Accenture PLC is naming David Droga as chief executive officer of Accenture Interactive, as the consulting giant continues to make inroads into the digital marketing business.
A highly regarded ad executive, Mr. Droga was most recently creative chairman of Droga5, an award-winning ad agency that Accenture acquired in 2019.
Mr. Droga, 53 years old, is set to succeed Brian Whipple, who has led Accenture Interactive for a decade, the company said. The change is effective Sept. 1. Mr. Whipple is expected to remain with Accenture until May 2022, the company added.
Accenture was initially attracted to Mr. Droga, and the agency he founded, because of his creative reputation. Bringing Mr. Droga into the fold helped show marketers that the consulting firm has the creative chops needed to compete in the marketing business.
Accenture now hopes Mr. Droga can bring his creative touch to a wider swath of companies the firm owns.
Accenture’s clients are seeking to reinvent their businesses for the digital age, “and that requires creativity at the heart of what we are doing for them,” said Julie Sweet, chief executive officer.
Mr. Droga said he wants to put creativity at the center of all the services Accenture Interactive offers, which include data science, design, experiential marketing, and app and web development. “As tech and data move at a fast pace, I just want to inject creativity in there as an equal force,” he added.
As technology continues to transform the business of marketing, brands are increasingly turning to consultants and technology companies to help them with everything from e-commerce to data management and analytics to business reinvention.
Accenture, along with other consulting firms such as Deloitte, has spent the past few years buying up advertising, marketing, e-commerce and design agencies in an effort to extend their C-suite offerings to marketing departments.
Since 2013, Accenture Interactive has made more than 40 acquisitions, buying companies such as ad agency Karmarama, design firm Fjord, digital marketing agency Storm Digital and ad tech firm Adaptly.
Although Accenture said the pace of acquisitions is likely to slow, Mr. Droga said he is open to deals that help the company deepen its expertise in certain areas or expand into new areas such as live-stream commerce. “I’m not looking to acquire revenue,” he added.
For their part, many ad agencies have also opened up their own consulting divisions and hired executives with consulting backgrounds. In 2020, advertising holding company WPP PLC installed Andy Main, a top consulting executive from Deloitte Digital, at the helm of storied ad agency Ogilvy.
While Madison Avenue had been dominated by well-known creative executives for decades, today in a world where algorithms and big data fetch more buzz than catchy ad slogans, there are just a few creative ad executives that are still able to command the attention that Mr. Droga has managed to maintain.
Droga5, founded by Mr. Droga in 2006, has won accolades for advertising it created for brands such as Under Armour Inc., and the New York Times Co. Droga5’s revenue grew 17% last year, despite the pandemic. The agency currently works on behalf of companies such as Allstate Corp. , Petco Health and Wellness Co. , Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Write to Suzanne Vranica at [email protected]
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