“The creative people I admire seem to share many characteristics: A fierce restlessness. Healthy cynicism. A real world perspective. An ability to simplify. Restraint. Patience. A genuine balance of confidence and insecurity. And most importantly, humanity.”
― David Droga
“A lot of people ask what it takes to move from being a creative to a leader: Take everyone’s career personally. People will work hard for you if you work hard for them. Any idiot can be a boss; all you need is a title. But to be a leader, you need to earn respect and have an opinion you stand by.”
― David Droga
“We win more business, not because of pitching but because clients say, ‘We like the work you’re doing.’”
― David Droga
“Great advertising triggers an emotion in you. It has purpose. It touches a nerve, and that provokes a reaction.”
― David Droga
“Each consumer has the power of their wallet and their voice. They can exercise that.”
― David Droga
“I think the best way to show appreciation for things going well is to make things better.”
― David Droga
“Creativity is a game changer. That’s true of society, in advertising and in life.”
― David Droga
“Generosity is as much showing your vulnerability as it is your passion for something.”
― David Droga
“Before we start anything creatively, we have a firm understanding of our objective and our frame of mind for the campaign. Who’s our audience, and what’s their day-to-day behavior? How can we complement those behaviors? How is our message more than an interruption? Why would people care about what we’re saying?”
― David Droga
“The majority of advertising agency creatives are creative people, but we’ve disciplined ourselves to think within traditional formats. I want to change that.”
― David Droga
“I haven’t lost that quest and that thirst to do something great.”
― David Droga
“A lot of people think technology is a solution, but it’s really just a canvas for your work. It can make good things amazing and bad things terrible. Facebook allows you to have access to mass audience really quickly if you do creative really well.”
― David Droga
“As a typical creative, I am all ego and insecurity!”
― David Droga
“The chaos of two cultures merging is the best time to forge a new identity to unify people, because everyone is looking for answers and everybody’s looking for leadership. That’s when there’s an opportunity to say, ‘OK, this is what we stand for.’ People aren’t set in their ways because everything is up for grabs.”
― David Droga
“Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you need to – restraint is something I admire.”
― David Droga
“If we can find our storytelling in more complimentary ways with the technology, I think it’s just going to get better and better.”
― David Droga
“We’re an industry obsessed with the storytelling side of things, the content. And then we got obsessed with the canvas. Is it going to be on television? Is it print? And now the canvas is mobile. But what we really need to think about is the context. The context is where and when the person is consuming it – location, time of day.”
― David Droga
“If we turn on our best, where do we go from there?”
― David Droga
“If you’re advertising on Facebook, the work you’re doing should be made better by being on Facebook. You can’t just be repurposing old TV commercials and hoping to get traction; that’s very primitive. The question, always, is, ‘How is this idea made better by this medium?’”
― David Droga
“Online is amazing, but it, in itself, is not a solution.”
― David Droga
“It’s not rocket science: The best ads tell great stories. They look and feel like the content you’re already consuming. They invite you in. They make you laugh. They teach you something. They also sell.”
― David Droga
“Creativity has got to have some edge to it, doesn’t it?”
― David Droga
“We strive to do stuff that connects with people.”
― David Droga
“Before the term ‘viral video’ came out, we used the mass media to our advantage.”
― David Droga
“We’re moved by emotions and characters and stories. We love that.”
― David Droga
“There is good business doing good.”
― David Droga
“It’s one of those weird things where I’m always curious about what’s next. It’s not just an empty restlessness, I try to appreciate things as they’re going along and in the moment, but when things are good, I’m always anxious about how I can better that or take it on further.”
― David Droga
“Do something great that you really believe is great.”
― David Droga
“I really care about leaving a trail of goodness wherever we can.”
― David Droga
“Wanting something – wanting a career or wanting to make something – doesn’t really mean much. It’s about finding something you care about. Because caring is the only thing that really matters.”
― David Droga
“I would put down everything in my career to the fact that I cared – about what I do, who I work with, what I make.”
― David Droga
“Caring makes you want to work harder.”
