Why David Droga jumped to Accenture—and how the industry is responding

With his ascension to CEO of Accenture Interactive, David Droga will run the world’s fourth-largest agency company behind WPP, Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe. That vaults Droga from operating an agency with estimated revenue of $200 million before it was purchased by Accenture two years ago to helming a global behemoth with revenue of $10.6 billion, sharing the same rarefied air as Mark Read, John Wren and Arthur Sadoun. Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. “He’s moved from running a mid-range agency to running one with billions in revenue,” said one agency consultant. “That’s a big jump even for a guy as smart as David Droga.” Industry reactions Industry reactions ranged from “puzzling” and “curious” to “surprising.” “Dave Droga’s appointment shows that Accenture is trying to show the outside world, their internal staff, and potential acquisitions that they 'get' creative,” says Simon Francis, CEO at Flock Associates. “But Droga, wonderful though he may be, is just one person. I’m personally quite interested in why he would do the role, surely it’s a very different challenge than he has tackled before, in a very different environment and culture.” “I am certainly surprised. I didn’t see him as a big company kind of dude,” says Sarah Hofstetter, former CEO of 360i and current president of e-commerce analytics firm Profitero. “When you’re a founder and when you have the name on the door there is a certain amount of permission and power that may not translate to a bigger company.” Accenture declined to make Droga, who begins his new post Sept. 1, available for an interview. While Droga’s creative chops are unquestioned, running an operation such as Accenture Interactive requires a different skillset, said a second consultant. “To run a [consulting] company is different than running creative insights and creative inspiration. The industry is filled with people who are fabulous at the craft and they get promoted into a role where they don’t have all the skillsets. So you become a CEO. Do you know how to run a P&L?” Yet those who have worked with Australian-born Droga say his abundant charisma and dynamism will go a long way when it comes to competing with holding companies and attracting clients. “Would you rather work with Mark Read or Arthur Sadoun?” says a former Droga exec. “Most of those companies are run by bankers and stiff suits without a creative person in front.” There is a huge challenge in taking a global behemoth the size of Accenture Interactive with its myriad units and pulling them into a cohesive whole, said Avi Dan, who runs search consultancy Avidan Strategies. That said, he adds: “I wouldn’t sell David Droga short.” “People asked if Accenture would change Droga5,” David Droga has said. “I said we would change them.” Wither Whipple? Droga is succeeding Brian Whipple, a former Rapp and Hill Holliday executive, who the company said is retiring after 10 years of running Accenture’s agency business. At press time, Accenture had not responded to a request for Whipple’s age. “I would like to thank and recognize Brian Whipple for his foundational role in building Accenture Interactive’s strong business, driving its rapid growth and for pioneering a disruptive business model that will continue redefining the industry,” said Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture in the announcement of Droga’s appointment. Much of Accenture Interactive’s creative firepower seems to have stemmed from Droga5, Ad Age's 2021 Agency of the Year, which has been generating a steady stream of wins and work for clients including Petco, Kimberly-Clark, Luluemon, Allstate and more. The other 30-plus agencies within AI’s marketing services network include Karmarama and Fjord, both in London; Shackleton in Madrid; Matter in San Francisco; Reactive Media in Australia and Rothco in Dublin. That last agency recently lost a notable global creative account—White Claw—two years after the shop first landed it. The loss of the top-selling hard seltzer brand came less than six months after Rotcho created White Claw’s first big global campaign, “Let’s White Claw,” which leaned into the brand’s carefree image. But as beer trade pub Beer Marketer’s Insights notes, the campaign has “not led to improved trends,” with White Claw’s U.S. sales in stores down 12% for the 12 weeks ending Aug. 8, according to data from Evercore ISI cited by the publication. New path for consultancies Some people believe the appointment ups the ante for Accenture’s competitors—which have long taken a knock for not being very creative—to put their own creative leaders at the helm. “It’s a positive move to see a creative practitioner take the lead at a consultancy,” said Greg Paull, co-founder and principal at R3. “David will bring a totally different perspective to past management and with his global experience, he will also be the best candidate to connect up some of the other Accenture Interactive acquisitions in the UK, Germany, Japan and Australia. This move signifies Accenture’s ambition to become a truly creative-led consultancy where innovation and ideas have just as an important seat at the table as effectiveness and efficiency.” Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. But following that path won’t be easy, he says. “Deloitte has been hampered with some false starts and PwC and KPMG have only a few pockets of excellence in this space. They have a lot more ground to make up.” “I’m not sure that the appointment of Dave Droga to Accenture Interactive leader signifies any seismic shift in the industry one way or the other. In the same way any agency creating a consultancy department or role doesn’t directly threaten Accenture or Boston Consulting Group, this move by Accenture does not imply any increased threat to agencies,” said Flock. Plans for Droga5 With the agency’s namesake stepping into his new role, Droga5 has not announced whether anyone will move into the creative chairman post, though Droga5 watchers believe that is highly unlikely. The agency’s founder has long asserted how his company’s strength comes not just from him, but from the deep bench of talents it has assembled and nurtured over the years. Following the departures of longtime execs of Neil Heymann, former global chief creative officer, and Jonny Bauer, former global chief strategy officer, the agency did not fill those posts directly but turned to existing leaders, including New York Chief Creative Officers Tim Gordon and Felix Richter, London Chief Creative Officer Dave Kolbusz and Chief Brand Strategy Officer Harry Román-Torres to continue to run the show. “One of the remits from the very start, even when we were a small organization was—whoever was in leadership roles—your primary task is to lead the department to make a quality grade. But your secondary task was to build a team so that you have people below you that can take over for you,” Droga told Ad Age earlier this year. “I say it to my creative leads, and I’ve said it for a long time—if you are not planning to overthrow me, you’re not the creatives I thought you were.” Contributing: E.J. Schultz, Brian Bonilla, Bradley Johnson, Ann-Christine Diaz

Why David Droga jumped to Accenture—and how the industry is responding

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