New Partners Appointed
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.”