David Droga wants to have a positive effect that does not end when a campaign is over, writes Julian Lee.
Two of the nation's largest advertisers, the Federal Government and Telstra, are showing keen interest in street-savvy marketing campaigns that bring about social change, similar to those created by the Australian adman David Droga for New Yorkers.
Droga is in Australia this week presenting his ideas to the telco's executives and, at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is giving a talk about New York's the Million Project, which awards free mobile phone credits to motivate children to perform well at school.
Droga has also given the clearest indication of what Telstra expects from his agency, Droga5, since it was appointed to Telstra's roster in July.
Asked if he or Telstra wanted to develop a program similar to the Million Project, he says: ''I would love them to do something like Million in Australia. The stars are aligned and we've had some very healthy conversations. There are certain things in the pipeline that could have that effect or more.
''Telstra has not bought us in to be another one of their agencies; they've brought us in to do the type of work we are good at.''
Amanda Johnston-Pell, Telstra's executive director of brands and marketing communications, appears to confirm the direction, saying Droga5's Sydney office was appointed because it brings in other companies, individuals and others that are ''far outside the scope of 'conventional advertising' to collaborate in solving our challenges''. She says the agency is working on ''communications to raise awareness of the many ways Telstra contributes to local communities''. Droga5's first project was the design for Telstra's most recent corporate responsibility report.
Since leaving Publicis as its worldwide chief creative officer four years ago to set up his own agency, Droga has emerged as the go-to man for corporations that want to do marketing that has a positive impact on society. He says that after last year, when agencies and clients were on the back foot, more Fortune 500 companies are coming forward to canvass ideas.
His New York agency is about to launch a green laundry detergent for Method, and is working on a campaign for the world's largest supplier of wind turbines, a Danish company, Vestas, which he hopes will change the way people think about the energy they use - ideas that he says ''have momentum'' rather than beginning and ending with a print or a TV ad campaign. Other US clients include Puma and the gaming company Activision.
His ambition is to make Droga5, which grew by 40 per cent last year, the ''most influential'' agency in the world that can bring about change for good. ''We want to work with brands that have a conscience and are not taking at all costs … Is [the work] going to be disposable or will it bring about change? The influence of advertising is far greater than we give it credit for … the backbone [of Droga5's work] is still commerce and the capital side but it can still do good at the same time.''
How, then, does he square that philosophy with the fact that the Australian office's biggest client is Victoria Bitter?
''VB is a quintessential part of Australia. That's not saying they should turn a blind eye to binge drinking. They can do stuff about that, and they did around Anzac Day,'' he says, referring to its Raise a Glass campaign, which raised $1 million for the RSL and Legacy from the sale of specially marked cases of beer but did not address binge drinking specifically. He adds: ''Not every client is going to be a UNICEF.''
His idea to get New Yorkers to pay a $US1 for tap water in restaurants to help UNICEF provide clean drinking water in developing nations is spreading to other US cities.
It is campaigns like the Tap Project that have brought him to the attention of larger corporations he says are ripe for change. ''You have that influence and scale when you are talking to big companies.''
He advises against reading too much into the Federal Government's invitation to speak at its social inclusion conference in Melbourne. ''It might be food for thought [for the Government]. They might dismiss it outright or take it to further conversations.''
