‘The right thing for the right audience’

SOME people make life work, others make it worth living. David Droga, Accenture Song’s outgoing CEO, is definitely in the latter category. The self-described “prolific daydreamer”, who won his first Lion at the precocious age of 19, said his whole career had been about “trying to test the limits of creativity — to stretch the parameters and confines of advertising”. 

To say he has succeeded would be an understatement, as the delegates packing out the Lumiere Theatre were reminded at Thursday’s Q&A session with Ad Age’s Tim Nudd. From his first day in advertising as an 18-year-old in his native Australia, Droga has spent his working life being “blown away that I was being paid to use my imagination. It was like a gift and I’ve held on to that all the way.” 

But being successful as a creative is not about trying to prove how creative you are, he added, referencing the early days of Droga5 and the audacious Air Force One stunt that put his fledgling agency on the map.

“My belief system to this day is that an idea has to be the right thing for the right audience at the right time and in the right context. Sorting out how to do it is the easy part.” 

The spot for streetwear maker Marc Ecko used social media — in  its infancy in 2006 — to trick millions into believing somebody had tagged Air Force One with graffiti. “We had to hire a 747 and paint it and we were being told we were breaking the Patriot Act and I’m like, ‘I don’t give a shit’. It’s the right thing for the right audience.” Another example of Droga’s dedication to “doing things differently” is his belief that starting at the end gets you to a more interesting and more creatively effective place than starting at the beginning. “I’ve said that to any creative that’s ever worked for me. Start with what you want the end reaction to be — blowing up the internet or getting the news media to propel the message — because then you know what to create.”In an industry that feels increasingly beleaguered, Droga believes that creativity has never been more important.

“We creatives are going to be the people who save our industry, but we have to expand the definition of what creativity is and what it can do and what it means,” he said.

“We are the ones who are going to break the business model; the ones who are going to stretch limits with the audacity and purity and care we put into our work. So as an industry, we must stand against compromise and apathy and mediocrity and formula.”