Sarah Thompson Named CEO at Droga5, New York

Droga5 is making a wave of changes to its U.S. leadership team, as part of which Sarah Thompson has been named the agency's new CEO. She succeeds Andrew Essex, who had been CEO since the shop opened in New York in 2006. Mr. Essex is being moved up to vice chairman but will continue to oversee DE-DE, the agency's digital product development studio. As CEO, Ms. Thompson will be responsible for overseeing all client business and making sure that Droga5 -- which has been on Ad Age's Agency A-List for the past several years -- continues to grow and innovate. Ms. Thompson joined Droga5 in 2008 as general manager from BBH New York, where she had served as head of account management and international accounts. In just two years, she was promoted to president. Before moving to New York she spent time in San Francisco and Boston at Omnicom Group's Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Mullen. With her new role, she joins the ranks of female agency leaders in the ad industry. It's not a big number but one that is slowly and surely growing. That group includes: Deutsch's Linda Sawyer, Publicis Worldwide's Susan Gianinno, KBS+ head Lori Senecal, Partners & Napier's Sharon Napier, EnergyBBDO's Tonise Paul, IPG Mediabrands' Jacki Kelley, and Marc USA's Michelle Fabrizi to name a few. "One true measure of Droga5's success is how our people grow within the agency," said the agency's founder and creative chairman, Droga5, in a statement. "We have always aspired to be one of the world's most influential creative companies, and I believe these incredible talents will help us achieve that mission." The agency said the change come as it experiences its bigger quarter in six consecutive years of growth. Along with naming Ms. Thompson CEO, the agency is promoting a number of other executives. On the creative side, the agency is promoting Ted Royer to Chief Creative Officer of the office, from ECD. He will work closely with Ms. Thompson on new business and growing the shop. Under him a pair of creatives, Kevin Brady and Neil Heymann, have been promoted to executive creative directors.

Sarah Thompson Named CEO at Droga5, New York

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