Wieden+Kennedy Explained

Wieden+Kennedy
Type:	Private
Industry:	Business Services
Location City:	Portland, Oregon
Location Country:	U.S.
Founders:	Dan Wieden David Kennedy
Products:	Advertising & Marketing
Subsid:	WKE

Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; ^[1] earlier styled Wieden & Kennedy) is an 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.^{[2] [3]}

History

Dan Wieden met David Kennedy in 1980 at the William Cain advertising agency while working on the Nike account. They took Nike on as a client after founding Wieden & Kennedy (later changed to Wieden+Kennedy) on April 1, 1982, and remain the agency of record.^[4] The agency's first advertisements were three television commercials for Nike that were aired during the New York City Marathon in October 1982.^[5]

Over the years, the agency has added offices in New York City, London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Tokyo, Delhi and in late 2010, São Paulo.^[6] 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.^[7]

Media

See main article: WKE (WKEntertainment). Wieden+Kennedy has created original content for various brands under the moniker W+K Entertainment since 2001. Its productions include Battlegrounds,^[8] an MTV2 series showcasing streetball;^[9] Ginga,^[10] a documentary about Brazilian association football (soccer) players; and Road to Paris,^[11] 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.

Wieden+Kennedy's exploration into original programming was started in late 2008 with WK Radio,^[12] and subsequently in Fall 2009 with WKEntertainment.

Selected notable campaigns

Nike

• The "Just Do It." tagline, coined by Dan Wieden, and inspired by the final words of executed murderer Gary Gilmore.^[13]
• "Bo Knows", featuring professional football and baseball player Bo Jackson.
• An iconic commercial in which Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho puts on a new pair of Nike shoes and subsequently begins juggling the ball and kicking it off the crossbar of the goalpost several times, not letting it touch the ground. This commercial went viral on YouTube and was the first YouTube video to reach one million views.
• Air Jordan ads featuring Spike Lee as "Mars Blackmon".
• Charles Barkley's "'I Am Not a Role Model'" ad.
• "Revolution", featuring the Beatles song "Revolution".^{[14] [15]}
• "Instant Karma", featuring the song "Instant Karma!" by John Lennon.
• The "If You Let Me Play" campaign, empowering girls to participate in character-building team sports.
• Noted Nike basketball ads starring Penny Hardaway (Li'l Penny), and LeBron James (the LeBrons).
• Lance Armstrong's "LIVESTRONG" yellow bracelet campaign to raise funds for cancer research.
• "Pretty", featuring tennis player Maria Sharapova.
• "Here I Am", 22 stories of confidence through sport, for Nike Women, Spring 2008.
• "Write the Future", for Nike Football, Summer 2010.
• "Dream Crazy" for Nike's 30th anniversary of the "Just Do It" campaign, Fall 2018.

Facebook

• "Facebook Home" campaign for Facebook Home, Spring 2013.

Coca-Cola

• "The Coke Side of Life" campaign, including "Video Game", featuring a tough-guy video game character who experiences a change of heart after drinking a Coke (thematically centered upon the video game series Grand Theft Auto).
• "Yours", Diet Coke campaign, as seen during the 2007 Academy Awards.
• "AmericaIsBeautiful" campaign, seen during the 2014 Super Bowl, 2014 Winter Olympics. This was rerun during the 2017 Super Bowl as "TogetherIsBeautiful".

ESPN

• The "This is SportsCenter" campaign, a satirical look behind the scenes at ESPN headquarters
• "Your NBA Destination" campaign, marking ESPN as the destination for all things NBA.

Honda

• "Grrr", featuring the song "Hate Something, Change Something" as voiced by Garrison Keillor.
• "Cog", a Rube Goldberg-esque assembly of the separate parts of a Honda.
• "Impossible Dream", a two-minute long showcase of the variety of Honda vehicles.
• "Impossible Dream II", a re-released, extended version of the original "Impossible Dream" advert.
• "Hands", the most successful Honda advert to date.

Microsoft

• The tagline, "Where do you want to go today?", used during the company's marketing campaigns during the 1990s and early-2000s.

Miller Brewing

• "The High Life Man", directed by award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris.

Old Spice

• "Experience is Everything" campaign featuring actor Bruce Campbell.
• "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa.^[16]
• "Make a Smellmitment", featuring actors Isaiah Mustafa and Terry Crews.

