Think Global, Act Stupid

Welcome onboard, Corey

We're celebrating Corey Bartha's arrival, this week, as Head of Broadcast. We stole him away from the Portland office with promises of tulips and cheese and mice in clogs dancing on the steps of windmills.

 

Corey started as a production assistant in the early 90’s and moved on to be agency producer at Ground Zero in LA, amongt other places. In his five years there, he established their post-production facility.

More recently, as senior producer, Corey helped transform Crispin's Broadcast department into something more interactively friendly. Which is when the Portland office snapped him up. He created the first Sims Machinima spots and has since served as Executive Producer on Coke and Diet Coke.

Can you tell we're excited to have him? Even people who we passed up for the job have called to say how wisely we’ve hired. Now that's an endorsement if ever there was one.

It's all about the green

Adam Scott Paul was caught wearing a fetching green lycra outfit, in the courtyard, yesterday. Practising to be a super-hero? Pretending to be a dragon? Nope, he's looking this silly for the greater good.

"We're working on an Electronic Arts interactive project", Mark Sloan tells us. "Adam fought for the right to wear a skin-tight all-in-one body suit. He became quite savage."

It's all about the green, apparently. Shame it's so baggy about the knees.

Welcome Jonas and Jenny

They've had a couple of weeks to settle in so we thought it was time to get to know a bit more about W+K's new Senior Strategic Planner, Jonas Vail and Senior Communications Planner, Jenny Howard...

 

Good to see you're keeping the moustache theme alive, Jonas!

Where are you from?
JV   I went to high school in San Francisco and have spent the most time in my life there so I consider it home, but I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and lived there until I was 12. Both were great places to grow up, but I’m glad I got the F out of Oklahoma when I did. Phew!
JH   I was actually born in Liverpool but I moved the family away  at the age of one. After that I lived all over England but I ended up in London for the last 8 years, so I usually just say that.

Why W+K Amsterdam?
JV   Because I wasn’t finished with my European adventure after two and a half years in London and besides, where else would you want to work in Europe?
JH   It all happened a bit out of the blue really - I hadn't really planned to move abroad but W+K called and it was too good an opportunity to turn down.

What is your biggest motivator?
JV   Happiness and the ability to afford having a really good time.
JH   Fear and KitKats.

Who has made the biggest impression on you since being here?  Why?
JV   I’m going to have to go with Kerrie Finch, for all the obvious reasons, but probably also because she keeps super-poking me on Facebook. Now I have to think of what to super-poke her back with next...
JH   I'm going to go for two people: Eliza [Esquivel] as she is teaching me the path to health, tranquillity and inner peace and Dave [Cobban] as he is teaching me the opposite.

What do you miss most about home?
JV   My standard answer to this question is always American TV and Mexican food. But now that NBC’s stupid greed over $0.99 not being enough led them to ditch iTunes, I’ve been forced to learn how to use bit torrent sites (which, ironically means I now get NBC shows for free – but I digress). Plus I’ve discovered the fajitas at Alfonso’s on the Utrechtsestraat, so I have to re-think that answer. I’ll say good film distribution – and obviously my friends.
JH   Obviously I miss all my mates although they all seem to be coming to visit over the next few months, which is cool. More specifically, I'm really missing Le Beaujolais which is a small rickety old bar off Charing Cross Rd where we would usually spend most Friday afternoons drinking red wine (I used to work at a media agency so this was an integral part of the job).

What do you like most about Amsterdam?
JV   There’s so much of it that reminds me of San Francisco, minus the hills of course. The architecture, the greenery, the attitude. What’s not to love?
JH   I'm loving how beautiful it is and how I can shoot round everywhere on my bike. If I can master the art of holding an umbrella and talking on the phone whilst I'm cycling then I will feel like a true local!

Which Dutch word did you learn first?
JV  Gezellig, obviously.
JH   Bitterballen. What the hell is in those things anyway? (Trust us Jenny - you are better off not knowing).

We're moving!

It won't be long now before we move into our new home, here in the heart of Amsterdam. Okay, so the new office will be little more than 300 metres down the canal and along a bit from where we are now, but in terms of style, scope and size, its worlds apart.

After months of debate and decision-making, the huge project of renovation is not only underway - it's pretty much drawing to a close. "Work is progressing well", says our Neil Thomson, a man who looks rather impressive in a hard hat. "The building has Monument status in the city, so getting the required permits to begin the renovation work has been a long drawn-out process. But we're underway now and expect to move in at the beginning of December."

The central architectural feature to the 5000m2 space is an impressive glass atrium which links all seven double-height floors. "A big bugger of a crane had to deliver the glass through the roof and down to the ground floor where work began", explained Neil, using his best technical jargon.

And what, you ask, are we planning to do with all that floor space? You mean apart from ten meeting rooms, a canteen and fully equipped gym, a club house on the roof complete with terrace, open-plan work areas, two screening rooms, old-style wood panelled Dutch 'stijlkamers', a garden and exhibition space? We're renting out two floors to like-minded (small) companies who want to be part of a hub for the Creative industry in Amsterdam.

Know anyone?

The Facial Hair Debate: does a moustache make you more creative?

Every now and then your attention is drawn to something that warms your heart. This week it's facial hair. You see, we've got two young bucks in our midst with a lot of it. And it's internationally renowned to boot.

