The Monkeys Will Bring Trademark “Reverse Takeover Mentality” to Droga5 Relaunch

It’s 2011, and Matt Michael has just joined The Monkeys. It’s “25 people in shorts in a pretty sweaty warehouse in Redfern,” and up until a few months ago, was known as Three Drunk Monkeys. Skip to 2015, and Droga5 is shuttered in Australia, seven years after its hyped launch. Now we’re in 2017, and Accenture buys The Monkeys for AUD$63 million. Jump ahead another two years, to 2019, and Accenture acquires Droga5 for a reported USD$475 million. 

Now fast forward to present day. 13 years on, Matt Michael is still at The Monkeys. Two founders have left, the third, Mark Green, has headed to New York to head up Droga globally. His exit from the market means Matt has been elevated to CEO of Droga locally, and Bronwyn van der Merwe to Accenture Song AUNZ lead. In December, 18 years after it was founded, The Monkeys’ name will be put to rest, rebadging to Droga5.

Matt says this time around, “everything is different” for the storied agency brand in Australia and New Zealand.

“The timing, the team, the base that you're coming off,” he tells LBB. “We can't underestimate the role that The Monkeys has in this transition. We've built 18 years of an incredible business with an incredible position, tight links to our clients, a philosophy that was very clear: provocative thinking. The Droga5 launch will stand on the shoulders of that. That's a significant difference. 

“Part of that long term success that The Monkeys has had will translate into what we're going to do with Droga5. And the strong synergy that we have between the values, but also the mentality around business and creativity and entrepreneurship.”

Since 2019, when Droga5 joined The Monkeys in the Accenture stable, the two agencies have worked together. The highly coveted Tourism Australia account, for instance, went to an Accenture “village” comprising Accenture Song, The Monkeys, and Droga5. Matt believes the “synergy” built over the past five years puts the business in good stead. 

“It's not a huge gear change to come underneath the Droga5 banner. It feels pretty seamless. And to some extent, we're already starting to talk as part of this global network, bringing the best of the global positioning and knowledge to bear for our local clients. 

“That's especially true with Mark at the helm. I think he will take a lot of what he's set up over the last 18 years with The Monkeys to Droga globally, and that reverse takeover type mentality we've had for the last seven years with Accenture extends to Droga as well. The two will meet quite harmoniously in the middle.

“We are bringing in some of the Droga thinking, some of the Droga process, some of the Droga approach. They're doing the same for The Monkeys globally. And by the time we get to 1 December, I think it will come together very nicely.”

In May, Accenture pulled off a spectacular raid when it poached Initiative’s top brass - CEO Melissa Fein, MD Sam Geer, and CSO Chris Colter - to set up a media unit. The trio started in their new roles a few weeks ago, and the capability will officially launch in another few weeks. As part of his promotion, Matt will also lead Accenture’s marketing practice, within which the media business will sit, alongside recent acquisition The Lumery.

“We've been talking about media for a little while,” Matt said, so the move has “been on the books for some time.” Accenture pitched alongside Initiative for the Coles account in 2022, for example. “A lot of our clients were like, 'I'd love an end to end solution'.”

“So it just made a lot of sense to bring them into the business and to set this capability up,” Matt said. “And to do it in a new way that the media industry and the media agency industry is not really doing at the moment. Accenture gives us a whole raft of ways to do that.”

Accenture projected confidence in its bench strength when it promoted Brownyn and Matt to fill the void left by the well-respected and high-profile Mark Green. The business was spoilt for choice with external options too, with the likes of Mat Baxter and Peter Horgan on the market. The transition from The Monkeys to Droga will be smoother under familiar leadership, Matt said, and it has given clients consistency and assurance. 

“It feels familiar. I've worked with Mark for a long time, but anyone that's worked with The Monkeys has had a lot to do with me for the last 15 or so years.”

But familiarity doesn’t equal predictability. He acknowledges the market has “a lot of expectation that we're going to do something really interesting.” That’s in The Monkeys’ DNA.

“We've always focused on the work that really works, making an impact for our clients, making as big a dent in the universe as we can in service of our clients,” he said. 

“That will remain our priority. We're a very client focused group. We don't get lost in chasing awards or chasing our tail internally.”

Plenty has changed since Matt walked into that Redfern warehouse 13 years ago; the agency has “grown up.” But plenty hasn’t.

“The principles are still the same, and I think that's what I love. We are true to all those values and all the principles that the three boys started The Monkeys on, and that's been a big influence on me. 

“Fundamentally, being a partner to our clients, tackling business problems with them. Solving those through creative solutions, whether that's an advertising campaign, or it's a book, or a film, or a product, or an experience, or whatever it is, is just still incredibly interesting to me. 

“And to see that produce value for a business, and in turn, how they connect with their customers and their clients, is just a great joy.”