Droga5: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review – a charmed brand with plenty to prove
The newly published Mumbrella Creative Agency Review examines Australia’s top 30 ad agencies. Today Robin Hicks examines how Droga5 has fared over the last 12 months.
Droga5 is an agency with a charmed brand, and one that punches well above its weight. Still a young, smallish agency with 50 staff, our survey places Droga5 as Australia’s fourth best player, beating plenty of more established, far bigger, but less fashionable shops.
However, the wider industry seems to think Droga5 is better than the experts do. Droga comes second only to BMF in our reader survey, topping the lot for planning (strategic planning director Sudeep Gohil’s chairmanship of the Account Planning Group will have helped) and integration. But it is fifth best in the eyes of our panel.
While scoring very well overall for creativity, talent, planning and its impact on the industry, the agency tumbles out of the top ten for effectiveness (also its weakest score in the reader survey), client stability and commercial success.
Opinion among the panel was divided. One describes Droga5 as “capable of brilliance. Some exceptional leadership talent in planning, creative and account management.”
Others are more sceptical. “An agency with perhaps the most charismatic brand had a charmed beginning but lately seems to be struggling to maintain growth. The work varies from average to outstanding.”
Another comments: “I’m sure Droga5 themselves could point to many examples of ‘great’ creative work. But I believe we have yet to see the best of the agency in the Sydney market. Where is the truly original and inspiring work that’s seen coming out of the New York office? Lots of great talent waiting to fulfill their potential.”
Project make this mark seem a touch high. Though the agency gives itself eight out of ten for its performance this year, the coming then going of Toyota, and the loss of Virgin Australia, Puma and Hunger
No one questions Droga5’s potential. And there is an impressive display of awards in its lobby that show what it is capable of. But while its sister agency in New York came home from Cannes this year hailed as the second best independent agency in the world, here in Australia there is the sense that Droga5 still has a lot to prove.
To read more about Droga5, including full details on how it was scored by both our expert panel and Mumbrella’s own readers, to view examples of the agency’s work and read its own assessment of its performance, buy a copy of the Mumbrella Creative Agency Review priced at $75. The book features an assessment of the country’s top 30 ad agencies. To buy the book, click here.
While some things may well have been missed in our agency summaries, other stuff will, of course, have happened since the book has been published.
Droga5’s creative chairman David Nobay would like us to point out that the agency has had the following pieces of good fortune in the last six months, some of which we will cover in our next edition of the Mumbrella Creative Agency Review.
In Nobby’s words:
1) We replaced Toyota loss with Renault
2) We significantly increased the relationship with Telstra
3) Won SportsBet.com.au
4) Won lion’s share of Kraft (arguably biggest review so far this year)
5) Won global duties for Jurlique
6) Just got added to the Unilver roster after being awarded their premium brand, Lynx
Cheers,
Robin – Mumbrella