DROGA5 APPOINTS ROYER AS ECD

New York based Droga5 has named former Publicis Mojo Sydney ECD Ted Royer executive creative director, reporting to agency chairman David Droga. In this role, Royer will oversee all advertising, new media, and creative content for Droga5’s clients.

Droga5 was founded by Aussie expat Droga in 2006 on the belief that this is the era of relevance marketing and creativity with a conscience. The agency’s expertise is in brand solutions and consumer communities that generate engagement by co-opting popular culture. Clients of the firm include Marc Ecko, UNICEF & The Tap Project, PBS, TracFone, and RedBull.

“We’ll be doing something for Steinlager, that will be launching in the U.S. in April,” says Royer. “We’re building a Web site where one of the things you’ll be able to do is swap lives with someone in New Zealand.”

March 22 will see the launch of the Tap Project, an effort to get New Yorkers to donate $1 to UNICEF in return for the usually free activity of drinking water. Droga originated the idea for Esquire magazine’s ‘Genius’ issue.

Next year, Droga5 hopes to expand the initiative to other cities. “We’re taking the brand and approaching 50 of our favorite agencies and saying you’re the agency for this city. You can do whatever you want, so long as you promote it,” Royer said.

There are also plans for a television show with an online and software component. “It’s a small business initiative for Microsoft,” he said.

Prior to joining Droga5, Royer worked for Droga (while he was worldwide CD) in the New York office of Publicis, where he oversaw creative on the Heineken brand. He has also worked at Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore, Ogilvy & Mather in Argentina and Publicis Mojo in Sydney, as well as on Nike at Wieden + Kennedy.

He has won over 50 major awards around the world for such clients as ESPN, Unilever, Hewlett Packard, and Heineken.

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