19.03.2009 | New Work
On 1-3 April 2009, London will chair the G20, a forum that brings together systemically important industrialised and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. Save the Children have created the ‘Children’s Charter’ a collection of messages from young people across the globe, to be delivered to world leaders, including Gordon Brown and Barack Obama, at the G20 meeting. These messages are reminders to the governments involved about every child’s basic human rights to education, healthcare and safety.
Wieden + Kennedy London have partnered with the Shacklewell School in Hackney to take part in the activity for the Save the Children’s Children’s Charter. The agency briefed a group of 20 school-kids who make up ‘The Discovery Group’ where the children are encouraged to challenge and stretch themselves in different ways; emotionally, socially, academically and personally. They were asked to devise their own creative statements and messages in response to the question ‘what should every child in the world have?’ They produced a series of artworks and plays – which have been edited together to make an entire film suggesting areas for change and improvement.
Shacklewell School Drama Therapist Jodie Cariss said, ‘It’s such a wonderful opportunity for this lovely and diverse group of children to have the chance of working on such an important and meaningful project. They are very keen to share their views and this has given them real focus and incentive. Keeping kids engaged with global situations involving children is fundamentally important for the future and their voice is refreshing and honest”
Sam Brookes, Head of Client Services, Wieden + Kennedy said ‘“Working with the incredibly talented ‘Discovery Group’ from Shacklewell School to give children their voice and help Save the Children petition for children’s rights, has been the most rewarding and valuable way we can help support our clients’ challenges. This approach is powerful and gets to the heart of their campaign and we hope we can do more of this in the future.’
At 1pm on Tuesday 17th March, the children came to Wieden + Kennedy to introduce and present the film to the office, friends of the agency and representatives from Save the Children. Hackney MP Diane Abbott will be visiting the Shacklewell School in the next two weeks to meet the children and collect the film to present to Gordon Brown before the G20 commences – a goal that was worked and hoped for throughout the project.
Save the Children Head of Communications Joe Barrell said, ‘The world economy is in crisis. Children are being hit first and hardest. As global leaders meet to build a new economic order, they must not forget the world’s poorest children. Save the Children wants as many young people as possible to follow the pupils at Shacklewell Primary’s fantastic example by adding their voice to our campaign and urging the G20 leaders to act’.
17.03.2009 | New Faces
W+K London announced today that Executive Creative Directors Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth have been appointed agency partners.
They join Dan Wieden, Dave Luhr, Susan Hoffman, Bill Davenport and John Jay as agency partners of the Global Wieden + Kennedy network. This is the first partnership addition since John Jay joined in 1996 and the first time any agency partners have been appointed outside of the global headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Dan Wieden, Chief Executive Officer for W+K said, “If you want to be a partner at W+K, you’ve got to be some kind of saint and some kind of crazy. No-one exemplifies that more profoundly than Tony and Kim. They have raised the bar, broken rules, lifted hearts and shocked the world. There is no office, anywhere, more loved and respected than W+K London”.
Tony and Kim began their partnership in 1985 after meeting at Boase Massimi Pollitt. Celebrated work for Volkswagen, Sony, War on Want and Crookes Healthcare soon followed and in 1994 they moved to Leagas Delaney to work on The Guardian, Pepe, Adidas and the BBC. In 1997 they moved to Bartle Bogle Hegarty where they created the Levi’s Flat Eric’ phenomenon.
Since their arrival at W+K London in 2000, Tony and Kim have rejuvenated the creative output of the agency, developing such notable campaigns as Nike’s Run London, the digital world for Aiwa, and Honda’s Power of Dreams. They were ranked number five in the Financial Times creative business 100 (the highest in the advertising industry) in 2007 and swept the board at the world’s awards festivals for Honda’s Power of Dreams campaigns, which included two coveted Black D&AD pencils and the Grand Prix at Cannes. Under their leadership, the agency achieved a pitch conversion rate of 80% or higher in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and was named Campaign magazine’s 'best agency to work at' in 2007 and 2008.
“To be made the first partners of Wieden+Kennedy outside the U.S. is a great honor,” commented Tony Davidson. “For us it is recognition for everyone who has helped make the London office a success. We couldn’t have done it without them or our clients.”
10.03.2009 | New Work
Understanding other people can be pretty tricky. The latest weekend promotion from The Guardian and The Observer is a two-part guide to help decipher what makes people tick, and understand why we turn out the way we do. Wieden + Kennedy London creatives Shay Reading and Nicholla Longley have created a 10" TV spot to support the promotion.
04.03.2009 | Awards
In this week's Sunday Times, Wieden + Kennedy London was listed 74th in the Best 100 Small Companies list. The lists are derived from entries of 997 companies, over 200,000 employees are surveyed and an evaluation is carried out of each organisation's key statistics, processes and policies.
Overall as a company W+K staff found their work to be the most stimulating, we came 1st out of all the companies who participated on this point. We were also in the top 10 companies when it came to loving our jobs and our company.
This is the ninth year the Sunday Times lists have been published. It is the biggest and most comprehensive survey of workplace engagement in the UK.
