Wieden+Kennedy


Wieden+Kennedy is an independent American advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the largest independently owned advertising agencies in the world.

History

Dan Wieden met David Kennedy in 1980, at the William Cain advertising agency while working on the Nike account. They took Nike with them as a client after founding Wieden & Kennedy on April 1, 1982, and remain the agency of record. The agency's first advertisements were three television commercials for Nike that were aired during the New York City Marathon in October 1982.
Over the years, the agency has added offices in New York City, London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Tokyo, Delhi and in late 2010, São Paulo. W+K's turbulent relationship with former client Subaru is the basis of Randall Rothenberg's 1995 book Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign.

Media

Wieden+Kennedy has created original content for various brands under the moniker W+K Entertainment since 2001. Its productions include Battlegrounds, an MTV2 series showcasing streetball; Ginga, a documentary about Brazilian football players; and Road to Paris, documenting Lance Armstrong's path to his third Tour de France victory in 2001.
In 2003, Wieden+Kennedy created W+K Tokyo Lab, a record label and creative workshop based out of the agency's Tokyo office. Since 2003, W+K Tokyo Lab has released CD/DVD titles that combine music, graphics, and film. Tokyo Lab's current roster features local hip-hop and electronic artists including Hifana, DJ Uppercut, Afra, and Takagi Masakatsu.
2004 saw the launch of "Wieden+Kennedy 12", a 13-month experimental advertising program that accepts 13 applicants each year for an intensive laboratory experience where students work for real clients under the direction of members of the W+K Portland office.
In 2006, Wieden+Kennedy debuted an afternoon showcase of established and emerging musical artists in the atrium of W+K's Portland office, dubbed the "LunchBox" concert series. Past concerts have featured Janelle Monáe, Art Brut, The Rapture, Son Volt, Lyrics Born, Ladytron, Cut Chemist, Cold War Kids, Nada Surf, Juliette and the Licks, Pete Yorn and Snax.
Wieden+Kennedy's exploration into original programming was started in late 2008 with WK Radio, and subsequently in Fall 2009 with WKEntertainment.

Awards

Two of the agency's television ads for Nike have won Emmy Awards: "The Morning After," which featured a runner on New Year's Day in 2000, not noticing that every dire Y2K prediction has come to pass; and "Move," which edited seamlessly dozens of athletes and children moving from one sport or activity to another. The Morning After aired in late 1999 and won the Emmy in 2000; Move aired during the 2002 Winter Olympics and won the Emmy that year.
In 2002, the Gunn Report named W+K as the most-awarded agency in the world, and the agency was AdWeek's "Global Agency of the Year" in 2007.
"It's Mine", Wieden+Kennedy's advertisement for Coca-Cola which aired during Super Bowl XLII in 2008, was named as the best Super Bowl commercial of the decade by Adweek magazine. The magazine also picked W+K's "Grrr" for Honda as the overall commercial of the decade. Meanwhile, Bob Garfield of AdAge added Wieden+Kennedy's "Go Forth" for Levi's as one of the worst ads in 2009.
The next year Adweek named them as agency of the year for their work, which included "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign for Old Spice.
Both Creativity and AdAge named Wieden+Kennedy agency of the year for 2010. In 2011, Fast Company named Wieden+Kennedy as one of the 50 most innovative companies.

Selected notable campaigns

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