Droga5 has had a good summer.
After Chase announced that it had awarded the bulk of its account to Droga in July, the scope of the work became clearer when a client rep told us that the business had officially moved downtown after nearly 11 years with mcgarrybowen.
In the wake of what proved to be a very big win, the agency is thinking about new hires and promotions. First, it swiped a recruiter from R/GA. Today, Droga announced that it has also appointed its first CMO.
Chris Wollen spent the last two years as head of business development, and he will now lead the agency’s new business efforts along with partner agencies WME and IMG as the release tells us that he is the go-to contact for “global new business opportunities and regional agency partnerships.” It also credits him with “approximately 30 new business wins and more than $45M in revenue” over the past two years.
Before joining Droga in 2013, Wollen spent nine months in the same role at Barbarian Group; he also served as EVP at Grey New York and worked as an account director at BBH.
Global CEO Sarah Thomson says the newly-promoted CMO has been key to the agency’s recent winning streak: “The proof of his efforts is in the exponential growth we have experienced throughout the past few years and the quality of the clients we are fortunate enough to have on our roster now.”
Droga5’s total New York head count has more than doubled since 2014, so expect more hiring announcements to come.
Interestingly, the release mentions recent account wins for the Ford Scion, NRG and Viber (it’s a messaging app) but not the Chase business, which has yet to be completely finalized.