Droga5

Opened in 2006, Droga5 is an independent advertising agency started by David Droga, who serves as its Creative Chairman. Headquartered in Manhattan, Droga5 also has offices in Sydney and New Zealand. The agency is widely recognized as one of the leaders of a new wave of 21st century advertising and communication companies, and is the fastest growing independent agency in the United States. It is known for creating award-winning campaigns and social movements for a broad variety of clients.^[1]

History

In addition to David Droga, the agency's founding partners are Andrew Essex, Duncan Marshall and Ted Royer.

Marshall and Royer previously worked for Droga before starting, while Essex came from the publishing world, most recently having founded and served as Editor in Chief of Absolute magazine, and filled senior roles at The New Yorker and Details. Droga himself most recently served as the first ever Worldwide Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe, having previously worked as Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi in London, Regional Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Asia/Singapore and Creative Director of OMON Sydney.^[2] In recent years Jonny Bauer, Sarah Thompson, Sally Ann Dale, and Nik Studzinski have joined the company as partners.

Clients Include:

• Activision^[3]
• Bing^[4]
• Coca-Cola^[1]
• Hennessy^[5]
• Kraft Foods^[6]
• Method^[7]
• Microsoft^[4]
• The New Museum^[8]
• The New York City Department of Education^[9]
• Parlux^[10]
• Prudential^[11]
• PUMA^[1]
• SandRidge Energy^[12]
• TracFone^[13]
• UNICEF^[14]
• Unilever^[15]
• Vestas Wind Systems^[16]

Awards

• In June 2006, Droga5 took home the Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for their first piece of work, the Eckō unltd. “Still Free” viral film.^[17]

• In  2007, 2008 and 2009, Droga5 took home three consecutive Titanium Awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for their UNICEF “Tap Project”, New York City Department of Education “Million” and The Jewish Council for Education and Research’s “Great Schlep,” respectively.

• Droga5 was named Creativity's Agency of the Year in 2008, as a result of that year’s work with UNICEF, TracFone and the New York City Department of Education.^[2]

• In 2009, Droga5 became the first agency to win two Black Pencils, the highest award given by the D&AD in Britain.^[18]

• In 2010, Droga5 was named to AdAge’s 2010 Agency A-List.^[1]

• In 2011, David Droga was recognized as one who has helped shaped and redefine the landscape of marketing in the Creativity 50. David is the only person to be featured consecutively every year, since 2006 when it was first published. ^[19] Droga5 took home three Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity: the "Decode Jay-Z with Bing" campaign won in the Outdoor and Integrated Categories, while Puma's "After Hours Athlete" won in Film Craft. ^[20] "Decode Jay-Z with Bing" also picked up a Titanium, making Droga5 the only agency to hold four Titanium Lions. ^[21]

^[22]

Droga5 Sydney

Droga5 Sydney opened in early 2008 lead by former Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney executives David “Nobby” Nobay, Sudeep Gohil and Marianne Bess. In 2009, Droga5 Sydney was named "Australian Agency of the Year" by B&T, the major trade press in Australia. Along with this, the company was awarded "Best Commercial of the Year" for their VB TV spot "The Regulars."^[23]

Clients include:

• Cascade Brewery Co.^[24]
• Crown^[24]
• News Limited^[25]
• Renault^[26]
• Reconciliation Australia^[27]
• Telstra^[28]
• 20th Century Fox
• VB^[29]

Droga5 New Zealand

Droga5 New Zealand was started in May 2010 with former Saatchi & Saatchi executives Andrew Stone and Mike O’Sullivan and ex-DDB strategist Jose Alomajan.^[30] Their inaugural client was ASB Bank, who had been with TBWA for the past 12 years.^[31]

Notable Campaigns

Bing — Jay-Z Decoded

In 2010, Jay-Z published his autobiography Decoded. Recognizing that a traditional book launch would not connect with his fan base, Jay-Z wanted to launch the book in a new way. A global interactive "reality game" was created, where each page of the book was revealed in public locations inspired by the content of the book. The entire book was released page-by-page before the book's traditional publication. In partnership with Microsoft's Bing search engine, clues were revealed to a global audience through an alternate reality game/map-based interface. While the bulk of the pages were revealed on billboards and bus stands, numerous placements were unconventional, to increase the challenge of the gameplay and the news value of the release. The floor of the pool at the Delano hotel was painted with one page and another covered the roof of a warehouse in New Orleans. Jay-Z's hometown of Brooklyn showcased pages printed on pizza boxes, cars, and clothing.^[32]

UNICEF — The Tap Project

In 2007, the UNICEF Tap Project launched in restaurants in New York City, where patrons were encouraged to donate $1 for the tap water they usually enjoy with their meals for free.^[33]

In 2011, UNICEF introduced Celebrity Tap: for $5, donors provided 200 days of clean water to a child in need, and entered to win a case of Tap from Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Dwight Howard and Robin Williams. The campaign underlined the value of the tap water we take for granted every day, while providing access to those in need.

