Vale Christen Monge: a class act
Many in the ad industries throughout Australia, Asia and Europe will be saddened to hear of the passing of Christen Monge, a world-renowned creative director from the 80s through to 2010, who died of a stroke at his home in Sussex at only 61 years of age.
Monge is well-known to many who were in the Sydney industry from 1988 to 1992. In early 1988 he was brought into Ogilvy Sydney from Ogilvy London – where he helped launch Fosters in the UK and was part of the team on the long-running Guinness campaign – and soon set about changing the rather staid image of the agency with award-winning work for Homer Hudson Ice Cream, American Express, Philips, Lipton and Guinness.
In the 1990 Campaign Brief poll, Monge was voted #2 creative director in Australia by his peers.
In 1990 Monge left Ogilvy to join FCB Sydney, followed by a long high-flying career back at Ogilvy in Asia and Europe. In 2010 he left the advertising industry, finally pursuing his dream of renovating Kingscote Estate in Sussex, where he planted a vineyard – with the first harvest only last year. (Unknown to Monge, his wines have just won a Silver and two Bronze Awards at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards, proving he was awarded at whatever he touched!)
Former Ogilvy Australia chairman John Hopkins, who hired Monge in 1988, sent CB this message this afternoon: “When I was running Ogilvy in Sydney I was able to persuade Christen with the help of others 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.”
Monge is survived by his wife Alison and four children.
UPDATE – Christen’s funeral will be held at 11am on June 5 at St Duntans Church Cranbrook, Kent. The wake will be held at his Mill Place Farm, Kingscote Vineyards, West Sussex.
40 Comments
That’s very sad news, i knew Christen well in London when he was partnered with Rowan Dean and then later when i came out to Australia….top guy with a wicked sense of humour. A great loss.
Ahhh, shite – that’s really sad news – I worked for Christian, when he was CD of FCB – his ‘listening strategy’ was legendary – and very funny. ‘Bumped into him again a few years ago, and shared many beers and laughs about our days at Foot Sore and Bleeding, where I was very 26 and an absolute pain in the arse to manage. My sympathies to all his family and friends.
Deeply saddened to see one of my oldest and closest friends pass.
Christen was one of the best blokes in advertising….passionately creative, fit and courageous, and always took the path less well trodden. He led one of the most creative eras on O&M.
He leaves four great kids who will shine a proud light on his legacy. I will miss you terribly me old “mucker”. Rip
Monge was a top bloke who was working in an agency called Carter Hedger Mitchell with Rowan Dean when I got my first job in London. They always got the best briefs, they did some great work and he was always great fun and a real gent. It doesn’t seem that long ago, thanks for the great memories matey and RIP.
A man of few but always perfectly chosen words. Here’s proof –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONTgZqL79LY. John Curran is the ‘hand talent’. Christen, fittingly, plays the ‘Chairman’.
Blessed to have had two wonderfully funny exhilarating chunks of time with Christen; Sydney then a great adventure back at Ogilvy London producing brilliant and effective award winning work. He wrote to me a while back ‘I’m working my socks off…English sparkling, it’s the future”. Christen the charmer, the naughty school boy, the adventurer and one of the smartest most generous creative directors I’ve had the privilege to know. Condolences to Alison and the boys.
I was quite literally talking about Christen to a friend this morning. Fondly remembering that even at the height of his gun British creative ex-pat status, he would always quickly return my phone calls. And I was a total newbie trying to break into the business. He was indeed a class act. A true gent.
The best creative director I EVER worked for. A true gent. So sad today.
So sad to hear. He was a lovely man.
Very sad news. Christen was a great bloke and we had a lot of laughs together. I vaguely remember some lanky, Aussie junior running around the agency trying to steal all our briefs – Wozza I think his name was – wonder what ever happened to him?
Chris started life as a planner and an antique dealer. His (first) wife was furious when I persuaded him to switch to art direction. The rest as they say is history.
Chris and I also worked at O&M with Garry Horner, Paul Williams, Sarah Dudley and some other young kid called Andrew Robertson. Wonder what ever happened to him?
Monge will be missed. Sad day.
That’s really sad news.
Christen was a genuine talent and a real character in every sense of the word – the likes of which are mostly missing in today’s landscape.
I had the pleasure of his company both here in Australia and the UK.
Sincere condolences to his family.
