Wieden + Kennedy London has been ranked by Campaign as a ‘star performer’ for 2009.

Three weeks is a long time in journalism. On February 25th, as discussed here, Campaign said:

'Adland hit as billings collapse… BBH, Ogilvy and Wieden + Kennedy among the worst affected according to 2009 Nielsen figures…Wieden &
Kennedy dropped six (places) to 31 with a 41% billings fall.'

As I said at the time, these figures measure billings (what
clients spend on media). Not revenue (what clients actually pay us).

And today, here's what Campaign had to say about revenue figures for 2009:

'Independent agencies have more financial flexibility… they were better able to resist margin pressure – or take a hit on them – and could choose not to hack away at staff numbers. There were good all round performances from VCCP, Wieden + Kennedy, Mother, BMB and Leith.'

From 'worst affected' to 'star performer' in three weeks – now that's a dramatic improvement of performance! I could put it down to visionary management…

As BBHLabs tweeted in response to the previous story: "Billings? How very 'Mad Men'."

Candle-lit pitch room, yesterday.

The social experiment we have been conducting at wieden + kennedy for the last couple of days is now over. EDF have finally fixed the fuse or repaired the cable that supplies east london's electricity, restoring the power supply, and the server, the internet, the heating, lighting and the phones are back on. The toilets still seem to be sub-optimal, but we're working on that.

What did we learn about the power-free working environment?

– It's amazing just how much extra time you have when there's no email.

– Working by candle-light is romantic at first. But the novelty wears off fast and it just seems kind of gloomy.

– 'Blitz spirit' does indeed kick in under adverse circumstances and people get together to improvise solutions.

– Clients are generally very tolerant and supportive in relation to difficulties caused such unforeseen incidents.

– Getting the power back is a massive relief and none of us would really want to go back to early Georgian living conditions.