• by Larissa Faw , May 19, 2021

Bolstered by parent Accenture Interactive, Droga5 is expanding its footprint with an office in Tokyo and plans to open locations in Brazil and China in the next 12 months.

Droga5 Tokyo will be led by a mixture of local creative talent and long-serving Droga5 leaders who “represent the best of the agency’s creative culture,” the agency claims.

Under the guidance of Droga5 Founder Creative Chairman David Droga, Global CEO Sarah Thompson, and Global COO Susie Nam, two Droga5 New York vets will be leading the office.

Chris Burgess, who most recently served as Droga5’s business lead for Chase and Allstate, two of its largest clients, will serve as general manager. While Dan Ng, former brand strategy lead for clients including MailChimp and Facebook, will serve as head of strategy.

At the creative helm will be the newly appointed CCO, Masaya Asai. He is tasked with bringing a unique bi-cultural perspective drawn from his roots in both Japan and the United States.

“The structure of our leadership team at Droga5 Tokyo allows us to be more locally and culturally fluent, so our work will have maximum impact,” says Asai. “We're also entering the market standing on the shoulders of a robust and talented workforce at Accenture Interactive Japan that is already helping hundreds of clients grow their businesses by leveraging data, technology and innovation."

The agency’s expansion is positioned as an “investment” for clients building on the promise with Droga’s creative expertise and Accenture’s technology, explains Brian Whipple, group chief executive, Accenture Interactive. “Brands are built on a series of customer promises — ones that are brought to life through creativity, technology and overall by a holistic experience,” he adds. These new locations will “give us an even stronger platform in experience-led transformation globally.”

Droga5 has been part of Accenture Interactive since being acquired in 2019 for around $300 million. Together Droga5 and Accenture Interactive work with clients including Kimberly Clark, Amazon, Facebook and lululemon.