Barbara Humphries and Damon Stapleton Will “Impact Global Culture From this Region” and Leave Egos At The Door

Uniting Droga5’s creative leadership across Australia and New Zealand “makes total sense, to have a creative resource that you can tap into,” but it requires “a deep lack of ego.”

“It has been tried before, Trans-Tasman, but normally what happens is there's only one person and that invariably means that it's weighted to one of the countries,” newly-minted co-CCO Damon Stapleton told LBB in his first interview alongside co-CCO Barbara Humphries.

“What's great about this is that Barb and I talk just about every day – maybe not Sundays – but we care about the work, and we care about doing good work. We don't really care where it comes from.

“If you can make that work, then the rest will fall into place. That's why I believe this is the way forward for the industry, but that's probably a conversation for another day.”

Earlier this month, Damon and Barbara were promoted to the roles after Tara Ford was elevated to CCO of Droga5’s London team. Fellow Aussie  and co-founder of The Monkeys, Mark Green, became global CEO in August, while The Monkeys’ rebadging to Droga5 took effect in December.

Their appointments mark the beginning of a merged ANZ team, with the Australian and New Zealand offices now working as one within the global Droga5 organisation.

“When you start to become part of a global network, there are bigger opportunities. Putting New Zealand and Australia into one big space gives you more opportunity. The standard hasn't changed, but maybe the ambition is bigger than it was,” said Damon.

Barbara resides in Australia whilst Damon is based in New Zealand. Despite an ocean – or the Tasman Sea – between them, the pair are working together closely. For Barbara, the advantage of working with someone like Damon to maximise the opportunity across the region’s three offices is that “we've got amazing teams and so many fantastic clients” willing “to have the two of us working together to better utilise all those awesome people and make the most of the opportunities that we've got.”

“We've already been doing it in many ways, we've been working like this for a while, and it's worked really well for us and for many of our clients as well,” Barbara said.

“So it's the advantage of being able to do that in even more ways. Having different perspectives on the work is always really beneficial as well.”

Barbara and Damon have been “getting our heads together and working through some of the logistics” of the merge, but some things “are a little more seamless in that we are on the same page about what best serves creatives in trying to make that process work for them as well.”

“We're really fortunate that we've got excellent teams who genuinely care about the work, and I think are genuinely excited about the opportunities that we've got within our ANZ network,” Barbara said.

Damon observed, “It's funny, you spend your whole career working in a team, and then you become a CCO and you're not allowed to do that anymore.

“I actually think there's a real benefit to having somebody that you trust and respect to bounce ideas off. Advertising is funny – it hasn't really changed in 50 or 60 years in that you've got to have one CCO. But things are moving and I actually think it's a real benefit. Sometimes two brains are better than one.”

CEO Matt Michael said bringing the region together is “not something that eats from either market. It's something that really extrapolates for both.”

“The relationship between these guys and myself and the teams – how we come together and align behind that ambition around making an impact and commitment to that borderless creativity is really how this will deliver and work in the end.”

With Mark and Tara flying the flag for the region overseas, Barbara said the local team looks to them as “further evidence of the impacts that we can have from here.”

“This region has always punched above its weight, I feel like that's one of the most exciting things about being here. We want everyone to feel like you can impact global culture from this region, and time and time again, people have proven that to be true. That's something that everybody here feels is possible and is excited about.”

The new-look Droga5 ANZ team is “standing on giant Monkey shoulders,” but according to Matt, “there is a bit of new electricity in it – whether that's a bigger running field, a greater ambition, or a new dawn.”

“It's a continuation, but with a reinvigorated ambition and goal.”

He promises, “not only are we going to push the network forward and be that breeding ground for both great global talent and great global work, but we're also going to push the industry forward. The Monkeys’ history embodies that, the Droga5 global and local positioning embodies that too.”

Whilst The Monkeys may no longer exist in name, Damon said the DNAs of The Monkeys and Droga5 have a lot of similarities – “slightly rebellious, always driven by creativity”.

“If you look at The Monkeys or Droga5, the ambition is always to do world class work, I don't think that's ever changed. What has changed is the scale of the ambition, and also the playing field.”

The main priority has been, and always will be, the work. That’s why Barbara and Damon’s promotions are critical. “Delivering that world class work and punching above our weight remains very much what we will be about and what we'll always be about,” Matt said.

“Trying to make an impact and make as big a dent in the universe as we can through our work is the top priority, and seeing that work deliver for our clients and deliver the results is critical.

“I've always been a believer that if you get that right, if you get the creativity and the work right, then the rest follows.”

And to stand out on the world stage? “It's not just about being good, it's also about being different. That's something that we're going to try to work towards as we go forward,” Damon added.

In the end, it’s the people that make a place what it is. And “the type of people that The Monkeys and now Droga5 attracts are genuinely curious about what else is out there in the world,” Barbara said.

“That really helps – we have people going, ‘What's going on over there, can I work on that?’ There's a real ambition that's shared by so many, and not just the creatives, it's the whole team.”