Who

Ty Montague is chief creative officer and co-president of JWT/NY, one of the oldest and largest ad agencies in the city.

Backstory

A faculty brat and college dropout from Albuquerque, Montague spent time working as a river guide before moving to New York at the age of 20. He snaked his way up through the mailroom at McCann-Erickson, and spent time at a series of agencies including Chiat/Day and Goldsmith/Jeffrey, eventually settling at Bartle Bogle Hegarty—he was employee number 2—where he worked on campaigns for Mercedes Benz, Coca-Cola, and MTV. After a stint running a firm of his own, in 2000 he signed on as co-creative director at the New York office of Wieden + Kennedy, where he worked on those unforgettable "This is SportsCenter" spots and created a viral campaign for Sega's ESPN NFL Football ("Beta-7") that drew users into an online narrative about gameplay so raw that it could actually cause you harm. (It landed him a Grand Clio in 2004.) He decamped to JWT in 2005.

Of note

Like BBDO's hiring of David Lubars, Montague's move to JWT was part of a trend that has seen traditional agencies seeking out younger, more forward-thinking talent. As part of his bid to revitalize the staid agency, Montague cleaned house after taking over, canning many of the agency's top creatives. (Formerly known as J. Walter Thompson, he was also a proponent of changing the name of the firm to its initials.) Since coming on board, the WPP-owned agency has picked up business from L.L. Bean and Merck, while retaining blue-chip accounts like Kraft and Ford. Still, billings at JWT remain largely unchanged since Montague started.

Off hours

Montague is a licensed pilot.

Personal

He's married to Dany Lennon, a prominent creative recruiter. He commutes daily from his house in Westport.