Droga5 has announced three senior leadership appointments aimed at strengthening its global network and unifying its creative operations across markets.
Effective immediately, Julia Albu assumes the role of Global Chief Transformation and Operations Officer, Lauren Tomlinson becomes Executive Director of Global Accounts, and Ruben Mercadal is appointed Global Head of Production. All three will be based at Droga5’s New York headquarters and report to Global CEO Mark Green.
The appointments come as Droga5 continues its evolution into a connected global network, with offices in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Dublin, London, São Paulo and Tokyo.
The New Leaders
Albu, who first joined Droga5 in 2006, most recently served as chief of staff to Droga5 founder and Accenture Song CEO David Droga. She previously held leadership positions at BBH, where she worked on Google Chrome, and at Anomaly on Diageo brands Captain Morgan and Johnnie Walker. Returning to Droga5 in 2015, she led accounts including Harley-Davidson, Mailchimp and Georgia-Pacific before moving into creative operations in 2019.
Tomlinson has been Head of New Business at Droga5 New York for the past three years, securing wins with Bosch, HBO Max, Xbox, Dove and Tourism Australia. She joined Droga5 in 2016 as an account director, where she led work for IHOP (“IHOB”), Christie’s and Prudential. Her earlier career included senior account roles at agencies such as Adam&EveDDB.
Mercadal steps up from co-head of production in New York, a role he has held since 2022. Since joining Droga5 in 2016, he has overseen acclaimed campaigns such as The New York Times’ “The Truth Is Worth It,” which won double Cannes Lions Grand Prix and a D&AD Black Pencil, as well as recent work for Riyadh Season, Accenture, Coors, Xbox and Hennessy.
Strengthening Global Leadership
The hires follow last month’s appointment of former McCann executive and Ad Age Creativity Editor Ann-Christine Diaz as global head of reputation and creative excellence. In 2024, Droga5’s global team began to take shape with the arrival of Worldwide CCO Pelle Sjoenell, Global CEO Mark Green and Global CSO Emma Montgomery.
Mark Green, Global CEO of Droga5, said the new appointments solidify the agency’s leadership bench. “At Droga5, creativity has always been our superpower, and with Accenture Song, we have technology and data on our side to propel our ideas further to solve our clients’ most pressing problems,” Green said. “Julia is a true go-getter, and her unique insight into both the worlds of Droga5 and Accenture Song will be key to unlocking our full potential. Lauren has a track record of building longstanding and fruitful client partnerships. And Ruben brings unmatched creative passion and prowess for solving the trickiest of production problems. We now have a full bench of leaders who have the vision, expertise and drive to take Droga5 into its next chapter.”
Reel 360 News wishes Julia, Lauren and Ruben all the best in their new roles.
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