Wieden + Kennedy has been named lead global creative agency on the Levi’s business.

W+K has been named lead global creative agency on the Levi's business. Scan above from Campaign. Here are a couple of examples of the fine work our Portland brethren have been doing on the account.

The plight of the American Rust Belt is obvious in places like Braddock, Pennsylvania. A former hub of America's industrial might, the steel township just outside of Pittsburgh suffered immense decline as U.S. steel and manufacturing industries collapsed. Subsequent drug-crime epidemic and economic downturns have hastened its degeneration in recent years. But the battle has just begun. With folks like Braddock's mayor John Fetterman, and the backing of Levi's, Braddock and cities like it will soon see better days to come.

Every year Fast Company magazine publishes a list of what they believe to be the most innovative companies in the world. This year W+K was on the list at number 25 – the number one advertising / marketing company.

They said:

The 50 companies on our 2011 list have chosen a unique path. Today's business landscape is littered with heritage companies whose CEOs battle their industry's broken model with inertia, layoffs, lawsuits — anything that squeezes pennies and delays the inevitable. How many of these companies will be dominant in 2025? Few.

That world will be ruled by the kinds of companies on this list. They're non-dogmatic, willing to scrap conventional ideas. (A mere 30-second TV ad? Let's do 200 online videos in two days, say the creatives at Wieden+Kennedy.)

It's a real honour to be included to be on this list, which mentions no other ad agencies and includes the likes of Apple, Google, Nike, ESPN and Amazon.