Droga5 invests in startup scheme as it looks to tap into different ways of thinking about tech
Sudeep Gohil
Droga5 has invested funds into startup incubator Startmate as it looks to tap into new creative and technological expertise and “shake the agency out of its comfort zone”.
CEO Sudeep Gohil is also putting his own money into the scheme, which aims to turn “nerds into CEOs” by offering investment and mentoring for a select number of businesses each year.
While Droga has been allowed to invest in a bid to help “sharpen” the communications for the companies Gohil told Mumbrella the agency was also gaining access to a different way of thinking.
When you can’t do something… buy it instead.
Well played by Blackbird to land the investment. Agencies not renowned for their investment nose.
Puzzled as to why Droga5 would be taking swipes at any other agency given how little creative or technological innovation they’ve demonstrated themselves in this market.
M&C Saatchi seems a particularly poor choice for damning praise in light of their recent success and acclaim for work that – while it may well be ‘campaign’ rather than ‘tech’ led – has exponentially more merit than anything Droga5 Australia has ever produced here.
Droga5 would be much better advised to let their work, rather than their management, do the talking. Heads down, bums up, mouths shut for a while would serve the Droga5 brand immeasurably better than the empty proclamations we are seeing all too regularly from this agency right now.
we don’t know the context of the question the quote re M&C was given. I doubt Sudeep would take a shot at them unprompted … I assume the question was asking whether they were doing the same thing M&C were or copying them.
“Most of the work most agencies do around digital space is communications based”
Ad agencies perhaps. Digital agencie are well entrenched in product and platform. And if citing a loyalty app with a proprietary currency is evidence of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, I wish you good luck and hope you don’t go buying any magic beans with your 150k.
Hi guys,
Thanks for the comments. Just as an explainer – the comments re M&C came from a question I asked regarding how some agencies are using technology as marketing hooks and whether that was the intention behind this investment.
It wasn’t so much a ‘swipe’ from Sudeep (I’ve altered that line now) more an example of how the agency was not looking to proceed.
Cheers,
Alex – editor, Mumbrella
I can’t help but think D5 is just jumping on yet another bandwagon, which is innovation for the sake of innovation. How many startups are now advising and helping other startups?
For an area that’s meant by its very nature to be nimble and lean, there does seem to be a lot of hangers on around this start up tech thing. Most of the business seems to be in hiring out hot desks.
agencies with no skills or knowledge of innovation or start-up mentality are going to jump in to this world. Nobody thinks it is big or clever and if you are still running an old school traditional agency that is about as agile as the Titanic, it’s a little laughable.