Accenture Song CEO David Droga is stepping down on September 1st. He’s been in the role for four years, having sold his agency, Droga5, to the consultancy for $475m in 2019.
Droga will stay at the company as vice-chair, keeping his hand in with some clients and advising in a more strategic role. He will be succeeded as chair by Ndidi Oteh, the head of Accenture Song in the Americas. She has been at the consultancy since 2011, when she joined from retailer Macy’s where she worked in merchandising and product development.
Creative chairperson Nick Law (ex-Apple, Publicis, R/GA) will be the new Song creative strategy and experience lead, and he will also join Accenture’s global management committee alongside Oteh.
Droga said, “It has been a privilege to be part of so many missions and cultures around the world. With such extraordinary leadership in place, it felt like the right time. I could not be more confident that Ndidi, Sean and Nick will continue building on Song’s legacy of innovation, creativity, and performance. I am also deeply grateful for Julie Sweet’s trust, our partnership, and what will be an enduring friendship.”
Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, says: “David Droga has long been a singular force and a once-in-a-generation creative leader and business builder and he has lived our core value of stewardship and has developed the next generation of leaders who will build an even better Song. He brings humanity, imagination, clarity, and confidence to everything he touches and helps redefine how businesses grow and connect. His brilliance is matched only by his generosity, integrity, and belief in others. As Accenture’s vice chair, his legacy and impact will continue for our people, our work, and our purpose.”
The 56 year-old Droga is one of the most influential creative people of the past three decades and without him, Accenture would still be no more than a consultancy. Revenues grew from $12.5bn to $19bn in the four years after he arrived, and he managed to bring some of the creative firepower of his own agencies to the group while securing smart acquisitions.
“I honestly could not be more grateful for my career and the opportunities I’ve had,” Droga said. “The people who believed in me, the talent I’ve worked alongside, the clients we’ve served, the trust, the ambition, the camaraderie, it’s all part of me. After 30 plus years of leaping, I am ready to catch my breath. And being vice chair will allow me to do that, but also to contribute in new ways. I am also excited to spend more time suffixing: Thinking, daydreaming, advising, investing, giving, mentoring, exploring, learning, playing, appreciating, family-ing, sleeping-in-ing.”
Campaigns for brands like The New York Times, Tourism Australia, Amazon and Meta marked him out as a progressive creative leader who was ahead of the times, particularly in digital and the all-important realm of cultural relevance.
His most famous campaigns – including The great schlep for Obama 2008, Tourism Australia’s Son of a Legend, The New York Times’ The truth is worth it, Puma’s After hours athlete, Newcastle Brown Ale If we made it, Under Armour’s I will what we want, Google Friends furever, and Bud Light’s Dilly dilly – were mostly made before the 2019 sale to Accenture.
Can Accenture Song continue to play in the advertising space without Droga? There has been some shuffling of deckchairs ahead of Droga’s move, and while the consultancy is still finding its way, it’s been pretty influential in moving the landscape forward by combining tech and creativity. Droga has definitely earned a rest.