Procter & Gamble

• "Thanks, Mom", featuring a version of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone",^[17] as part of their 2010 Winter Olympic campaign.^[18]

Chrysler

• "Born of Fire", a two-minute spot featuring Eminem and an excerpt of his song "Lose Yourself", aired in 2011 during Super Bowl XLV.^[19] An ad with a similar production, featuring Clint Eastwood, titled "Halftime in America", aired during the next Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLVI. It featured the same slogan, "Imported from Detroit", and was also two minutes long.

3 Mobile

• "Pony", a UK campaign featuring a Shetland Pony moonwalking to Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere".

Make in India

• In 2015, the company also carried out the "Make in India" Campaign led by the Indian PM Narendra Modi. The campaign was regarded as a huge success and received an overwhelming global response.

Bud Light

• "Dilly Dilly" which was first featured in an ad titled "Banquet" launch in August 2017 and subsequently became a catchphrase. The campaign was well received by the public and led to a total of 16 advertisements which used the catchphrase. Super Bowl LII featured "Dilly Dilly" ads from Bud Light.^[20]

External links

• Official website
• Portland Business Journal article
• USA Today article
• Adweek Agency of the Year 2007

Notes and References

1. Bob Garfield, And Now a Few Words from Me: Advertising's Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and for All, McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 173
2. News: Thampi. Praveen S. Wieden+Kennedy just does it. 26 May 2014. The Economic Times. November 7, 2007.
3. News: Dan Wieden Talks About W+K. 26 May 2014. Oregon Public Broadcasting. May 8, 2013. Think Out Loud.
4. News: Profile: David Kennedy of Portland's Wieden+Kennedy ad agency. Row. D.K.. January 30, 2010. The Oregonian. 1 February 2010.
5. Web site: Nudd. Tim. W+K Finds Its First Ads Ever, for Nike, on Dusty Old Tapes. Adweek. 25 March 2014 . 9 April 2017.
6. Web site: Company Overview of Wieden + Kennedy, Inc.. Bloomberg. 9 April 2018.
7. Book: Rothenberg, Randall. Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign. 1995. Vintage. New York. 978-0-679-74042-1. 496. registration.
8. LeBron James, MTV2, Comcast, Charter, and Nike Join Forces for 'Nike Battlegrounds: King of the Court' . PRNewsWire . 2009-08-25 . Nike Battlegrounds is a Nike, Wieden + Kennedy Entertainment and @radical.media production in partnership with MTV2..
9. Staff report (June 16, 2004). MTV2, Nike Take to the Streets for 'Battlegrounds.' Zap2It.com
10. Web site: December 14, 2005 . Nike Ginga: The Soul Of Brazilian Football . 2009-08-25 . ...Ginga is a dynamic documentary that explores Brazil through the country's favorite sport..
11. Web site: September 2009 . Wieden & Kennedy Looks To Branch Into Other Creative Areas . Business 2.0 . 2009-08-25 . W&K created a film around Nike endorser Lance Armstrong entitled "Road to Paris".
12. Web site: WK Radio Facebook Group . . 2009-08-25 . WK Radio exists to inspire creativity through provocative conversations, interviews, and artistic expression relating to the arts, culture, music and media..
13. News: The Birth of 'Just Do It' and Other Magic Words . Peters, Jeremy W. . August 19, 2009 . . 2009-09-30.
14. Staff report (July 29, 1987). Beatles Company Sues Over Use of Song in Ad. New York Times
15. Pareles, Jon (August 5, 1987). Nike Calls Beatles Suit Groundless. New York Times
16. Web site: The making of 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' - Bill Barol - Buzz, Boom & Sizzle - . . 2010-02-22.
17. Web site: Never Walk Alone (P&G Commercial) . YouTube . 2010-02-19 . 2013-04-22.
18. News: Campaigns Big Enough to Open With Olympics . The New York Times . Stuart . Elliott . February 11, 2010.
19. News: Video: Did you feel it? Chrysler Super Bowl ad says Detroit's back . Detroit Free Press . Ron . Dzwonkowski . February 7, 2011.
20. Web site: Bud Light: Dilly Dilly Wieden+Kennedy. www.wk.com. 2018-11-01.