‘You die if you stop moving:’ Advertising legend David Droga on his plans for semi-retirement

David Droga is stepping down as CEO of Accenture Song, the global consultancy’s creative marketing services unit. In September Droga will transition from his day-to-day leadership into a broader strategic role as vice chair of Accenture. 

Within only four years, Droga led Song’s growth from $12.5 billion to $19 billion in revenue, all while winning Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity every year, I-COM Data Creativity Awards, Red Dot Design Awards, Webbys, and its first Emmy. 

Droga came to Accenture back in 2019, after Accenture Interactive acquired his ad agency Droga5. At the time, Droga explained that brand communications had gone far beyond just advertising, seeping into every time and place a consumer experiences a brand—from ads to retail to e-commerce. He knew the combination of Accenture’s scale and digital expertise and Droga5’s strategy and creativity would be in high demand. “CEOs, CMOs, and CIOs all need to be on the same page, because they all affect each other now,” he said at the time. “This isn’t a nice-to-have. I think it’s going to be crucial for any brand going forward. This is future-proofing.” Six years later, many brands are now just coming to terms with this.

When Accenture Interactive was rebranded as Song, Droga (who was named CEO in 2021) saw it as another future-proofing move, to make sure the company’s structure matched client demands. “We’re now more in line with each other, working on solutions together, same P&L, so there’s no competing forces getting in the way,” he said. “I think that’s the only way to step up and deliver what clients need.”

Given how Song has built up its capabilities—making 62 acquisitions since fiscal 2010—it’s clear Droga has built an absolute powerhouse across creativity, design, technology, AI, data, and strategy into one connected platform. I talked to him about how AI was transforming the advertising industry on Fast Company‘s Brand New World podcast back in February.

As part of the transition, Ndidi Oteh, who currently serves as the Americas lead for Accenture Song, will become the CEO of Accenture Song, the company said. Nick Law, current creative chairperson for Accenture Song, will become the creative strategy and experience lead. 

I spoke with Droga on Wednesday about his not-really retirement, how the company has evolved most under his leadership, and what his next chapter looks like.

Fast Company: OK, let’s start with the most obvious question: Why this move and why now?

David Droga: Well, because I felt like we had our we had great momentum, and I had the right leadership team. That sort of gave me the belief that if I was going to, step into something new, or retire—or not—that I wasn’t abandoning ship. We’re ready for the next phase. Assembling the team was probably the most important part.

One consistent thing through my career is I’ve always been in a rush to prove things out, not just sort of sit around and wait for things to happen. You’ve got to seize opportunity, and try and live up to it. You never really finish doing what you set out to do, but you can certainly hit benchmarks along the way. Then eventually, you feel like it’s got its own momentum. And then you can throw yourself into trying different things, as well. But I certainly proved what I wanted to prove to myself and to the broader audience that creative leadership can really move an industry, a company, forward. And it’s more of a necessity of leadership now than an accoutrement.

Back in 2022 when Accenture Interactive was rebranded Song, we talked a lot about spreading creativity to more areas of business problem solving. How has the company evolved most significantly since then?

Across broad Accenture, I know they see our creativity and abilities as an advantage. The scale of broad Accenture is vast. It is seen as very much a tech-led company with consulting and operations at the heart of it, and now that they see the power of infusing creativity into that, we can do even more.

For me, the real validation and excitement is when we can do things that only Song can do, which is infusing that creativity across every facet of the customer’s business. Yes, there’s marketing, but we can now take that consistency to the commerce platforms, and then we can also do that with the service, and we can do that in design, and with data and AI. I see we’re actually proving that out, not just from how much we’re growing, but putting our best intentions and experience into it, and I’m seeing that woven into what we’re doing for clients. We’re not pigeonholed into one dimension of our clients’ needs.

What particular pieces of work or projects stand out as highlights that embody those capabilities?

Well, you can go from the Coinbase (2022 Super Bowl ad) and the Sydney Opera House work as more traditional advertising. Then there’s amazing digital work, which is, like, you know, the Gatorade digital redesign, or the IKEA work where people can resell their old stuff back on the IKEA platform. It’s not just the creative idea. I always say if you look at our very best ideas, is that a marketing idea? Is it a commerce idea? Is it a design idea? Is it a sustainability idea? No, it’s about the ability to make them all come together.

I’ve always been trying to prove out not just the worth of creativity, but the different canvases and dimensions where it can show up. I’m a creative person to the marrow, and the best way to prove the worth and value of creativity is by making a sustainable business where we’re growing, where our client work is working, where people have opportunities, and people are excited by what we represent.  But it’s also difficult. Forging a new path is intimidating, and sometimes you stumble and fail. I’ve said this before, but I’m more afraid of repetition than I am a failure.

OK, speaking of forging new paths, this sounds like a sort-of, not-really retirement. What’s next for you? What does a vice chair do?

I’m still participating. I’m a builder and a worker, and I like to do things. So I’m going to step out of leading this enterprise and being caught up in the day to day operation, and now I can sort of cherry pick and spend time with the things that I think are going to move us forward.

I think, had I just retired, it’s probably too abrupt for someone (like me) who’s probably like a shark—you die if you stop moving. I don’t have aspirations to play golf and sit on a beach for rest of my life, but I also did want to just take stock. My oldest daughter just started college, for example. So I wanted to be able to ground myself and think about how I can contribute in these other ways.

And it’s probably saving me from just playing tennis and pouring tequila over my head.

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