David Kolbusz elevated Orchard’s creative output in his first year at the agency

In May of last year, Orchard made a big decision when it brought in a new creative leader for the agency, founded only a few years prior. David Kolbusz also made a drastic change when he decided to leave his position as chief creative officer of Droga5 London to join the small independent shop based in New York. Ad Age Small Agency Awards See all of the 2023 winners Click here In hindsight, they were both great decisions. Prior to Kolbusz’s arrival, the agency’s creative output “wasn’t particularly impressive," the agency admitted in its submission. The first thing Kolbusz worked on was rebranding the agency from Lightning Orchard to just Orchard. “Apparently more people than we anticipated struggle with the spelling of the word ‘lightning,’” the agency joked. From the quirky absurdness of an Ocean Spray campaign that showed a family getting their jiggle on at Thanksgiving dinner to a Champs campaign that subtly avoids the typical sports training montage ad, Kolbusz has made his presence felt in a short amount of time. The agency also launched a campaign for Silk Nextmilk that used children of celebrities featured in the original milk mustache campaign. Structurally, Kolbusz worked with Orchard Co-Founders Laura Janness and Barney Robinson to create fewer silos within the agency’s departments. “One tangible example has been pairing strategists and creatives together, moving creative input further upstream and strategy further downstream in the conceptual process,” the agency wrote. The combination has been fruitful. Orchard’s revenue jumped to more than $20 million in 2022 from $14 million the year prior. It also picked up business with Google Fi, Google Small Business and Two Good Yogurt. In June 2023, the agency also picked up creative duties for Etsy. Ad Age Small Agency Awards See all of the 2023 winners Click here

David Kolbusz elevated Orchard’s creative output in his first year at the agency

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