For everyone who wondered what would become of David Droga after Droga5 was acquired by Accenture in 2019, now you know. David Droga is to become chief executive officer of Accenture Interactive on September 1. He will continue to be the company’s creative chairman and will join the company’s Global Management Committee. Droga replaces Brian Whipple, who has led Accenture Interactive for the last ten years and is retiring. Under Whipple’s leadership, Accenture Interactive grew to US$10.6 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2020 (ended August 31, 2020). As creative chairman, Droga worked with Whipple on thirty Accenture acquisitions, including creative agencies, Karmarama and The Monkeys.

In its statement the company explained, “In his new global role, Droga will drive creative excellence, customer experience and business innovation — which leverages the unique capabilities of Interactive, including the power of the depth and breadth of Accenture — to accelerate results that sustain business growth. As global enterprises adapt to new customer needs, expectations and opportunities across industries, Accenture is helping set a new standard for customer connection, sales and marketing — with capabilities from brand to data and artificial intelligence, to the latest technology, to marketing operations.”

Julie Sweet, chief executive officer of Accenture, stated “At a time when our clients are led by purpose, brand and the transformation of experience, David’s global perspective and unmatched creative track record allows us to help clients unlock business and human outcomes in unprecedented ways. I would like to thank and recognize Brian Whipple for his foundational role in building Accenture Interactive’s strong business, driving its rapid growth and for pioneering a disruptive business model that will continue redefining the industry.”

Droga5, which David Droga founded in 2006, has had many ups and a couple of downs, Droga5 Australia being one of the downs. It closed in 2015. Its ups, though, are spectacular. Droga5 has been named Agency of the Year more than 25 times and was most recently named Agency of the Decade by both Adweek and AdAge. Before he launched his own agency, Droga was the first-ever worldwide chief creative officer of the Publicis Network and held key creative leadership roles across agencies in the UK, Asia and Australia. He is currently the most awarded creative at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the youngest person ever inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame and awarded with the Cannes Lions Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lion of St. Mark. His history of firsts began at the age of 22, when he became a partner and executive creative director of OMON Sydney. He moved to Singapore in 1980 to become executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and regional creative director of Saatchi Asia, was promoted to executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi in London in 1990 and worldwide chief creative officer of the Publicis Network in 2003.

“Accenture Interactive has rapidly become the leading digital powerhouse at the intersection of data, creativity and technology,” Droga stated. “As the world seeks to build back better, Interactive will continue to play a critical role in creating 360° value for our clients. I look forward to putting further emphasis on our creative excellence, coupling it with our world-class ingenuity and proven expertise in Interactive and experiences.”