GLOBAL, UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 22, 2013 – Manhattan-based, majority Aussie-owned creative shop Droga5 has been included in Fast Company’s “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013”, an annual guide to the state of innovation in the US. The agency is the only advertising/marketing company that made it to the list.
The list features businesses whose innovations affect a significant impact across their industries and culture as a whole.
The ad shop, known for their unconventional yet attention-grabbing way of presenting brands, ranked 29th and recognized for “giving big brands a startup buzz”. Some of the high-profile accounts in their client roster include American Express and Coca-Cola.
Scrappy and unconventional best describe Droga5’s work. In an interview with Fast Company, founder David Droga said, “This was the year we proved we didn’t have to compromise to grow up. The way we’ve tackled billion-dollar categories is the same.” This non-compromise proved effective as the company’s revenue grew by 43 percent.
One of their most notable campaigns is ‘Jay-Z Decoded’ which was done in partnership with search engine Bing. The campaign saw every page of the rapper’s biography transposed into real world locations that, in some way, related to the content on that page. Some pages were plastered on billboards, the bottom of the pool at Miami’s Delano Hotel, on pool tables, etc. The campaign also included a Bing Maps-enabled scavenger hunt, allowing the audience to uncover clues as to the location of the page. The campaign was awarded a Cannes Lion Grand Prix for Outdoor.
Droga5 has also successfully broken into other markets such as retirees with their ‘Day One’ online documentary series for Prudential, the crowded youth scene with ‘Kinda’ for Mondelez International and Newcastle United fans by publishing a survey, which found out that they loved their wives more than the team, for Puma.
Nike topped the list followed by Amazon and Square. Virtual mood board Pinterest is 8th on the list while Google and Apple secured the 11th and 13th spots, respectively. Meanwhile, micro-blogging site Tumblr secured the 50th slot.
Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter didn’t make it to the list as it “neither produced innovations worth celebrating”.
To view the complete list, click here.
