Advertising Age and Adweek reported Droga5 Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer was placed on leave, and the White advertising agency even hired an outside firm to investigate the man. However, neither publication could provide any reasons behind the move—or what the independent firm is investigating. Surely an agency so committed to diversity and socially progressive couldn’t possibly have a villain in its executive ranks. The photograph accompanying the Ad Age story shows Royer at an ADCOLOR® event. Hey, Royer did praise the benefits of working abroad, which allegedly made him a better husband, father and friend. So maybe he’ll ultimately surface in Spain, collaborating with Gustavo Martinez.
Droga5 Puts Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer on Leave
By Lindsay Stein
Droga5 has placed Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer on leave and hired an outside firm to handle an internal investigation in the shop’s HR processes, a spokeswoman from the independent agency confirmed.
The spokeswoman declined to disclose further details about the nature of Royer’s leave or the investigation. Royer was not immediately available for comment about his leave of absence.
Last week, Droga held meetings with different departments of the agency to discuss HR matters.
Earlier today, Droga CEO Sarah Thompson sent an email to employees that said: “As a follow up to the departmental meetings I recently held and further Q&A sessions, we want to assure you all that we have been working with an outside independent firm that we have engaged to assist us with our investigation.”
“And again, if anyone has any concerns or complaints we encourage you to bring these to the attention of your manager or HR. We are also in the process of engaging an outside resource to whom you can also voice your concerns,” the note adds.
Royer, who has been an Ad Age’s Creativity 50 honoree multiple times, has been with Droga5 since the agency was founded in 2006. In 2013, he was promoted from executive creative director to chief creative officer.
"When women are put in charge, they tend to use their power and budgets more responsibly."
ReplyDeleteMy experience has been that when white women are put in charge in ad agencies, they tend to use their power to hire white men, and reward white men with big budget projects.
People of color are left as an afterthought if at all, and only given crumbs.