Droga5 starts small, thinks big

Droga5's Andrew Stone (left), David Droga (centre) and Mike O'Sullivan. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand's newest advertising agency Droga5 aims to have three or four advertisers under its belt within 12 months.

But for all of its reputation as a new style of ad agency, it is not yet clear how the Droga5 brand will translate into the New Zealand market.

The network announced recently it was launching a new agency in Auckland, to be run by former Saatchi & Saatchi executives Andrew Stone and Mike O'Sullivan and ex-DDB strategist Jose Alomajan.

Founded by David Droga in New York four years ago and in Sydney in 2008, the agency has swiftly built up a client list in both locations. But it will be no easy task to achieve that in the tough New Zealand market in 2010.

As one senior creative executive pointed out, there's never a good time to start an ad agency.

But there is a view that advertisers are restless and looking for change as they review long-time relationships to boost sales and returns.

As the New Zealand industry fights for its future - against a drift of corporate business overseas and amid a revamp of the media sector - the question will be how this new agency from a small network cuts through against the corporate firepower of the big agencies.

In the meantime, the local launch of Droga5 answers questions about its principals - industry veterans Stone and O'Sullivan. The third partner, Alomajan, formerly of DDB and Aim Proximity, is a respected adman who has added to the fledgling agency's status.

Stone and O'Sullivan left roles as chief executive and executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi last year.

Their exit was part of a huge upheaval at Saatchi & Saatchi, an agency that once dominated New Zealand advertising and held a global reputation but fell on hard times .

Under Stone and O'Sullivan, Saatchi was perceived as having improved.

But multinational owners at Publicis made radical changes leading to the appointment of a new CEO and creative management.

Now the two men who made their name working with industry giants will be working from the other end of advertising - establishing a small and relatively unknown brand into the New Zealand market.

Their considerable corporate contacts will fit with Droga5's reputation for having a close working partnership with its clients.

Droga5 New Zealand will be based in Westhaven - close to the location for Generator, an independent ad agency that Stone led from 1995, before it was bought by the global firm Bates.

While there is a notable connection between staff at Droga5 and Saatchi owners Publicis, David Droga insisted that they were wholly independent.

Beyond the genuine praise for its founder David Droga and its approach - from both media and its competitors - it is difficult to assess how the agency differs, beyond the expectation that it has a closer relationship with clients.

Within two years of launching, Droga5 had global partnerships with Puma, Microsoft and a relationship with haircare brands for Unilever.

Droga said the Australian office had grown to employ 35 staff, with clients including VB, Crown, Cascade, V Australia and Telstra.

It is not clear yet how those relationships will lead to work being delivered to Droga5 here - it would be a handy start for an agency that is starting from scratch in New Zealand.

But local talent could be useful for servicing clients in other parts of the world.

Droga said he was keen on feisty small campaigns but Droga5 wanted to work on bigger brands.

"You have to have scale so you can have a canvas to demonstrate your wares."