Harry Roman-Torres

As one of the first strategic planners at Droga5, Harry now oversees the Brand Strategy department at the agency, a multidisciplinary team of strategists that helps brands create influence through culture. Harry’s “think fast, act fast” approach to brand strategy has led him to inspire brands to move at the speed of culture.

Harry has been instrumental in helping shape Droga5’s approach to brand strategy, with his leadership contributing to award-winning work for brands including Facebook, Hennessy and Under Armour. He also leads Droga5’s intercultural practice offering, which aims to put diversity at the core of every brand and extend the focus across the entire brand experience.

Harry’s work has been recognized across numerous award shows, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, the Effie Awards and the Jay Chiat Awards, among others. In 2019, Harry was named Strategic Planner of the Year at Advertising Age’s Creativity Awards.

Harry is a firm believer that the power of strategy is wasted if it just manifests itself through advertising. Throughout his time at Droga5, Harry has helped deepen and expand the Strategy department, continuing to evolve the team that is fundamental to the creative and business successes of Droga5. He is driven by the ambition to keep pushing the boundaries of strategy to impact both upstream business problems and downstream communications.

More importantly, Harry grew up on military bases around the world and knows the lifestyle personally. His father served for 24 years in the Army Medical Command and 16 years in civil service; the list of his family members in the service is endless.

Beyond his upbringing, his very first job in advertising was supporting US Army recruiting with a focus on Hispanic outreach. In that role, he spent months on the road doing ride-alongs with recruiters, attending recruiting events at campuses all up and down the West Coast, while also managing data capture at major sporting events. This experience gave him direct access to the recruiting experience and also helped him understand how the recruiting decision includes everyone in the recruit’s extended sphere of influence - parents, coaches, pastors, mentors, etc.

This role was a stepping stone into strategy and put him on the path to becoming a department head at Droga5.