The Monkeys is dead, officially now. The agency founded in 2006 by Mark Green, Justin Drape and Scott Nowell as Three Drunk Monkeys has become (as of yesterday) Droga5 A/NZ.
“This is a big moment and a very exciting opportunity for the team. We have always wanted to make sure that our people feel like they can make the best work of their careers at The Monkeys. And this has been the case for many years,” said Green, now global CEO of Droga5.
Now with the transition to Droga5 they can also have the confidence that their best work is also ahead of them. And, I am excited to lead the team into this new era”.
New Australian CEO Matt Michael told B&T in October:
“The Monkeys’ philosophy has been the same since the beginning: to create and make provocative ideas happen. That isn’t going to change. As we become Droga[5], that same mentality and DNA will remain in what we’re doing,” he said.
“We’re at the height of our powers with The Monkeys and it’s an opportune time to switch over to Droga and join that team with the global opportunities it gives us with the best thinking from around the world and syncing the team around the globe is really what’s exciting for us.
“[We’re] not ripping up the rulebook, not changing things dramatically but we’re definitely looking to put our own stamp on it together and take it to new heights.”
B&T’s Agency Scorecard: The Monkeys
But what’s in a name and, perhaps more importantly, what’s in changing a name (beyond having to get new letterheaded paper and sign above the door?
The change from Three Drunk Monkeys in 2011 was probably in the agency’s best interests long-term. While fun, the name wasn’t perhaps as client-friendly as it should have been. Not that it stopped the founding trio from picking up work, of course. Early clients included Foxtel, Parmalat and Blackmores and the agency created TV shows such as SBS’s My Family Feast (2009) and satirical adland series 30-Seconds (2009) for The Comedy Channel. Nowell even coined the term ‘EOFYS’, which many brands still use today.
“Some folks close to us argued that naming the agency Three Drunk Monkeys was an act of nihilistic lunacy… but we couldn’t expect clients to be brave and trust their instincts if we weren’t willing to trust our own,” said Drape.
In 2019, B&T crowned The Monkeys our Agency of the Decade. At the time, we asked the founders to pick their favourite work. Here’s their favourite from the early years.
Coming in fifth place was 2009’s ‘The Sun Sound’ for the Cancer Council. But it’s more than just a public safety announcement, the Monkeys worked with musician Ben Lee to create a melody played at beaches, schools, sports grounds and pools reminding Aussies to protect themselves from the sun.
Then, 2010’s ‘Honk If Your Human’ for BBC Knowledge takes viewers on a whistlestop ride through the entirety of human history.
Created with US-based director Sean Pecknold, The Monkeys created two brand identity commercials for BBC Knowledge: ‘Eat Up Brain’ which featured the voice of actor Richard E Grant, and ‘Honk If You’re Human’ which was voiced by comedian Stephen K. Amos.
The latter was the founding trio’s pick.
Other standout work from the early days included 2010’s ‘Kill Hungrythirsty Dead’ for Oak.
And 2011’s ‘The Ship Song’ for the Sydney Opera House (and you’ll hear plenty more from the Opera House later, too). The Monkeys pulled together a stellar line-up of talent to celebrate Australia’s most iconic building including Neil Finn, Kev Carmody, Sarah Blasko, Angus and Julia Stone, Paul Kelly, Temper Trap and more.
Together, they performed Nick Cave’s The Ship Song, with the entire ad taking 10 months to pull together.
Then things really started to shift gears.
In 2013, The Monkeys acquired design agency Maud, led by chief creative officer David Park. The design team worked on campaigns for the likes of David Jones, the University of Sydney and UBank. In 2015, The Monkeys and Maud moved into an upgraded new Surry Hills office on South Dowling Street. It was to be The Monkeys’ home for nearly a decade.
In 2017, The Monkeys itself was acquired by Accenture Song (then Accenture Interactive) and moved to Melbourne and nabbed Holden SUV as its first Victorian account. It then picked up Asahi Beverages after just six months. The Melbourne team even won CrownBet and Australia Post before even opening an office. Ant Keogh joined as creative chief with Paul McMillan serving as CEO and Michael Derepas as planning director. The trio departed in October this year.
The work kept coming, too. ‘Intelligent Sounds’ for Intel saw the agency collaborate with Flume and Finch. Together they created a sound and light installation performed by a robot they built and a band of Intel-powered tablets. The original composition was created by Flume and released on his deluxe edition album.
In 2015, The Monkeys got IKEA into Aussie minds by creating the first-ever Airbnb brand partnership and giving punters the chance to stay overnight in IKEA’s Tempe store. It generated headlines and interest around the world. If it doesn’t seem particularly groundbreaking, you should remember that it was 2015.
And then, of course, there are the Lamb Ads.
The 2015 effort, ‘Richie’s BBQ’ was fantastic.
2017’s was brilliant, too.
The 2023 ad was possibly the best.
And the latest was also a cracker. We’re excited to see what The Monkeys Droga5 has in store for 2025.
“We are nothing without our talented people and amazing clients and the work is testament to that,” said Tara Ford, CCO of Droga5 Australia and CCO of Accenture Song APAC, who joined the agency in 2021 from DDB.
“I’m proud of how the team and the work has developed and evolved. Looking forward to the next chapter.”
Here at B&T, we think that The Monkeys really hit top gear in the last couple of years.
To announce Qantas’ return to international travel post-pandemic, it revisited the classic 1987 ‘I Still Call Australia Home’ and showcased Australian and international destinations and featured Kylie Minogue, Adam Goodes, Hugh Jackman, Troye Sivan, Bronte Campbell and Ellie Cole, alongside the children’s choir, Bangarra dance group and Qantas staff.
A year later, ‘This Is Footy Country’ for Telstra was an epic swansong to the brand and agency’s partnership. Post-campaign brand tracking saw 55 per cent of respondents say it was “the best ad they had ever seen”.
It was also the first winner of our revamped (and subsequently revamped again) Campaign of the Month.
A year later, The Monkeys scooped the Dan Wieden Titanium Lion Grand Prix in Cannes for ‘The First Digital Nation’ for the island of Tuvalu.
“It’s a bold, provocative appeal for sovereignty and global action on climate, announced during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) by Tuvalu minister Simon Kofe. By combining creative thinking with technology to communicate Tuvalu’s message to 2.1 billion people, we didn’t just revolutionise the metaverse as a tool to preserve island nations’ history and culture; a historic Loss and Damages Fund was also approved during COP27,” said The Monkeys.
Earlier this year, The Monkeys returned to the Opera House, releasing the globally acclaimed ‘Play It Safe’ starring Tim Minchin and directed by Kim Gehrig.
Success in Cairns, as well as at Cannes, followed.
“I’m immensely proud of what The Monkeys have achieved and came to represent, but it was never the name that defined the place, it was the people. Those incredible people will now define what the next chapter looks like too,” said Nowell.
“The evolution of The Monkeys over the past 18 years from trestle table to industry-shaper makes it the perfect springboard for Droga5 in A/NZ,” added Michael.
“The natural kinship between the two brands only serves to strengthen what we can bring to our clients and team, driven by a healthy ambition to make as big an impact as possible.”
Perhaps then, the name change is merely symbolic and we’re being overly sentimental here at B&T. We’ll say one thing, though, thank god it’s named for an Aussie. Anything else would be “Un-Australian”.
