And then there were 3: Droga5 launches in NZ fronted by O’Sullivan, Stone and Alomajan
CB EXCLUSIVE: Droga5 is opening its doors in Auckland with former Saatchi & Saatchi NZ ECD Mike O’Sullivan (left) and CEO Andrew ‘Rocky’ Stone (far left) and Tribal DDB creative strategist Jose Alomajan (centre) as the founding partners.
Droga5’s third global office will build on the success of Droga5 Sydney, which has grown from three staff to 45 staff in just over two years after winning major accounts such as VB, Crown, Cascade, V Australia and Telstra.
David Droga (pictured below centre, with O’Sullivan and Stone in New York in March), founder and creative chairman at Droga5 in New York, saysMike O, Jose and Rocky make the perfect team for Droga5’s NZ shop giventheir phenomenal track-record of building world-class agency brands inNZ. Says Droga: “At the end of the day, Droga5 is in the business ofpositive results. We are not about spending our way through a problembut rather thinking our way to a solution. To deliver this, I need tobe in partnership with the best minds regardless of location. I havealways been a fan of Mike and Rocky and am thrilled to call thempartners,” says Droga.
Since resigning from Saatchi NZ in August2009, O’Sullivan has retained his title as Campaign Brief’s mostawarded Creative Director in Australasia, with a stash of awardscollected as ECD at Saatchi New Zealand and ECD at Colenso BBDO.According to the Campaign Brief Creative Rankings, O’Sullivan has been the No.1CD in Australasia five times out of the last 10 years. He has also won five Campaign Brief NZ Agency of the Year titles, three as ECD of Colenso BBDO, twice as ECD of Saatchi & Saatchi NZ.
Rocky firstjoined the Saatchi network in London in 1988, launching Generator NZ in1995, and returning to Saatchi NZ as CEO in 2004. Together, Rocky andO’Sullivan transformed Saatchi’s NZ into one of the region’s most awardedagencies prior to leaving in December last year.
Jose Alomajanwas previously creative strategist at Tribal DDB, Auckland. Prior toDDB he was the digital business director of Aim Proximity where he wasresponsible for delivering world class digital solutions that wonnumerous local and international awards for clients such as Air NewZealand, The Warehouse and TVNZ.
Says O’Sullivan: “This venture has been a while in the making. With Jose on board we’re feeling good to go.”
Droga5New Zealand’s clients now gain access to a global family of thinkers.This includes Ted Royer, executive creative director at Droga5 NewYork; Duncan Marshall, who joins Droga5 Sydney from New York asexecutive creative director in June; and David Droga and David ‘Nobby’Nobay, who both made US Creativity’s ranking of ’50 Most InfluentialAdvertising Creatives’ this year.
Says Nobay, creative chairmanof D5 Sydney: “I worked really closely with Mike on the Saatchi’sworldwide creative board, so I know we share many of the samephilosophies about the creative business today and where it’s going.Along with Rocky, I can’t think of a better team to echo the Droga5brand across the Tasman.”
58 Comments
Knew it.
brilliant.
The Emperor is wearing no clothes.
Good for you Hose!
best of luck gents
I’m sure it will enjoy the same success that they left the Saatchis brand in New Zealand in.
Looks like James Polhill really is going to Briscoes.
Well done Jose. You’ll be awesome.
Guess that’s the end of fishing for a whole. Well done lads.
Smart to get into bed with Mike and Rocky. Genius to include Jose.
Jose – best in the business
Crikey.
poor old NBR hasn’t broken a story for quite a while now
Well done Jose
Can’t understand why they didn’t approach the guy who bills himself as one of the best digital guru’s in the world, who is fast destroying our agency. That’s when he is in town.
Is Jose Alomajan not just David Droga without the beard? Spooky.
What will Sugar do now???
What will Sugar do now???
brillant, the Rocky/mikeO success story continues…
Presumably they’ve not set this up with zero clients. Any suggestions as to what client/s they’re launching?
I love it how someone thought they had to point out that Jose was the one in the centre. On another purely trivial note – perhaps the shortest trio in advertising?
Fish murderers!!!!!! Fish murderers!!!!!
Let’s face, they got Jose on board to make them look tall OK
10.37 Do you mean the Australian David Brent?
The comments here are such a bad ad for the industry. Ironic.
OK Jose
Good stuff Jose,
well done mate
Congratulations to YOU Jose!
3:33 David Brent’s a better dancer
Oh, so is it Droga 5 foot 5?
Will be very interesting to see how it goes.
Not overly convinced.
Jose, where is ‘Blue Steel’?
Genius! Well done Mike O, brilliant move Jose
Hose my boy go forth
The_Hammer is correct. What does that digital dude do at Colenso to justify his ridiculous salary and trips to Oz.
And lol @ 4.48
4:58 is Jon Ramage.
Droga 5 at their brilliant best.
Go The_Hammer. There’s nothing like shitting on your own.
Look out Saatchi’s,
these guys are gonna take you DOWN!!!
Oh wait, they already have.
Droga 5 foot 5. Love it!!!
No way Jose
Is it just me or is there a mass exodus of senior people from DDB taking place right now?
Plenty of people leaving Tribal.
Hallensteins: Buy 2 black shirts and get 1 free deal. Only while stocks last!!!
I left Tribal a couple of years ago, does that count?
Nobby vs mikeO.
Bring it on.
How many have left Tribal? I thought it had gone last year to be honest.
A steady exodus from Tribal I’ve been told. And a bit of a revolving door. The same people going in and running out the door only months later.
Well done Jose. Those long hours have not been in vain, Draga5 will take the NZ industry apart.
Take it apart? Yeah right. Nice billboard right there.
3.43 who told you that about Tribal – your arse?
Easy now Greg.
hold on a sec – pause to wipe the spit from the corners of your mouths and think this through. Droga 5’s bold new world beating venture is to take the risk of moving into the huge & globally influential Auckland market? Singapore, Berlin, London & Rio be damned – the one we need to crack if we’re going to have a shot at the big time is AUCKLAND!
Yes I can see them now pitching for the Warehouse Stationery business and its ever decreasing budget. In fact must be about time for the annual review/pitch.
Last time I posted as the hammer would be comments concerning axis awards….Left that alias long ago. So imposters, have the time of your life posing as the hammer. As for dissing my own agency?? Highly unlikey. Colenso can’t help but crush the competition.
Peace
Steve Hansen.
Ted,
Yeah fuck them for wanting to come NZ.
if that is your attitude towards us all here. Please leave the country.
Good on them for not doing the obvious thing and following the money but rather the
people.
Got to admit it just looks like the shell of an agency now, at least 4 people quitting within the last month and a team full of freelancers…
There going to need to replace the revolving doors soon the bearings are wearing out.
To the person who wrote There, not They’re: What agency are you talking about? And if you don’t even have a simple grasp of the English language, how do you know?
2:01 – Grammar police seriously? You do realise we’re not entering logs into the Encyclopaedia Britannica don’t you?