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Vive La Florence Moll

Date — Friday 3rd Aug 2012

Time — 11am (approx.)  

Location — Wieden + Kennedy Amst HQ  

Temperature — 19C (maybe)  

Weather — Rain (probably)  

Florence Moll arrives in the office, a woman of classic elegance, she had kindly made the trip over from Paris to rendezvous with the Kennedys and talk us through the ins and outs of her life as an agent. As we soon found out, she holds an AAA+ roster of mega dope creative types from all over the shop, including The Kennedys very own multi-national in house image-maker and tech enthusiast, Ben Sandler (although we'd known this already). You can, should and most probably now will check out the rest of them on the inter webs here http://www.florencemoll.com/. It's top draw stuff, for serious.

She talked us through the selection of photographers, set and 3D designers she manages, explaining some of their backgrounds and generally how the whole agent thing worked. Sort of like a producer I guess mediating between the creatives and the client, sealing all the deals and signing on the lines. It was a cool insight into another angle of the industry. What stuck with me most though, was her approach to the working methods she encourages from the people she manages. It was the non-commercial attitude that was so appealing. Creating imagery, scenes, sets, whatever… but without the limit of budgets or the restrictions of clients. Doing work for the sake of itself because it's what should be done. Slowly it dawned on me, this was perhaps a rare and unusual, yet simultaneously excellent thing for an agent to be saying. It seemed genuine and, dare I say, "arty" (I really dig arty) and like something we should all be trying to get a piece of.

Words by Tobias Phontayne

IMAGES:

Portrait of Florence by Billy and Hells (artists on the roster)

Nick + Chloé & Zeitguised

Ben Sandler & Le Creative Sweatshop 

 

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We're Hiring

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam is looking for an experienced community manager. Reporting to our Executive Creative Directors, you’d be charged with building and sustaining the (on- and offline) social influence and presence of the brands we manage.  The right person will have strong client, creative, strategic, and analytical skills. And be nice. Ability to ride a bike would be an advantage.

If you think that's you, drop us a note and convince us: Jolande.vanHelbergen@wk.com.

 

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Going for gold

I don't find myself missing the UK all that often - but today I do.

Bradley Wiggins (yes that English guy who won the Tour de France) is riding for gold today and so The Sun ran on it's front page cut out and wear 'Wiggold' sideburns.

Thankfully you can print them too. Phew.

Come on England. 

Post by Andy Kay

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The Machine of Amsterdam

A few weeks ago The Kennedys went to meet Machine. Machine are probably the coolest people I’ve ever met. They discard what is ‘supposed to be’ in their work which keeps it constantly fresh and exciting. What’s the point in not being fresh and exciting?

What they made us realize was why do something boring when you can do something amazing, I think.  Why do a TV ad when you could make an experience that someone will actually be inspired by; like an event or a club night or a massive sculpture. 

They’re unafraid in their work to say what they actually feel which makes it so honest and ballsy that you can’t help but not be inspired by it, even if it is ‘just a flyer’. I’d never been into flyers until I went there. Now I’m all over that shit. 

Actually, that’s what they made us realise that there’s no such thing as ‘just a flyer’ or ‘just a poster’ or ‘just a plastic bag’. Everything is a canvas for you to put your mark on it the best way possible. 

I was so inspired after I met them that I genuinely toyed with the idea of making some decent, personal stuff, then I had to go to work, then I realised, wait, I should be doing this AT work, making everything I do a creative outlet for myself, not just for the companies I work for. Try my hardest to bend the rules.

Advertising should just be a place where someone else pays for you to make some cool shit, but it always has to be a little bit dented, which is a shame.  Machine aren’t like that though. They just do what they want and it works so well.

Check out some brilliance by Machine here:

ourmachine

Text by Ella

Realstagram by Ben

 

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Amsterdam Canal Opera

Last week, as I biked home from work, I was heading along the Brouwersgracht when a beautiful ethereal melody drifted towards me. I looked towards the canal and saw the Amsterdam Student Choir rehearsing for their next performance, on a boat! According to one of the singers, the canals have great acoustics and are the perfect place to rehearse. That is some full-on culture floating down the canals, very cool.

It also cheered me up to see this spontaneous demonstration of the rich cultural ecosystem of the city, especially in these days of massive art funding cuts.

 

Post by Charlotte Jongejan

 

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Mongolia - Land of Undiscovered Beauty

 

“Mongolia is an unspoiled wonder, a land where sand dunes sing, horses roam wild and nomadic herders greet strangers with open doors. Keep your itinerary loose and expect the unexpected.”

(Michael Kohn)

Although most people don’t list Mongolia as a top choice on their see-before-I-die list of destinations, they should. And if you knew more about the impressive history Mongolia has, the rich culture it embraces, and the incredibly kind people that live there... you would!

