Dive Brief:

• Droga5 announced the opening of a Tokyo office, per a press release. The Accenture-owned creative agency, which has offices in London and New York, also plans to open spaces in Brazil and China in the next 12 months.
• Droga5 Tokyo will be led by both local creative talent and long-serving Droga5 executives, per the release. Masaya Asai will be chief creative officer; Chris Burgess will serve as general manager; and Dan Ng will serve as head of strategy.
• With its expansion into Tokyo and plans for offices in Brazil and China, Droga5 is looking to be more locally and culturally fluent in its campaign marketing. The agency is also relying on its parent company, which operates Accenture Interactive Japan, as part of the move.

Dive Insight:

Droga5's global expansion demonstrates that the creative agency is returning to growth after laying off about 7% of its U.S. staff in September 2020 amid the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. The move also shows how the agency can tap the synergies that exist due to being part of Accenture, which acquired it for an estimated $475 million in 2019, and gives it a larger global footprint as it continues to disrupt the traditional agency model.

"Brands are built on a series of customer promises — ones that are brought to life through creativity, technology and overall by a holistic experience. Our expansion into Japan — and, later this year, into Brazil and China — gives us an even stronger platform in experience-led transformation globally," Brian Whipple, group chief executive of Accenture Interactive, said in the release.

Droga5's move into Japan and planned move into Brazil and China could show how Accenture Interactive intends to build on previous acquisitions. The consultancy's acquisitive streak continued throughout the pandemic, as the accelerated shift to digital made its offering more attractive. The company acquired CreativeDrive in August 2020, a startup that uses on-premise studios and a tech platform to create digital content at scale. CreativeDrive has offices across the globe, including in Brazil and China. Accenture also acquired Tokyo-based company Businet System in February 2021 to enhance Interactive's e-commerce offering.

Accenture appeared to face the same pressures as traditional ad holding groups due to the pandemic, but returned to pre-COVID-level financial results a quarter earlier than expected, per its most recent earnings report in March. The consultancy's digital marketing services company also rebounded, growing in the "high single digits" amid a continued shift to digital, with increased pressure around efficiency and data, CEO Julie Sweet said on an earnings call.