AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

NYC Schools: Chattering Classes? — AD AGE

Most people would assume cellphones get in the way of learning. David Droga is betting they can help.

The creative big and founder of the start-up Droga5, who previously launched the highly successful Tap Project for UNICEF, is working with the New York City Department of Education to solve the age-old problem of students viewing academic achievement as uncool or irrelevant.

David Droga unveiled The Million project at Idea Conference last Thursday.

But instead of resorting to the typical advertising solution — the preachy, celebrity-driven “Stay in School”-type public service announcement — Mr. Droga is introducing another way to motivate young adults: technology and incentives.

“The old way is to throw money at celebrities who tell you what to do,” Mr. Droga said as he explained the program during Advertising Age’s Idea Conference last Thursday in New York. Rejecting that approach, Mr. Droga — a self-professed “advertising man” — looked beyond his field. “We went back to [the Department of Education] with a technology idea wrapped around advertising.”