‘The Droga5 name has been both blessing and a curse’ admits Sydney CEO Sudeep Gohil
Droga5 Sydney CEO and partner Sudeep Gohil has admitted the agency has failed to live up to the reputation forged from its flagship New York office, but said the reintroduction of creative chairman David Nobay to the agency was “getting the band back together”.
Gohil: Under-delivered on the reputation of New York
His candid comments to Mumbrella come after the news executive creative director Steve Coll had quit the agency after fifteen months to take on a creative partner role with the With Collective, following a tumultuous two years which has left the agency in a “tough situation”.
“We’ve under-delivered on what the reputation of New York is. New York has done a brilliant job building an amazing agency,” said Gohil.
Without being to critical, perhaps a reason for their lack of local clients is their tone of voice and insights in their work. They just don’t seem able to produce work that connects, be it through being funny/interesting or having a cracking insight.
43 people now? A LinkedIn search yields a much smaller number. Try something with a 2 infront of it.
Droga aka Dave Droga is a triumph of self pr, EST, and the same vanity that befell Simon Reynolds.
In the US, pr rules. And Droga has 3 pr people getting his peesonal brand everywhere. But the work isn’t worthy of the pr..it merely becomes inflated by it.
It is about time the hype was discounted, and the news of heavy investment, heavy pr versus the work output was taken into consideration.
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yup, no way there are 43 full time staff.
Have fun with Nude by Nature, Sudeep.
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Once again, a company led by a planner falls over, what a surprise.
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@fleshpeddler you seem to have a lot to say, judging by your comments today… Drop me a line for a proper chat.
Never answer a troll.
I could fix this shit in a heartbeat.
Step 1. Stop releasing press releases
Sometimes when I looked at great companies like this, and see how easily it could be turned around, it makes me sad [edited by Mumbrella]
Droga5 nyc is a magnificent brand with work to match but the reality is that Sudeep and David Nobay can’t run an agency. Change the local management & the D5 Australia brand will improve. Notice the arrogance in the tone which coincided with the press release of Coll’s departure. You don’t see any other agency in Oz behave like that to make the story all about them when someone senior leaves. Humility and a focus on the work will restore the D5 Aus brand.
…another Droga press release about their own issues. Imagine if they worked this hard on client work?
No one needs to call you mate. Your agency has consistently been high on opinion and now those opinions are being served back. Whether you believe it to be warranted or not is irrelevant. You and your counterparts have come out swinging (again) and so too are the commentators. It’s fair game and this isn’t an analogue soap box to broadcast from.
So a timely reminder, you’re on a press blitz and the only rule is this – bullshit begets bullshit.
@Sudeep Gohil (Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy)!
@MIchael perfectly summed up
What’s most interesting is the deflection from the real story (highly regarded ECD leaving) and the aggressive counter attack that isn’t about clients or the work, but on talent. D5 HQ and the newly appointed corp comms exec are hell bent on maintaining perception that Droga is still brimming with talented minds. Talent is the battleground now because there aren’t really any clients or the projects to talk about.
Remember the recent Droga profile on 60 Minutes? This all feels like a very concerted effort to sure up David Droga’s own brand….the one talent agency WME apparently paid $225m for.
Droga Syd is clearly in panic mode. They can spin it however they please, but they’re only fooling themselves.
For an agency that prides itself on being progressive, they’re taking a giant leap backwards with the reappointment of Nobay.
I find all this public cleansing stuff rather pathetic – and yet quite interesting.
Reading today’s quotes from Sudeep, (and yesterday’s from Nobby) I can’t help but feel they’ve only just realised that nothing short of complete focus and commitment on their business and on their clients’ business is the way forward.
Astonishing – and quite telling.
I happen to have a mountain of respect for Nobby’s creative talents and Sudeep’s planning ability – but what the hell are they doing running a business?
Yes Nobby, ‘swagger’ became ‘arrogance’, but for the love of God, don’t let the fear of failure lead to this sort of P.R. nonsense.
When hanging your laundry out, it’s best to do it in the backyard rather than the front.