Dan Wieden and Nike's Just Do It Slogan
Wieden+Kennedy and Nike Grew Together in Portland, Oregon
Apr 3, 2009
Dan Wieden and the Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency have produced memorable slogans and graphics for many global clients, starting with Nike’s legendary line, "Just-do it." However, the Portland, Oregon ad agency has attained international recognition with a branding effort highlighted by the thought-provoking w+k mission statement and a simple plus sign (+) instead of a hyphen in its name.
The w+k mission statement on the agency website says the agency "is an independent, creatively led advertising agency that creates strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their consumers."
Industry Dominated by Gigantic Holding Companies
Wieden, the agency CEO and co-founder, places major emphasis on the independence of his agency, which has resisted the industry trend toward huge advertising groups. In a video on the Wieden+Kennedy website, he says "the advertising industry is now sort of dominated by these gigantic holding companies that are run by people who actually never grew up inside an advertising agency. They’re not only not creative people, they are not even account folks. They’re basically bankers."
To compete with the larger groups, Wieden says his agency has had to stress its "first love, being creative." But he added that creativity goes beyond making television spots and magazine ads. It involves, he said, working with "the whole explosion of new media and everything involved with that.
"Amazing Things Can Happen Here."
"It’s creating an atmosphere and an expectation that amazing things can happen here. New things can be tried that couldn’t be tried anywhere else," he added.
Because of its creativity and success, Wieden-Kennedy has been able to work with many of the world’s "good companies." The list has included Nike, ESPN, Miller-High Life, Coca-Cola, Google, ABC, the Guardian newspapers, Eli Lilly, Disney, Honda, Heineken, Levi, Nikon, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Nokia and Target.
Wieden and David Kennedy left their jobs with a Portland agency to form their own ad business April 1, 1982. They took Nike, which at that time was described as "an upstart sneaker account," with them. When it began, Widen+Kennedy envisioned itself as "a place for creating provocative, interesting brands that people actually care about."
You Nike Guys Just Do It
The Nike slogan put the agency on the road to fame and fortune. According to the Center for Applied Research, the slogan was born in a Nike meeting with the agency in 1988. At the meeting, Weiden reportedly complimented the Nike team for its can-do attitude, saying "You Nike guys, you just do it."
From there, W+K grew into an international agency with nearly 1,000 employees. By 2009 it listed offices in Portland, New York City, London, Amsterdam, Delhi, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Nike has occasionally used other agencies, but the close relationship between the two Portland firms is illustrated by a photo of the two partners in the Nike website. The picture caption says the relationship began with the Nike CEO introducing himself to Wieden by saying "I’m Phil Knight and I hate advertising."
Wieden Gets Clio Lifetime Achievement Award
Clio was scheduled to present its Lifetime Achievement Award to Wieden at its 50th anniversary awards program in Las Vegas May 12-14, 2009. In announcing the award, Clio said Wieden had previously been named to several prestigious lists, including:
- Advertising Age's "100 Ad People of the 20th Century."
- Inc.magazine's "America's 25 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs"
- Time Magazine's "World's 50 Cyber Elite."
AdWeek named Widen+Kennedy as "Global Agency of the Year" for 2007.
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