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Feature
“Even the game-changing ideas we’ve been thinking of you can find somehow that it’s been done by Accenture somewhere in the world.”
Creativity and beyond
The start of the year saw the depar- ture of The Monkeys co-founder Justin Drape. He had been working with Green and Nowell for more than two decades and more than ten years as business partners.
“It’s kind of weird not having him around and talking to him about work stuff, but we talk about other things,” Nowell says.
“We’ve been through so much together professionally and per- sonally. We’re always going to be bonded for life by what we’ve done together. I think he has left the company in amazing shape and with an amazing future.”
Drape has been replaced by Tara Ford - a hire that has been highly commended across the industry. Ford, who was previ- ously CCO at DDB Sydney, is an award-winning creative who Nowell says will bring her creative firepower to both The Monkeys and the Interactive team.
“She’s going to bring a whole new energy for a start,” Nowell says.
“She came in and we announced that she was joining as CCO Sydney and [there was] spontaneous applause. It was this fantastic moment.
“You know you’ve made the right choice when you get that kind of spontaneity from all of the staff. It wasn’t just the creative people who know her reputation. She’s such a well-respected figure, a well-liked figure that hopefully she’s going to bring in a whole new energy.”
While Ford doesn’t start in the role until April, she has already been excited about the opportu- nities she will have working with the Interactive family.
“What I’ve gathered so far is, it’s an incredibly smart bunch of peo- ple with incredibly diverse back- grounds, knowledge, skills and that is really exciting,” Ford says.
“I’ve always thought the best work comes from collaboration and the best collaboration is when you do it with people who have differ- ent views and different skills.”
David Jones.
When it comes to working within the Interactive family, Ford believes the collaboration that happens between the teams can only be conducive to better results for clients. And with all the innovation, tech and tools avail- able within the consultancy, these will only add value to creativity.
This is what she calls “The Monkeys-plus” and was the reasoning behind her jumping into the CCO role.
“It’s everything that The Monkeys has to offer, which is an incred- ible business that I have so much respect for Mark, Scott and Justin setting up,” she says.
“And of course the wider team. But it’s everything they have to offer plus. I think that’s going to be killer in the market or I certainly intend it to be.”
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