Prudential - Bring Your Challenges

After 20 years without a masterbrand campaign, Prudential was looking for an agency that could create brand momentum to equal its business momentum. A company at number 64 on the Fortune 500 list, Prudential had emerged from the financial crisis in a position of leadership and strength. The campaign needed to work for both institutional and retail clients, across multiple business units, in a time of unprecedented turmoil in the sector. The BRING YOUR CHALLENGES campaign created a platform that shows how Prudential’s thought leadership and risk-management strength was taking on America’s biggest financial challenges. The inaugural television spot evoked a new era of optimism for the nation and its economy. 100 cameras spanned from coast to coast, capturing a single sunrise in May 2011. Digital companion work, as well as PR efforts, helped to amplify the effort. ^[34]

The New York City Department of Education — Million

In 2008, Droga5 launched the Million NYC pilot program, an initiative that distributed mobile phones to New York city public school students with the aim of "rebranding achievement" and improving attendance, behavior, homework and grades. The phones did not work during class time, and every two weeks teachers awarded "Million points," based on the students' performance, which could be used to get free texts, calls and extras such as music downloads.^[35]

A second pilot program launched in Oklahoma City in 2010, where participating students also received free mobile phones, but this time received Million Points for reading books and passing short reading comprehension quizzes

Jewish Council for Education and Research — The Great Schlep

The Great Schlep was an online effort designed to tip the Florida vote in Barack Obama's favor during the 2008 U.S. Presidential election by influencing the large elderly Jewish constituency in the state. Built on a viral video appeal from comedian Sarah Silverman and a website of tools and talking points, the campaign aimed to counteract any anti-Obama bias by encouraging young American Jews to visit their grandparents in Florida and persuade them to vote for Obama.^[36]

Athenos — Yiayia

In 2010 Kraft asked Droga5 to come up with advertising to support its Athenos line of Greek-style products (hummus, Greek yogurt and feta). Droga5 saw the brand as being unique in that all its products are made with simple ingredients—the Greek approach to food—and created a campaign based on that notion. Since no one knows Greek food better than demanding and opinionated Yiayia (Greek for grandmother), the agency used this archetype as the centerpiece for the amusing and irreverent campaign in which Yiayia disapproves of pretty much everything but Athenos. Yiayia became part of the cultural conversation in America while the advertisements ran, even disapproving of Charlie Sheen in March 2011. ^[37]

Activision

Bike Hero

A viral video launched in 2008 for the release of Guitar Hero World Tour under the guise of a home video produced by an amateur director.  The video documents a bicycle–riding fan and captures the addictive and compelling side of the Guitar Hero game. The video was covered by a plethora of news outlets from BoingBoing and Slashdot to Wired and New York Magazine.

Tony Hawk: Ride

For Tony Hawk: Ride, the 10th installment in the Tony Hawk action sports videogame franchise, Activision wanted to promote their new skateboard-shaped controller. To emphasize that the game was intuitive to use, Droga5 created a video of a bulldog playing the game using the skateboard controller. The video went viral, with over 1.6 million views.^[38]

Blur

Droga5 created a video that parodied Mario Kart, the dominant multiplayer racing game, to promote the launch of Blur for Activision. The commercials stirred controversy with a tongue-in-cheek attack on the bubble-gum cartoon universe of Mario Kart. “The hilarious spot fires a shot across the bow of Mario Kart, featuring a character in a happy sunshine racing game who longs to break free and race realistic cars. In the second spot, the character tries to escape the saccharine prison. Will he succeed? No.”^[39]

PUMA

Index

An online and mobile application introducing a new underwear line. “The iPhone app shows a stock index on the left, and, to the right, a model that strips as the numbers sink.”^[40] The app was said to provide “a little fun in current economic times.”^[41]

Hardchorus

In 2010, Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday, interfering with soccer viewing in Europe. Droga5’s “PUMA Hardchorus” allowed sports fans to go online and send a video card featuring “a chorus of rough-looking blokes — shaved heads, stubble, teeth there but not in full — rumbling through weepy mess ‘Truly Madly Deeply,’ by Savage Garden” with a personalized message to their significant other. The video was a hit, landing the brand 130 million media impressions.”^[1]

Social

PUMA Social was a global campaign created by Droga5 targeting the “after- hours athlete”, which was their term for bar game enthusiasts. The campaign featured video and print advertising, a web and mobile application called Life Scoreboard, and worldwide PUMA Social Clubs in an effort to celebrate social sports.” Forbes named PUMA “Social” one of “The Year’s Most Creative Advertising Ideas.”^[42]

Net10 — Heroes and Villains

Focusing on the consumer frustrations, Droga5 created a campaign for Net10 championing the rights of cell phone users. Heroes and Villains demonstrated the cost savings of a prepaid phone while exposing the dishonest tactics of the contract world. Documentary-like films featuring real people, a scientist looking for a cure, an animal lover rescuing abandoned dogs, and a volunteer grandmother – pointed out how cell phone companies are deceptive. For younger, postpaid users: Droga5 created animations of the worst people in the world – villains – and showed how much they admire evil cell phone companies.