― David Droga
“People can’t pay you to care. People can’t teach you to care. But when you find something that you care about, you give it everything you’ve got. You never settle. And you are always pushing to learn and be better and support those around you. All I’ve tried to do in my career is care.”
― David Droga
“My first job in advertising was actually in the mailroom of Grey Advertising in Sydney.”
― David Droga
“I was always obsessed with being a writer of some sort.”
― David Droga
“I just loved the idea of writing for different personalities all the time.”
― David Droga
“I’m proud to say that I’m in advertising.”
― David Droga
“Our work can always get better, and we are constantly striving for that.”
― David Droga
“The agency is who it is because of many, many, many chapters that needed to happen.”
― David Droga
“The thing I believe is we are good if our peers think we’re great. But we are great if the real world thinks we’re good. And there’s a huge difference.”
― David Droga
“We’re in the business of influence. And if we’re going to be in partnership with anybody, I want it to be with people who have amazing access and influence.”
― David Droga
“Sometimes the best ideas will come in the least inspiring places.”
― David Droga
“I was in a bank meeting in London once that was so torturous, I had a flash of inspiration for another client.”
― David Droga
“Under Armour is not about the Left or the Right. It’s about moving forward together.”
― David Droga
“I can say firsthand Under Armour is a values-based people company, and this hasn’t deviated for any administration.”
― David Droga
“There are unwritten rules to Facebook: People are using it to build their personas, and when they share something, they usually do so because they think it will in some way benefit others. So when we speak as brands on Facebook, we try to operate within those same parameters.”
― David Droga
“I secretly wish I had experienced advertising in the ‘Mad Men’ period.”
― David Droga
“Your campaign shouldn’t just die the day you spend your last cent.”
― David Droga
“I’ve worked around the world.”
― David Droga
“You hire well and just make sure you have enough runway for everyone to grow in the company’s success. It creates loyalty and opportunity, really.”
― David Droga
“Australians are gypsies by nature. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience different regions of the world.”
― David Droga
“I don’t want to spread myself so thin that I achieve nothing.”
― David Droga
“If you don’t have reservations, you’re a fool. You can’t go blind into something.”
― David Droga
“The ingredients for great advertising haven’t changed since the ‘Mad Men’ era: Brands win if their advertising is relevant and people like it.”
― David Droga
“The first brand that can purpose-build great stories for mobile, that can target in a relevant but noncreepy way and understand that it’s the individual that matters, not the algorithm, is the first brand to win mobile and, possibly, the future.”
― David Droga
“We don’t like offending anyone.”
― David Droga
“The greater the pressure and expectation, the more I relish the opportunity.”
― David Droga
“I strive every day to do things that make a difference.”
― David Droga
“I love traditional advertising and have built my career on it. However, I think that is one option, not the only option. If some of it ends up in that space, fine, so long as it does so because it’s relevant to the desired outcome.”
― David Droga
“There are certain people throughout my career I’ve earmarked as smart people I would like to work with. And I’m not just talking about advertising people.”
― David Droga
“My mother had to label all our clothing. As the youngest boy, all my tags read Droga5.”
― David Droga
“Being the youngest of five boys with a younger sister, being the only one who didn’t go to university, I had to prove it was the right decision to go into advertising.”
― David Droga
“There are few forces for good as extensive and important as the United Nations. Being able to work with them and other global aid organisations for World Humanitarian Day is a humbling and extraordinary opportunity.”
― David Droga
“I’m in the industry, and I’ll fast-forward through the ads most of the time. But I’ll stop for the good ones.”
― David Droga
“You put choice on the table, you change the whole game. Everything is about control. If an ad is interesting to you, you’ll have the conversation with the brand. If it’s not, it’s a waste of time.”
― David Droga
“If people know they’re being sold to, you can celebrate the sell.”
― David Droga
“Beanbags and softball matches and a cool Twitter handle doesn’t make young people want to work at your office.”
― David Droga
“We’re very much an advertising agency, but it’s not about creating ads as we know it.”
― David Droga
“Our ambitions are not limited to quarterly results. Our ambitions are linked to a belief in what we do. And one of the definite privileges of success is being able to see beyond yourself.”