Shocking news. Pure Genius will be one of many memories. Many of us Ogilvinies will raise a glass tonight, But I’ll always have him to thank for rekindling my passion for sailing. Even if is was by selling me a share in a dodgy Tornado catamaran in West Wittering. You’ll be missed by many, old mucker…
Christen gave me my first job with an incredibly talented crew at O&M. He was silently intimidating to a junior, yet funny, generous and insightful when he spoke. I’ll never forget his words after my first ever TV ad was approved – “Congratulations, don’t f**k it up.” Thanks for the break Christian. RIP.
I’m very sad to hear this news. I worked with Christen in HK. He was a lovely, funny, generous man, as all of these posts have testified. I’m sure there will be many more. You’ll be missed, Christen.
Very sad news.
I had the pleasure of working with Christen at both O&M and FCB in Sydney and always enjoyed his laconic style.
As a mere ‘suit’ at the time, I always found him to be supportive, thoughtful, incisive and great fun. And the sheer quality of the work under his watch bore testament to his talent as a leader
You’ll be missed Christen. RIP
Here is guy that I really respected creatively in Australia, even if he was a fellow Pom.
Such talent and a trail blazer, and a man who found a worthwhile passion outside this ridiculous industry, you will be missed my old adversary!
I worked with Chris in Asia for a number of years. What a great character. I put my life in his hands on a dark night in Hong Kong in his convertible Rolls Royce – only Chris would have that car!! And I remember some big nights with him in Saigon.
A true professional, a gentleman, an entertainer and a thinker. It’s a sad day.
RIP Christen Monge
He was my boss, twice. Once in Sydney and once in Hong Kong. A class act and I learned so much from him.
When we saw him at Christmas he was so happy to show us his English vineyard, to have us sample his first vintage (excellent) and to tell us all about his plans. Cheers Mate. Cheers…
Christen offered me head of TV job at O&M Sydney whilst playing pool in a pub in London on new years eve 1987. I turned him down and won the game. Once the hangover cleared I realised my mistake and asked for a second chance. That led to the two best years of my working life – made all the more entertaining by sharing a house with Christen. There are many of us from those days who are indebted to Christen for his laissez faire style – he gave us the space to fly.
I was also lucky enough to have been under Christen’s leadership over that Ogilvy period and later he took me up to DDB Hong Kong with him. You have those formative moments in your career and despite DDB HK being great, Ogiivy was it. He had amassed a pretty formidable creative department and i was lucky enough to come in under Mark, on a pay cut, to have the privilege to work with them all. Christen lead with intellect and feel and pretty much showed me (and the rest of us) what really good work was. I will never forget what you gave us Christen. thank you. My thoughts goes out to his family.
I was fortunate enough to work for Christen in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. A true gent who never lost his cool
He gave me my first job in the uk at Ogilvy when I was down to my last 2 pounds.
Thanks mate. Youll be missed.
My thoughts go out to Alison and the children.
Christen was a gent and a generous one at that. When I was working in Hong Kong, he poached one of my art directors. Over a beers later I said, “You owe me.”
Talk then turned to the travails of expat life and I mentioned, in passing, that I was looking to buy a car. The next day a set of keys arrived in an envelope. They fitted an aptly named Saab CD which served me faithfully for the duration of my stint in Honkers.
Sad news and too soon to go. Christen should have lived to a ripe old vintage.
Christen was everything a creative director should be – generous with his time, encouraging, patient and extremely talented. He never gave up on a good idea, nor on the creative team working on that idea. Warm and always good humoured, he was also a terrific human being. Farewell ‘me old mucker’, I learnt so much from you. Gone far too soon.
I’ve discovered that the link I provided doesn’t connect. (Sod’s Law). The commercial I was referring to is worth tracking down. Simply go to YouTube and search ‘Homer Hudson Ice Cream ‘Boardroom’ TVC’. At a sad time, this will make you smile.
Here’s the correct link to that ‘Boardroom’ spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONTgZqL79LY
Christen turned up to a studio I was working in on his very first job as O&M CD …the director who was slated to direct that day didn’t turn up for reasons that are difficult to elaborate on.
Suffice to say that at 7am, upon hearing the disastrous news, he looked at me, merely a camera assistant at the time and smiled that mad trusting grin of his, handed me the script and said ‘OK great, you’re it, so what are we doing?”
That commercial won a Clio!
That was his style: he made you want to live up to the promise he saw in you…
Like many, I owe him much.
Such sad news.
You will be missed Spongey. I will never forget how much you influenced my career.
