David Kolbusz, Droga5 London

David Kolbusz led Droga5 London to not only its strongest year commercially, but its most creatively outstanding yet, against the backdrop of widespread upheaval in the industry.

Under his leadership, Droga5 London became the first ever UK agency to win the Super Bowl. Droga5 London’s Amazon Super Bowl spot was the most watched Super Bowl commercial, with 60m YouTube views, social views of nearly a quarter of a billion, and an Emmy nomination.

David ensured that the agency’s signature sense of humour and dedication to craft consistently shone through in the work, engaging and entertaining audiences throughout lockdown and making brands famous.

David also spearheaded work that enabled brands to support their communities; helping Barclaycard guide people on how to manage debt in the face of a recession; working with Facebook to steer UK small businesses; and launching a new car marque for VW in a pandemic.

Creative highlights include the subversive “Better Than You Think” work for Rustlers which smashed all targets for the brand, and the fun, absurdist campaign for SetApp which won the Grand Prix at Kinsale Sharks.

The plaudits kept rolling in. Droga5 was named Adweek’s 2020 International Agency of the Year and the agency’s creative work was placed numbers 1, 3 and 6 in Campaign’s top ads of 2020.

David’s talent, hands-on leadership and all round creative brilliance drove Droga5 to achieve its creative ambitions on a global stage through arguably the toughest year yet.