture Interactive - now known as Song - as design lead.
Mark said Bronwyn's track record drew him to sell The Monkeys to Accenture in the first place.
“This is a great moment for two truly brilliant people, both of whom I have had the pleasure to work with for many years," he said.
"Bronwyn was part of why I was keen to join forces with Accenture in the first place. Seeing what Bronwyn helped create with Fjord in Australia was a brilliant insight into the potential of creativity, consulting and technology. Bronwyn will lead Accenture Song into a new era and the team in Australia and New Zealand are in good hands."
Bronwyn said she feels "incredibly honoured to have the opportunity to lead Accenture Song’s next chapter, alongside Matt and the rest of the Song leadership team in Australia and New Zealand."
"We have incredible talent and capabilities in Song, including our recent acquisitions of Fiftyfive5 and The Lumery," she said.
"The launch of Droga5 in this market will further strengthen our ability to deliver purpose led growth for our clients.”
Matt has been with The Monkeys since 2011, and has been managing director for more than 10 years. He said the chance to relaunch Droga in this market is "something I couldn’t back away from."
"I look forward to building on everything we have done over the past 18 years with The Monkeys to take the business to new heights, here and globally, under the Droga5 moniker.
"It is an exciting time for Song and I look forward to working with Bron to continue taking our full-service suite of services and bring the provocative thinking and creativity of our outstanding team to our clients."
Mark added of Matt's promotion: “It is great to see leaders grow and expand and it has been a privilege working with Matt Michael for over 14 years. Matt’s elevation to CEO of Droga5 in ANZ is an absolute no brainer and a great reward for someone who has been instrumental in the success of not only The Monkeys but Accenture Song as well. I cannot wait to see where Matt can take Droga5 in ANZ and I look forward to continuing our long partnership.”
Accenture said Bronwyn and Matt will be responsible for leading the AUNZ team "into their next exciting tech-infused chapter while upholding Song’s promise to clients to drive business growth and relevance."
Mark and his co-founders Scott Nowell and Justin Drape sold The Monkeys to Accenture for $63 million in 2017.
