Top 66 David Droga Quotes

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.

People who want to express themselves effectively can learn a lot from the hard-won concision of the copywriter.

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.

Caring makes you want to work harder.

We win more business, not because of pitching but because clients say, ‘We like the work you’re doing.’

A lot of people ask what it takes to move from being a creative to a leader: Take everyone’s career personally. People will work hard for you if you work hard for them. Any idiot can be a boss; all you need is a title. But to be a leader, you need to earn respect and have an opinion you stand by.

It’s not rocket science: The best ads tell great stories. They look and feel like the content you’re already consuming. They invite you in. They make you laugh. They teach you something. They also sell.

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.

Your campaign shouldn’t just die the day you spend your last cent.

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.

The thing I believe is we are good if our peers think we’re great. But we are great if the real world thinks we’re good. And there’s a huge difference.

Advertising is full of great thinkers. This is a powerful industry and does a lot more than we take credit for.

Each consumer has the power of their wallet and their voice. They can exercise that.

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.

If you don’t have reservations, you’re a fool. You can’t go blind into something.

Do something great that you really believe is great.

Sometimes the best ideas will come in the least inspiring places.

I believe in creating ideas that consumers actually want to engage in, creating movements with our thinking and not bombarding them into submission.

The majority of advertising agency creatives are creative people, but we’ve disciplined ourselves to think within traditional formats. I want to change that.

Australians are gypsies by nature. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience different regions of the world.

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.

Creativity has got to have some edge to it, doesn’t it?

I can say firsthand Under Armour is a values-based people company, and this hasn’t deviated for any administration.

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’m not an executive. I’m a creative person.

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.

I was always obsessed with being a writer of some sort.

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.

Wanting something – wanting a career or wanting to make something – doesn’t really mean much. It’s about finding something you care about. Because caring is the only thing that really matters.

One day, when I have advertising out of my system, I want to be Prime Minister of Australia.

If you can allow yourself to do more good with your creativity by being successful, then that’s a great thing.

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.

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.

The first brand that can purpose-build great stories for mobile, that can target in a relevant but noncreepy way and understand that it’s the individual that matters, not the algorithm, is the first brand to win mobile and, possibly, the future.

The greater the pressure and expectation, the more I relish the 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 strive every day to do things that make a difference.

A lot of people think technology is a solution, but it’s really just a canvas for your work. It can make good things amazing and bad things terrible. Facebook allows you to have access to mass audience really quickly if you do creative really well.

Great advertising triggers an emotion in you. It has purpose. It touches a nerve, and that provokes a reaction.

We’re very much an advertising agency, but it’s not about creating ads as we know it.

We work in an industry where people invent technology to avoid what we create.

I’m not embarrassed to be in advertising. But I’m embarrassed by a lot of advertising.

I don’t want Droga5 to be the biggest agency; I want it to be the best.

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.

We’re in the business of influence. And if we’re going to be in partnership with anybody, I want it to be with people who have amazing access and influence.

If you’re advertising on Facebook, the work you’re doing should be made better by being on Facebook. You can’t just be repurposing old TV commercials and hoping to get traction; that’s very primitive. The question, always, is, ‘How is this idea made better by this medium?’

Our work can always get better, and we are constantly striving for that.

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.

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.

I don’t want to spread myself so thin that I achieve nothing.

I’m proud to say that I’m in advertising.

I love traditional advertising and have built my career on it. However, I think that is one option, not the only option. If some of it ends up in that space, fine, so long as it does so because it’s relevant to the desired outcome.

I was in a bank meeting in London once that was so torturous, I had a flash of inspiration for another client.

Before the term ‘viral video’ came out, we used the mass media to our advantage.

Do the work you believe in – if there’s an authentic reason for doing it.

My mother had to label all our clothing. As the youngest boy, all my tags read Droga5.

We don’t like offending anyone.

I would put down everything in my career to the fact that I cared – about what I do, who I work with, what I make.

The creative people I admire seem to share many characteristics: A fierce restlessness. Healthy cynicism. A real world perspective. An ability to simplify. Restraint. Patience. A genuine balance of confidence and insecurity. And most importantly, humanity.

I secretly wish I had experienced advertising in the ‘Mad Men’ period.

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.

I haven’t lost that quest and that thirst to do something great.

We’re moved by emotions and characters and stories. We love that.

There’s so much advertising on television that I find just lazy, just so lazy. I’m like, ‘Why are they doing that?’

I just loved the idea of writing for different personalities all the time.