I really care about leaving a trail of goodness wherever we can.
David Droga
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.
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.
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.
I'm proud to say that I'm in advertising.
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.
As a typical creative, I am all ego and insecurity!
Generosity is as much showing your vulnerability as it is your passion for something.
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.
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.
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.
The majority of advertising agency creatives are creative people, but we've disciplined ourselves to think within traditional formats. I want to change that.
Copywriters on Madison Avenue constantly grapple with the question of where their work sits on the totem pole of 'real' writing.
We win more business, not because of pitching but because clients say, 'We like the work you're doing.'
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?'
I was in a bank meeting in London once that was so torturous, I had a flash of inspiration for another client.
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.
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.
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.
Creativity is a game changer. That's true of society, in advertising and in life.
I don't want to spread myself so thin that I achieve nothing.
If you don't have reservations, you're a fool. You can't go blind into something.
I haven't lost that quest and that thirst to do something great.
Over the years, advertising had become very lazy, very visual. Visuals are important, yes, but as a part of the story.
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.
Advertising is full of great thinkers. This is a powerful industry and does a lot more than we take credit for.
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.
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.
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.
People who want to express themselves effectively can learn a lot from the hard-won concision of the copywriter.
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.
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.
I don't want to sound too worthy here, but I want to do something that honestly contributes something positive to society.
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.
Before the term 'viral video' came out, we used the mass media to our advantage.
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.
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.
Online is amazing, but it, in itself, is not a solution.
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.
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.
Your campaign shouldn't just die the day you spend your last cent.
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.
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.
Caring makes you want to work harder.
My first job in advertising was actually in the mailroom of Grey Advertising in Sydney.
I was always obsessed with being a writer of some sort.
I just loved the idea of writing for different personalities all the time.
Our work can always get better, and we are constantly striving for that.
The agency is who it is because of many, many, many chapters that needed to happen.
Do something great that you really believe is great.