Jes 'Baron Von' Cron and Adam Scott Paul are visiting us from LA for a few months, to add some moustachio'd chutzpah to our interactive projects with Electronic Arts. Was it Wieden+Kennedy who lured them across the water to Europe? Was it heck.

"We were in Brighton for the World Beard & Moustache Championships anyway", explains Jes, looking dapper with his Imperial moustache (4th place). "Getting a call from Amsterdam was a lucky coincidence".

Adam, a later starter to the whole beardy growth obsession, sports the English variety (also 4th place).

You can see more photos of the guys at Elsden Images. If you're looking for more inspiration on why to throw out your razor, then check out the winners at this year's World Beard & Moustache Championships.

Apparently, stick-on 'taches don't count.

The 2007 Euro-Effie Awards

aveWieden+Kennedy Amsterdam has triumphed at this year’s Euro Effie awards and taken the Grand-Prix and the Gold for the Nike Women’s ‘Tell Me I’m Not An Athlete’ campaign.

 

On Wednesday night Dave Cobban, Eliza Esquivel, Jasmina Peri, Jenny Howard and Nike client Adrianna Pereira headed to Brussels with high hopes for the selected finalist.  This is the first year that the Amsterdam office has delved into the effectiveness awards and to receive such acclaim so soon is really inspiring.  The jury’s decision is based on the original concept, the execution and the overall effectiveness of the campaign, so congratulations go right across the board.

On accepting the award, Adrianna Pereira commented, “winning this award is a real testament to the effectiveness of such a long term partnership between Nike and Wieden+Kennedy.  Because of that relationship, we were able to build a campaign were the creative work is so strong, pushes boundaries and really connects with the consumer”.

Congratulations guys!

Flatstock & Reeperbahn Music Festival

The second Flatstock Europe is but days away! To be held in conjunction with the Reeperbahn Music Festival in Hamburg it promises to be a feast for both the eyes and ears and so well worth a little train trip up the road.

Poster artists from around the world will be meeting in Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn District for the world famous convention presented by the Reeperbahn Festival and the American Poster Institute, dedicated to the promotion of music poster art and design worldwide. Flatstock will be set up at Spielbudenplatz, the central place at Reeperbahn Festival. Flatstock is free, the music festival is not, check online for various ticket prices. Train tickets are €75 return.

FLATSTOCK 15 POSTER CONVENTION
REEPERBAHN FESTIVAL
Spielbudenplatz, Hamburg, Germany.
From Thursday 27th – Saturday 29th September. Open 4pm to 11pm.

Le Cool

If you're new to Amsterdam and don’t want to miss out on local events then take this piece of advice: log onto Le Cool and register for their weekly mail out.

Le Cool is a free online weekly magazine covering everything from cultural events and leisure activities, exhibitions, movies, concerts & DJs as well as a careful selection of extraordinary bars, restaurants and must see or must-be-seen-at places.

And it doesn’t just stop at Amsterdam. Le Cool also covers Madrid, Lisbon, London, Istanbul, Milan, Rome, Berlin and Paris.

Exhibition ‘Checking In’

The Sandberg Institute by invitation of the Cultural Ambassador is a guest of the Lloyd Hotel, Amsterdam. Art students from the institute have been inspired by the diverse functions and rich history of the hotel. They exhibit in various public and private rooms within the hotel.

Artists: Anna Volkova / Alisa Osinga / Chiaki Kamikawa / Eiko Ishizawa / Ghita van Bergen / Jeroen Wand / Kirstin Römer / Mae Engelgeer / Marisa Richter / Monique Horstmann / Nienke Sybrandy / Roos van Soest / Ryoko Sato / Sander Boeijink / Yoo-Mi van Beek / Zuz

Opening: Wednesday 12th September from 5pm.
Exhibition: 13 – 30th September, inclusive.
Address: Lloyd hotel, Oostelijke Handelskade 34, 1019 BN Amsterdam

As a celebrity helping to launch the project, I’m proud to announce the sale of badges so far.  According to official sources, more than 20% of the target group has ordered their badges in the first two days. Amazing, right?

Human beings are always fun to observe. A better understanding helps me to get along with them. I’ll try...


Analysis from economic point of view:
Assumption 1:
Everyone in this chart gives as generously as each other to people in need (the charity, which is to be confirmed).

Observation 1:
Boyd and Elissa are the big spenders.
Conclusion 1:
Well, in economics, the amount you spend is proportional to your wealth…
THEY MUST BE RICH!

Analysis from social point of view:
Assumption 2:
Information flow is free among individuals.

Observation 2:
Rick and Barney, Andrew and Colin have all got their own badges.


Conclusion 2:
There is tremendous peer pressure to wear fashionable badges.
(Peer pressure: the strong influence of a group, especially of CHILDREN, on members of that group to behave as everyone else does)

Analysis from individual point of view:
Assumption 3:
Maximization theory holds true for people in this chart. Well, it means everyone is selfish.

Observation 3:
Instead of their own badges,
Boyd gave his wife badges of their three lovely kids as a birthday present.

Feliciano gave his mom a badge drawn from a picture when he was a child as  a birthday present.

Conclusion 3:
They sacrifice the chance to have their own badges in order to give the best to their families.
This is LOVE!  (I wish I could have 30 euros to give my dad, Antony and my mom, Verity each a badge too!)

For more information, please visit Drawings of you