DDB’s Priya Patel reflects on business, creative innovation and independents
In 2020, DDB Sydney has not just navigated the pandemic, it has brought on a slew of new business, built out a media team for Johnson & Johnson, a social team for McDonald’s and pushed the boundaries in creativity. Managing director Priya Patel chats to Mumbrella’s Zoe Wilkinson on what keeps bringing clients back to the agency, and the strength of legacy agencies when all eyes are on independents.
Priya Patel describes her two-and-a-half years at DDB Sydney as “exciting, unpredictable and fun”.
It is the only question after which she takes a pause before answering. In the last three years DDB has been a consistently strong performer in the market, and despite 2020 and all its challenges, the agency has still delivered a steady year of growth.
“I’m actually feeling great,” Patel says, “I’ve got to say it’s been really exhausting but actually this year has given me a lot of hope and excitement for what we are as a business and what we can be. So although I am tired, I’m also feeling very positive and kind of good about the year and next year in particular.”
How do you navigate an agency in a year such as this? Do you batten down the hatches? Or do you get scrappy and attack the new business that’s out there? For an agency with the scale and client list of DDB Sydney, it was a little bit of both.
