W+K PORTLAND

Fallon + Friends glide it out on the late night tip

W+K Named Shoot Magazine Agency of the Year

PORTLAND, Ore., December 11, 2009, Robert Goldrich --- In a year when the global economy was in disarray with profoundly negative repercussions for the advertising industry, the positive theme of coming together came together for SHOOT's Agency of the Year, Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), which realized creative and business growth in 2009, as reflected in a raft of breakthrough work. continued here
 AICF creative team (l to r): Peter Wiedensmith, David Kennedy, Jeff Selis, Patty Fogarty  Photo: Kurt Hettle

Meat Here

You may have noticed that our very own powerhouse project manager Jane Monaghan is even more chipper than normal. This could be because, after months of hard work and preparation, Jane (co-owner via spousal extension) is celebrating the opening of the finest European-style restaurant and charcuterie this side of the Cascades. Introducing Olympic Provisions. The coming together of a group of Portland's restaurant luminaries. Roughly, think two parts Clyde Common, one part Ace Hotel and one part Castagna mixed with a whole lot of local awesomeness. Even their iconic "Meat Here" sign was designed and hand-built by (WK alums) The Official Manufacturing Company (who also handled their branding and web design).

Olympic Provisions is located at 107 SE Washington Street, inside the Olympic Mills Commerce Center. The entrance is on the corner of SE 2nd and Washington.

Be a literary omnivore

What’s Wordstock without some charming videos? Nothing. That’s what. Here’s WK12’s take on how delicious words are. And also an incredible pun from the pun factory.

and the emmy goes to.... Coca-Cola's Heist!

Saturday night, Heist, our animated spot for Coca-Cola won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. Heist originally debuted during last year's Super Bowl. Congratulations to the entire team including creatives, Hal Curtis, Sheena Brady, Lee Jennings, James Moslander and Marc D'Avignon, account supervisor, Ryan Peterson, producers, Matt Hunnicutt and Juliana Montgomery and to Psyop for their amazing animation.



Our own Juliana was there to accept the Emmy on behalf of W+K. Here's what she had to say...

Excruciating describes waiting for the “Outstanding Commercial” category to be called when it’s the primary category you came to hear. It took 4 hours of the Creative Arts Emmy Ceremony on Sept 12th to get to that category and of that – I needed to use the restroom for a good 3 hours of it. So – when the fateful moment came for the “Outstanding Commercial” announcement – I spent 3-5 seconds processing that Jaime-Lynn Sigler and Jerry Ferrera (“Turtle” from Entourage), just announced “And the Emmy goes to - Coca-Cola ‘Heist’” all I could think to do is walk briskly, remember everyone's name, don't trip up the stairs, reach out and accept that gorgeous award!

We're gonna rock down to Webby avenue

The Webby Awards people (“Weebans”) asked for our help to design the look and feel of the award show this year. We figured this was a good opportunity to use our insider “insights” and general love for the Internet to produce work that would communicate to the top “webmasters” of 2009 on their level.

The program books were made out of paper and ink, so they were not eligible for a Webby Award. However, they are usability-focused and encourage social networking. In fact, we designed two covers, so that award show participants would “interact” with their gala table neighbors.

The back of one cover features a customizable “avatar” mask that you can cut out and wear. The other explains how similar the Internet is to cave paintings. It’s true if you think about it for long enough.

The table of contents was designed as an expandable navigation menu, something many Webby Award winners would be familiar with. We also made a paper version of a bookmark. Works very similarly to a regular Internet bookmark. Winners packet materials: Special thanks to Kate Bingaman-Burt, who did beautiful portrait illustrations of famous Internet celebrities, like Jimmy Fallon.
By the way, we won a Webby Award as well! This had absolutely nothing to do with that. Nope. Nothing at all.

Special thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen:

Amy Carlton
Matthew Carroll
Danielle Flagg
Tony Frusciante
Lauren Glazer
Marco Kaye
Philip Kirsch
Michele LeFore
Jason Schwartz
Erin Sorenson
Tyler Whisnand
Kay Zerr

Let's Get Lost

Shaun Sundholm has a piece of work from the recent WK Make Global Art Show that is making it's way around the interwebs. Here it is on 20x200 and Swiss-Miss. Good one Shaun.

Portland ad agency strives to maintain edgy yet understated hometown profile overseas.

Wieden+Kennedy looks to continue expanding globally while retaining its irreverent Oregon attitude.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian Staff

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- In this hub of art and trade, Wieden+Kennedy creatives are settling into lavish canal-side quarters. A rooftop terrace resembles a broad deck at the ad agency's mother ship in Portland's Pearl District. Dogs snooze beneath desks, their calm masking the tumult of a management shake-up that rocked the Dutch office.

In London, Wieden+Kennedy staffers cram into a former textile factory. Its lobby features a mannequin in a suit, a kitchen blender substituting for his head. The slogan on his briefcase, "Walk in Stupid Every Morning," underplays the office's conversion from the company's black sheep to winner of the global Nokia account, leading the agency's international growth.

Back in the Portland headquarters, Buddhist academic rock star Robert Thurman, father of actress Uma, propounds on his latest book about the Dalai Lama. Outsiders make up most of the rapt audience; ad writers are too busy hanging onto key Nike accounts they lost to a competitor, then regained.

Wieden+Kennedy, the defiantly independent ad company that Nike catapulted to success, has reached a tipping point after venturing abroad in cautious steps for 16 years. Almost half its annual revenue of about $165 million now comes from outside the United States.

As the foreign share grows, managers face a challenge in an already turbulent industry: Can W+K export its edgy, irreverent Oregon approach to India, South America and beyond while beating back conglomerates to retain accounts back home?

(W+K Shanghai)

W+K's global chief operating officer, David Luhr, strives to appear unfazed as he skirts construction workers in the Amsterdam office. The tall 53-year-old -- sporting stylishly clipped hair and a turtleneck and pants in de rigueur gray and black -- barely avoids ushering a reporter into a room overflowing with proprietary information.

"It's a little rough," acknowledges Luhr, sinking into an easy chair in an unadorned conference room. "But welcome to advertising."

Amsterdam

(W+K Amsterdam)

The tagline for the blog of Wieden+Kennedy's Amsterdam office says it all: "150 people, 25 nationalities. What could possibly go wrong?"

But last winter, something did go wrong: Executives won't give details, but a managing director left. A creative director quit. Others were fired.