Thank you for a great start. Farewell mate where ever you are I am sure you will make a huge impact with your debonair style.
A really good CD…got the absolute best out of everyone he ever employed….bloody good fun guy too….far too early…what a shame.
What a privilege it is to have had the honour of working at O&M with this inspirational man. Christen, I salute you. My deepest sympathies to his family
An inspiring, generous, creative, funny, humble, quietly iconoclastic man. His ‘listening strategy’ indeed brilliant. He always had the last word. He should have been there summing up our lives, not we his. I remember a job interview with him where we kicked in the plywood walls at FCB. A metaphor for his creative direction, I guess. I also remember a green sofa. A very green sofa.
Very very sad, I worked with Christen at Ogilvy before he persuaded me to follow him to FCB (mistake). I didn’t know of his wine making intentions but as a fellow winemaker I would have loved the opportunity to sit down with him and put it all into perspective.
Christen was my very favourite creative director. His english sense of humour and his wicket grin and “lets do it anyway”
Attuide is hard to find. I am heart broken to hear of his passing so young. He is and will be missed by so many not least his family. It was a highlight and an honour to work with Christen . I remember many laughs and big advertising wins under Christen. Including winning and naming WHO magazine. They dont come any better than Christen . He will be missed.
Oh dear, what a shock. That’s very sad. Although I never worked with him, I knew him pretty well in the early nineties when North Sydney was the centre of the advertising world. He put Ogilvy back on the map and ran a very good and very loyal creative department.
I heard Christen had a stroke last week, but that the specialists were optimistic he’d make it, so the news he’d had a second on the Sunday and passed away was very cruel. I worked with him from ’93 to 2000, with my partner Justin Hooper, firstly in Hong Kong (where he’d assembled an awesome team including Darren Spiller, Dave Alberts and Mike Ritchie). Luckily he then took us back to Ogilvy in London, (along with that mint green leather sofa), where we won a few awards and had more than a few laughs along the way. My thoughts are with Alison and the kids. I’ll be raising a glass on June 5th to those few vintage years we shared.
I worked with Christen at FCB, he was a lovely bloke and a good laugh too. I remember an 8 hour lunch at Marios, no expense spared. RIP me ol’ mucker.
My thoughts go out to Alison and the children at this sad time, i just learned today this sad news, they truly broke the mold when they made Christen and mischevious, charasmatic and genuinely talented person fondly remembered..
We were fortunate to find the cottage on the Kingsote estate, which we used for a couple of holidays to be near our family. Last time was mid December 2014 when we once more had the opportunity to see what he and his wife, Alison, had achieved on the estate. We were, and are, full of admiration for the vision and sheer hard work which led to the success of their venture and were delighted to hear recently of the prizes he won for his wine.
We have worked out that we were sharing our last bottle of Kingscote wine and telling dear friends about its origin, on the day he died.. We were shocked to hear the very sad news and send our condolences to Alison on the loss of her husband and to the children on the loss of their father.It will be hard to bear. We wish them all strength possible and send our heart felt sympathy.
Angela and Bert Baier, Switzerland
Nice bloke. Never a nasty word.
I saw Alison recently and learned the very sad news of Christen’s departure. I was lucky enough to work along side him whilst at Ogilvy in London.I was also lucky enough to sit along side Christen on the infamous green sofa… I’d talk and he’d listen, then he’d ponder and after a few ‘blue steel’ model moments peering out of the window on to Canary Wharf, Christen would deliver some laser like observations and you’d leave his office with much stronger work. Monge was a mature and profound strategic thinker, who’d effortlessly run rings around the best account men in the agency. He taught me how to work better and sell smarter. Outrageously charismatic and handsome, Christen was always up for a laugh and a beer. I remember him as a cool standout guy and a generous supportive leader who consistently attracted the loyalty and admiration of super talented hard working teams like Justin and Christian. His charm and humour also attracted Allison the hottest girl in the agency. Mr Monge’s laughter and genius will be mist but his energy and love will continue to inspire happiness through all the lives he has touched.
He was my best mate. I met him through Duncan Sim who was my boyfriend at the time, at his leaving party in the English countryside as he was off to O&M Australia. It was 1988. We remained friends all these years and Christen was one of a kind. Intensely thoughtful, genuine heart, brilliant brain, utterly profound, a deep thinker and an old soul. I shall miss him immensely and l only wish i’d seen more of him over the years and had more all nighter conversations with him. One love, Christen. See you on the flip side. X