David Droga
Founder, Creative Chairman
Droga5
New York,
USA
President's Message
A show is only as good as its jury: the privileged few who come together and cast their collective and subjective opinions. Fortunately, Spikes Asia has always gone above and beyond to assemble the strongest and most relevant juries possible.
And 2009 is no exception.
This year’s juries are made up of an exceptional group of industry leaders we all admire and some we secretly resent.
However, they also include a range of unofficial big hitters from outside our advertising world.
In the spirit of a great show, they are all international leaders and regional stars and include:
1. Timothy Geithner from the United States.
2. Christine Lagarde from France.
3. Alistair Maclean Darling representing the UK.
4. Kaoru Yosano from Japan.
5. Xie Xuren from China.
Together they make a rather imposing and tough addition to our jury. But don’t worry; their role is only for the pre-emptive round of judging – the type of judging that takes place in your own boardroom and offices.
So, while the economy may have us questioning the value of every single entry, it should certainly not stop us celebrating our very best work. In fact, in these tough times, there has never been more need for us to come together and demonstrate that we are a resilient industry. Our ideas are recession proof. And creativity is not a luxury we can put on the back burner.
I am excited to be involved in this year’s Spikes Asia Festival and proud to work in a business that is going to be part of the solution to our economic woes.
President's Biography
Growing up in an Australian resort town, David Droga couldn’t imagine anything better than touring the world as a ski instructor. Ironically, it was his imagination that took him abroad, not his limited skiing ability.
He launched his career by winning the top student honours at the Australian Writers & Art Directors School. At 22, he became a partner and Executive Creative Director of Omon, Sydney. Over the next five years, Omon won Australian Agency of the Year twice and Ad of the Year four times.
In 1996, David moved to Singapore to become Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and Regional Creative Director of Saatchi Asia.
By 1998, Saatchi was the region’s most successful network and Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore was at the epicentre of this transformation. Media Marketing named Saatchi Regional Network of the Year and Advertising Age named the Singapore office International Agency of the Year. Then the Saatchi head office came calling. At 29, David was promoted to Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi London.
In 2002, Saatchi & Saatchi London won Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions. Later that year, both AdAge and Adweek named Saatchi Agency of the Year. A year later, David packed his bags again. This time he headed to New York City as the first-ever Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of the Publicis Network. In less than two years, Publicis enjoyed a very public creative and new-business renaissance around the world.
However, tired of growing other people’s companies, David decided to start his own agency. In 2006,Droga5 was launched in New York City. In 2007, it was named US Agency of the Year by AdAge’s Creativity Magazine.
Along the way, David has also received countless personal accolades. To date, he is the most awarded creative at the Cannes Lions, with more than 50 Cannes Lions. He has been inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement and was the first recipient of the ‘boards magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. While in London, he was nominated Best Creative Director in the UK’s Best of the Best Awards and named World’s Best Creative Director by Advertising Age.
From his time in Asia, David is included in Media Marketing’s Hall of Fame and has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Campaign Brief Asia. In Australia, Creative magazine has named him Australian Creative Person of the Decade.
Beyond his family and building a new venture, David’s favourite topics are art, the environment and anything Australian.