― David Droga
“We’re communicators, we’re problem solvers, and we’re lateral thinkers, and there’s nothing that can’t be improved with that. The world needs us, and we want to be needed.”
― David Droga
“Copywriters on Madison Avenue constantly grapple with the question of where their work sits on the totem pole of ‘real’ writing.”
― David Droga
“People who want to express themselves effectively can learn a lot from the hard-won concision of the copywriter.”
― David Droga
“Long before social media existed, the proto-tweets of advertising had penetrated American popular culture: ‘A mind is a terrible thing to waste.’ ‘Where’s the beef?’ ‘A diamond is forever.’ ‘Think different.’ You’d be hard pressed to find a writer’s craft that has more directly influenced the vernacular.”
― David Droga
“The average billboard has no more than eight words. It takes a lot of effort to make a beer, rice, or shampoo seem special in eight words.”
― David Droga
“Just knowing you’re putting something out there that could take on a greater life – that’s our sweet spot. That’s what we try to do.”
― David Droga
“We work in an industry where people invent technology to avoid what we create.”
― David Droga
“I’m kind of like both of them: My mother grew up wanting to save the world, and my father grew up wanting to rule the world.”
― David Droga
“It’s not about being the biggest or the place with the most pins in a map. We want to be the most influential. We talk about trying to build the most influential agency in the world.”
― David Droga
“Like anyone, I’m scared of failure. That drives you to work really hard.”
― David Droga
“Do the work you believe in – if there’s an authentic reason for doing it.”
― David Droga
“Why can’t I prove that advertising can manifest itself in a way that doesn’t necessarily mean television ads but changing behaviour and creating a brand out of something that already exists?”
― David Droga
“If you can allow yourself to do more good with your creativity by being successful, then that’s a great thing.”
― David Droga
“I am the most competitive person you will ever meet.”
― David Droga
“I’m not embarrassed to be in advertising. But I’m embarrassed by a lot of advertising.”
― David Droga
“I don’t want to sound too worthy here, but I want to do something that honestly contributes something positive to society.”
― David Droga
“When I first made some comment when we launched that part of our purpose was to do stuff that has social ripples, lots of people said it was such a glib thing to say. I actually believe that.”
― David Droga
“Nothing connects with people like humanity. That doesn’t mean you have to tell slice-of-life stories all the time. But you know, with so many options in technology, the consumer’s not really that interested in advertising… They are interested in great stories. That transcends any medium.”
― David Droga
“There’s so much advertising on television that I find just lazy, just so lazy. I’m like, ‘Why are they doing that?’”
― David Droga
“Over the years, advertising had become very lazy, very visual. Visuals are important, yes, but as a part of the story.”
― David Droga
“Visuals are compelling, but sometimes the only way to get your point of view and purpose across is through words. Great copy can be embedded in any medium, any technology.”
― David Droga
“Advertising is full of great thinkers. This is a powerful industry and does a lot more than we take credit for.”
― David Droga
“Creativity for the greater good is where I aspire to be, and I mean that on several levels: of course, working with worthy causes that need support but also not just contributing to the pollution of crap advertising.”
― David Droga
“To be honest, while every market is very different, we are all still fundamentally moved and inspired by similar human truths – love, fear, belonging, desire, and so on.”
― David Droga
“The qualities I look for in planners or creatives is very much the same thing. Beyond the givens of talent and work ethic, I really look for people who are inspired by the everyday, people who are not afraid of the obvious and are able to reinterpret it into a creative and interesting manner.”
― David Droga
“I’m not an executive. I’m a creative person.”
― David Droga
“It seems like not a lot of the world’s issues can be solved by big government. But they can be solved by brands, and brands putting their best foot forward need advertising.”
― David Droga
“I set up Droga5 because I really believe in the power of advertising. But I believe in the power of advertising that’s in synch with what consumers want.”
― David Droga
“I believe in creating ideas that consumers actually want to engage in, creating movements with our thinking and not bombarding them into submission.”
― David Droga
“I don’t want Droga5 to be the biggest agency; I want it to be the best.”
― David Droga
“One day, when I have advertising out of my system, I want to be Prime Minister of Australia.”
― David Droga
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