Emotional scenes at WK this afternoon as news broke that creative directors Ben Walker and Matt Gooden have resigned to join Beattie McGuinness Bungay.
Sad news for us, a great opportunity for them.
I think it was genuinely a
tough decision for them (though they may have said that just to make us feel
bettter) but it's a great opportunity and they just felt that after 8
years it was time to move on.
They've been here a long time, done some
awesome work (Cog, Choir, Lurpak, to name a few), made a huge contribution to the life and soul of W+K
London. No question: this place wouldn’t be what it is today without
their blood, sweat, tears, AC/DC T-shirts and cooking tips.
As I believe Matt himself has said when
debating evaluation criteria, 'The only thing you need to ask yourself
is, does it rock?'
They rock.
The good news for us is that, from now on, every piece of work that comes out of BMB, people will say, "It's pretty good, but it's not Cog, is it?"
Noe tried to persuade Matt to stay.
Ben tried in vain to comfort a very upset Liana in the Golden Heart. There were tears at the announcement. From Liana because she's going to miss working with them. And from Shay because it was the first time in eight years that Walker had bought a round and Shay couldn't make it to the Heart.
There are many, many Ben and Matt stories by which we will remember them. Here's just one: The Story of the Wolf's Head Fanny. (Regular readers will remember this was posted before.)
A couple of years ago, W+K pitched against BMB for the Ikea business.
Ben and Matt were our CDs on the pitch. We didn't win the pitch, for reasons
that may be about to become obvious. The following is a record made at the
time, of a conversation that took place in an internal creative review on the
Ikea pitch work.
Matt: Blimey, it’s a bit full-on. Or is it just me
that thinks lactating tits and a wolf’s-head fanny’s not ok?
Noe: But it’s growling at the dog!
Matt: I think we’re going to lose
the dog, Noe…
Matt: what about the wolf’s-head
fanny? Can we at least tame it down a bit… Say a guinea pig or something?
Noe: A giraffe! (laughter)
Noe: So we have giraffe…?
Pete: Noe, there’s a kids’ play area
at IKEA. Not sure we want them pointing at giraffe’s-head fannies…
Noe: Do you think we’re going to
water it down too much?
Ben: She’s still a naked amputee
with a pillow-head mask and a sex toy. I think we’ll be alright….
We pitched the wolf's head fanny amputee campaign to Ikea. They didn't buy it and BMB won the pitch.
But maybe now Ben and Matt are off to BMB, for a joyful reunion with Ikea clients, the lupine fanny can ride again!
Walker, Gooden: legends. We'll miss 'em.