I recently visited Mongolia for my brother’s wedding and came back wanting to tell as many people as possible to go and see it for themselves. I was amazed at the size of the country but even more surprised to find out that it has only 3 million inhabitants, half of which live in the capital city Ulaanbaatar. Life in the countryside steps a few hundred years back in time, while the capital is home to Mongolians who have swapped their recent nomad existence for Wi-Fi and western fashion.

Genghis Khan, the founder and emperor of the Mongol Empire, is still in the hearts of all Mongolians. You can feel his presence in the names of countless hospitals, streets, pubs, shops and restaurants and his image in gigantic statues around the country.

There is a lot going on in Mongolia and changes are happening fast. I can promise you this: you will see things unlike anywhere else in the world. Want to know more about this amazing place? Watch this beautiful documentary about Mongolia by the Brit Redburt O’Hanlon:

http://player.omroep.nl/?wopid=VPWON_1156433&md5=cdd8bb66e9c3a40bb15075b4975e995b

 

Post by Anke Kuckartz

 

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A message from The Kennedys

*Hey SO we're the new Kennedys...sorry we've been a bit slow on the blog biz, the promise of caffeine, long nights and a little (???) bit of craziness has certainly been fulfilled.

We'd barely finished our welcome beer when we were thrown in at the deep end and asked to do a project for Nike. There was no time for tiptoeing around so we got to know each other and our dads, Judd and Alvaro, very well, very quickly. After only a matter of days knowing each other Alvaro said "Look around you, you could trust any of these people with your life." And he was right.

Sleepless nights + beer + a lot of hard work = Great work we're proud of + delirium + friends 4 LIFE + "sure i'll put my life in your hands" which came in handy as our next project involved us driving round the canals of Amsterdam on a boat filled with balloons, bad ass animations and once again...beer.

Beers, tears (of laughter OBVZ), gifs, spliffs, sleepovers, no sleep, HARD work HARD party, paintballs, bitterballs, tired sighs, high fives, slo-mo wrestling, stenciling, furious printing, post-pitch grinning, the term 'Weekend and Kennedy', team 'Bendy', rave in a medieval gate, best mates and of course a pig getting his head tattooed to fat man scoop. Promising month, after all.

On to the next five.

*This was written with the intention that you copy and paste it into TextEdit and listen to it being read out ;)*

 

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Official Madness

Bulls, colors, black and white, strength, wood, paper, enthusiasm, bullfighting, art, matador. Alvaro Sotomayor opened the doors of his studio (in the Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam garden) and let us explore his art and creative experiences. The adventure of being with Alvaro was captured by the bloggers from 'In the make'. A platform where stories about great artists and designers are told. Something you can't miss.

Please click on the image to watch the video.

 

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VAMOS RAFA! VAMOS KENNEDYS!

He did it – Rafa’s 7th Roland Garros! Some will compare it to Lance's 7 Tours, but for The Kennedys, who just got here last week, it felt like both combined. 

They worked like wild fire last week. It started last Tuesday as a little spark of an idea. How could Nike celebrate Rafa's 7th?

The flame grew quickly with the launch of not only an homage to Rafa but also a tribute to Maria's imminent grand slam title.

The Kennedys produced 2 digital banners for Nike Spain, 1 print ad, a live mural that took 12 layers of 3mx3m stencils and 8 hours to finish, a 20" teaser, a live interactive feed on the Nike Tennis Facebook page.

They changed banners, uploaded stills, making-ofs, stop-motion and whatever got thrown at them. They got 5000 views and 5000 comments, which meant that they had to write 5000 names live. Those names got put into an air cannon and shot onto a canvas, creating the final image.

The fire got wild the last 4 days, but they fought it with fury and bore witness to these two historical victories, live on the web. 

But they didn't do it alone. Other firefighters jumped in to help. Thank you to all the brave ones that made it possible. Dan, Paul, Erik, Barrie, Justine, Richard, Riccardo and Elena. And a special thanks to Judd for rescuing a few of us in some tight moments.

A wild week. No one died and we are all safe. Just another good fun sandwich.

Love,

A

(Alvaro Sotomayor, Creative Director, Co-Father of The Kennedys)

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New Blood comes to Amsterdam

Yesterday we teamed up with D&AD and hosted the New Blood Portfolio Day, the first collaboration of this kind in Amsterdam.

For us this was a great chance to open our doors to 35 aspiring talents from all over Europe, excited to get their portfolio reviewed by our creatives.

But first we wanted the students to experience the W+K Amsterdam spirit. So we gave them the chance to spend some time with Keith White, our Recruitment Director and the emcee of the day, followed by a workshop session with the Kennedys, our apprenticeship program.

For the portfolio reviews, each student/team was randomly paired with 3 creatives in 1-on-1 sessions, a kind of creative speed-dating. And after some intensive reviews, it was time for some drinks and plenty of socializing.

The day was infused with great energy and provided an excellent opportunity for us to discover and nurture the next generation of creative talent.

Special thanks go to D&AD and the lovely Ella Schofield for making this possible.

Post by Andreea Dicu

 

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