For the Droga5 founder’s ‘unbounded creative skill’
David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5, will be honored by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with the Lion of St. Mark. The honor is given each year to someone who has made outstanding contributions to the creative community.
“[Droga’s] drive, passion and unbounded creative skill has led him to deliver continual award-winning results. He’s set the global standard,” Jose Papa, managing director of Cannes Lions, said in a statement.
To date, Droga has amassed more than 70 gold Lions and 15 Grand Prix/Titanium Lions. Just last year, Droga and his agency won a Grand Prix in Film Craft for the agency’s work on the Under Armour “Rule Yourself: Michael Phelps” campaign. Droga won his first Lion at age 19.
Droga opened his own agency, Droga5, in 2006 after building an already successful career in the business. Before his Droga5 days, Droga was named the first worldwide CCO for the Publicis Network in New York back in 2003. Prior to that, he experienced a relatively quick ascent at Saatchi & Saatchi, joining the agency in Singapore in 1996 as its executive creative director and regional creative director of Saatchi Asia only to become executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi London at the age of 29.
“I have worked with more talented people and had more opportunities than one creative person deserves. The Lion of St. Mark honor is beyond my wildest ambitions,” Droga said in a statement. “It’s incredible to be recognized with this, when you still feel you have so much more to do and prove. But I will soak it up with pride and humility.”
In both 2015 and 2016, Droga5 was named the Cannes Lions Independent Agency of the Year and also received Adweek’s U.S. Agency of the Year recognition in 2014 and 2016.
Past recipients of the Lion of St. Mark have included R/GA’s Bob Greenberg in 2015 and Marcello Serpa, a former partner at AlmapBBDO in 2016. Droga is the seventh ad industry veteran to receive the honor.
Droga will receive his award during this year’s Cannes Lions festival, during the awards ceremony on June 24. He will also be speaking earlier at the festival, taking the stage on June 23.
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