Parlux — Reb’l Fleur

An online video for singer Rhianna’s perfume “Reb’l Fleur.”  “As its name suggests, [the scent is] meant to evoke both the rebellious and flowery sides of the singer. For half of the one-minute video, Rihanna lounges in an oversized flower and glides around a lush topiary garden wearing a peach dress and smiling. Then, Alice-like, she steps through a mirror and is suddenly wearing a black dress and a come-hither expression, and is embraced by a dark stranger wearing a tuxedo. A specially designed video player enables users to choose to run the video in either direction, which, of course, conveys different situations, such as the singer stepping toward the man in one mode and backing away from him in another.”^[10]

Vestas — WindMade

Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas solicited Droga5’s input on a project to accelerate consumer demand for renewable energy. Droga5 proposed WindMade, a global initiative to increase corporate investments in wind power through a consumer trustmark. By informing consumers about a corporation’s use of wind energy, WindMade aims to increase demand for products that embrace wind energy in their production, operations and services.^[43]

Rhapsody — Gets It – Jay-Z

In 2009, as part of its ongoing “Fans Get It” Rhapsody campaign, Droga5 launched a video announcing the release of Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint 3. The Rhapsody commercial featured Jay-Z acting out his iconic album covers in quick succession. The commercial ran on the MTV networks ^[44] and was viewed extensively on YouTube.^[45]

External Links

• Droga5 New York
• Droga5 Australia
• Droga5 New Zealand

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://adage.com/agencya-list/article?article_id=148355
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.campaignbrief.com/2007/12/droga-5-named-creativity-magaz.html
3. ^ http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i1ccc5c91366de3d9bfc761e04c2e49d5
4. ^ ^{a b} http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/10/droga5-bing-play-location-game-with-jay-z.html
5. ^ http://adage.com/article/agency-news/hennessy-hands-creative-account-droga5/226932/
6. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/business/media/15adnewsletter3.html
7. ^ http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=131772
8. ^ http://gothamist.com/2007/11/28/splashing_is_th.php
9. ^ http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/r-u-studying/
10. ^ ^{a b} http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/business/media/10adco.html
11. ^ http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110202005393/en/Prudential-Financial-appoints-Droga5-Creative-Agency-Record
12. ^ http://www.okcreview.com/news.php?news_id=86&page=1
13. ^ http://www.adweek.com/aw/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532426
14. ^ http://www.tapproject.org/partners/droga5.html
15. ^ http://adage.com/agencynews/article?article_id=138473
16. ^ http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/152/tilting-at-windmills.html?page=0%2C1
17. ^ http://creativity-online.com/news/droga5-and-crispin-porter-bogusky-nab-top-cyber-honors/123712
18. ^ http://www.campaignbrief.com/2009/06/droga5-ny-pick-up-two-rare-dad.html
19. ^ <http://adage.com/article/news/creativity-50/227968
20. ^ http://www.adweek.com/cannes-lions-2011/droga5-toast-cannes-3-grand-prix-132916
21. ^ http://www.fastcompany.com/1763143/jay-z-decoded-wins-integrated-grand-prix-and-titanium-at-cannes
22. ^ http://www.droga5.com/#/cannes2011
23. ^ http://www.campaignbrief.com/2009/12/droga5-takes-out-bt-agency-of.html
24. ^ ^{a b} http://www.bandt.com.au/news/droga5-wins-crown-and-cascade
25. ^ http://www.bandt.com.au/news/droga5-scores-major-strategic-project-for-news
26. ^ http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=148098
27. ^ http://www.bandt.com.au/news/droga5-to-create-reconciliation-campaign
28. ^ http://www.bandt.com.au/news/telstra-adds-droga5-and-monkeys-to-roster
29. ^ http://www.campaignbrief.com/2010/09/vb-gets-real-in-new-campaign-v.html
30. ^ Drinnan, John (5 May 2010). "Droga5 starts small, thinks big". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/small-business/news/article.cfm?c_id=85&objectid=10642781. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
31. ^ Gibson, Nevil (25 June 2010). "TBWA loses ASB, Droga5 victorious". National Business Review. http://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/hazel-phillips/tbwa-loses-asb-droga5-victorious. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
32. ^ http://www.fastcompany.com/1704745/jay-z-decoded
33. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/business/media/05adco.html
34. ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Prudential-launches-Bring-bw-1190110740.html?x=0&.v=1
35. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/12/d-ad-awards-black-pencils-droga5
36. ^ http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/rock-the-bubbe-vote/
37. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYRLBeDBGoU
38. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgO3cEYYTw
39. ^ http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/05/blur-commercial/
40. ^ http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/horny-teen-you-puma-index
41. ^ http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/the-puma-index-iphone-app/
42. ^ http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/13/most-creative-advertising-leadership-cmo-network-ideas.html
43. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/jan/18/windmade-wind-power-product-label
44. ^ http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/jay-z-rhapsody-album-covers/
45. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM1mPXJ95vc