I really care about leaving a trail of goodness wherever we can.
— David Droga
There is good business doing good.
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.
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.
Advertising is full of great thinkers. This is a powerful industry and does a lot more than we take credit for.
Over the years, advertising had become very lazy, very visual. Visuals are important, yes, but as a part of the story.
We're moved by emotions and characters and stories. We love that.
I don't want to sound too worthy here, but I want to do something that honestly contributes something positive to society.
Just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you need to - restraint is something I admire.
Do the work you believe in - if there's an authentic reason for doing it.
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.
Before the term 'viral video' came out, we used the mass media to our advantage.
People who want to express themselves effectively can learn a lot from the hard-won concision of the copywriter.
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.
Beanbags and softball matches and a cool Twitter handle doesn't make young people want to work at your office.
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.
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.
One day, when I have advertising out of my system, I want to be Prime Minister of Australia.
I believe in creating ideas that consumers actually want to engage in, creating movements with our thinking and not bombarding them into submission.
I'm not an executive. I'm a creative person.
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.
Great advertising triggers an emotion in you. It has purpose. It touches a nerve, and that provokes a reaction.
There's so much advertising on television that I find just lazy, just so lazy. I'm like, 'Why are they doing that?'
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.
I'm not embarrassed to be in advertising. But I'm embarrassed by a lot of advertising.
If you can allow yourself to do more good with your creativity by being successful, then that's a great thing.
Like anyone, I'm scared of failure. That drives you to work really hard.
We work in an industry where people invent technology to avoid what we create.
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.
Copywriters on Madison Avenue constantly grapple with the question of where their work sits on the totem pole of 'real' writing.
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.
If people know they're being sold to, you can celebrate the sell.
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.
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 Droga5 to be the biggest agency; I want it to be the best.
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 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!
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.
Each consumer has the power of their wallet and their voice. They can exercise that.
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.
I am the most competitive person you will ever meet.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Generosity is as much showing your vulnerability as it is your passion for something.
We're very much an advertising agency, but it's not about creating ads as we know it.
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.
I think the best way to show appreciation for things going well is to make things better.
