Who would have guessed? AWARD School Droga NYC prize winner is Neil Lawrence’s son Tom

On the eve of his trip to New York to meet David Droga, it can be revealed that the national winner of AWARD School’s coveted prize is the son of Australian advertising creative, the late Neil Lawrence.

Tom Lawrence (left) won the NSW state prize and then went on to win National Top Student award (both of which levels were blind judged).  

He disclosed his family ties during conversation with creative recruiter and trip sponsor Esther Clerehan, Comms Council CEO Tony Hale and industry trailblazer Warren Brown.

“Until that moment, no one knew,” said Clerehan. “Tom hadn’t said anything to AWARD or his Tutors. I was stunned. Twenty odd years ago I’d put two names forward to Bob Isherwood for a regional job at Saatchi & Saatchi Asia. One was David Droga and the other was Neil Lawrence.

“David and I were reminiscing about those days last year when he brought up the fact he’d kept his AWARD School portfolio. It was that conversation that led to this #Droga30 competition happening. It’s marvellous serendipity,” she added.

Droga, who will meet Tom in New York this coming Monday, says the news is wonderful: “He sounds like an amazing young man and his father was a really good and legitimate gentleman.  It’s little wonder he’s talented. I look forward to meeting him.”

Tom wins a once in a lifetime trip to NYC where he will meet Droga and compare their winning portfolios from AWARD School 1987 and 2017. Remarkably, this makes Tom the only person in the last 30 years (outside Droga’s family) to see the portfolio that landed Droga his job at OMON.

Unfazed by his father’s lineage in the industry, until a few months ago Tom had no intention in pursuing a career in advertising. Says Tom: “The funny thing is that when he was alive I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in advertising. I was working as a bartender and playing with cameras.

“A part of me thought advertising would be a good choice as Dad had done well in the industry, and I studied media and communications and had been working in radio, film and TV.”

Neil Lawrence died tragically in July 2015 and left behind a legacy which Tom and his sister, Anna have carried on. Neil’s last project was the anti-pokies documentary Ka-Ching: Pokie Nation. Tom and Anna developed Proudly Pokies Free as a way of building up profiles of the pokie-free pubs and providing live music, events and promote alternative forms of entertainment.

Last year Tom and Anna (above) accepted a posthumous ADMA lifetime achievement award on behalf of their father.

Sponsors, headhunter Esther Clerehan and Wilf Sweetland, managing partner of the Sweet Shop will be heading to New York and introducing Tom to Droga. A busy schedule awaits Tom including lunch with Australian expat Nick Law, the Vice Chair of R/GA worldwide, and a meeting with one time AWARD School top student Leo Premutico, the founder of Johannes Leonardo.

“There’s a few more surprises. Tom will meet many more AWARD School alumni who are working in New York. AWARD School has launched hundreds of successful global careers in the industry and this is a great way to celebrate that,” says Sweetland.

Tom arrives in New York today, Tuesday 19 September, and will meet David Droga on Monday afternoon. He will be updating Campaign Brief exclusively via diaries.