For a country the size of Wales, the Netherlands sure does have a lot of creative agencies, design bureaus and digital hot shops. When I first moved to Amsterdam from London in 2000, I was gobsmacked by a list I saw in Adformatie, roll-calling the ‘Top 100 Ad Agencies’. This statement implied that there were plenty more where these came from, the rest just hadn’t made it to the giddy heights of the top rankings. Surely, I pondered, this country wasn’t big enough for 100 of any business, except, perhaps, cheese shops?

But I was wrong. Amsterdam, in particular, is awash with creative talent just itching for an agency to attach itself to. Up until recently there’s even been enough client business (pretty much) to go round. The question is - local or international?

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with either. Play to your strengths, do the best work you can pull off and conduct yourself with a bit of integrity - I’d have thought that was a good starting point for any business. I’m always surprised, however, at the number of people who make a sport of sneering at the prospect of either local or international projects. And, occasionally, both. What are people ashamed of/threatened by (delete as appropriate)?

In the last two or three years, in particular, there are more and more opportunities for agencies to establish themselves on a regional playing field, if not win coveted international business. Gone are the days when ‘international’ meant 180 or Wieden+Kennedy. These days, pitch consultancies and clients alike know Amsterdam through the work of TAXI Europe, Amsterdam Worldwide, Perfect Fools, Sid Lee, and de-Construct, amongst many many others. Surely, the more respected the Netherlands (Amsterdam) becomes on the international industry stage, the better we all do? If Amsterdam wins a new European festival, such as the arrival of Eurobest at the end of November, we all win.

Locally, we all know there are excellent Dutch agencies competing fiercely in the market. Some of those agencies are also highly skilled in crossing the border between local and regional markets - Grey Amsterdam, for example, or BSUR, or Lemon Scented Tea. It just seems to me that there are too many agencies who think that by saying, ‘we work internationally’, then - ding! - with a puff of fairy-dust, it becomes so. It so doesn’t.

For a start, if you are going to work internationally, please think about employing a few people beyond the Benelux map. Sounds obvious? Then you’d be surprised how many companies don’t think so. Far too many companies see ‘international’ as little more than a word in the credentials presentation. You are not going to truly get under the skin of a global A-brand if, come lunchtime, all the guys eat their boterham met hagelslag cut into quarters, with a knife and fork (the single least sexy thing I have ever witnessed, by the way). One reason for an agency like Wieden+Kennedy’s success (and a key differentiator within its own network) is the 20+ nationalities under one roof in the Amsterdam office.

A cultural melting pot brings its own challenges to any agency, but, great gods, it certainly informs the work.

Agencies come and go - some even stick around - but one thing is certain: locally, regionally or internationally, Amsterdam’s reputation as a centre of excellence for the creative industries is nowadays firmly secured. So long as agencies make an informed decision as to who they are talking to.

Whenever I’m working on launching a campaign, there is one part of my job I never look forward to. Last minute changes? An ftp site that simply doesn’t work? Running out of coffee when I’m struggling with a deadline? Nope - the credits.

The credits - this simple list of who did what - has spectacular power in separating the men from the boys. Journalists who write about ad campaigns, whether it’s integrated, print, TV or viral, sometimes - but, and this is key, not always - request additional background information. They want to know the major players, so they can credit them. Sometimes accreditation is limited to name of agency, but mostly the executive creative directors, producer, director, art director and copywriter will be lined up to receive a bow. Does everyone who busts a gut pulling the campaign together get to see their name in print? No. But were they included on the credits list along with someone from just about every department who sneezed over this project? Generally speaking, yes.

I get it; you worked long and hard, above and beyond the normal call of duty to get this campaign rolling. You want some recognition for your efforts, especially if you are proud of the results. That’s why I’m happy to include your name in a small but perfectly formed don’t-mess-with-me credits template. I know a journalist isn’t going to credit everyone every time, but if seeing your name on a list on a website is going to help you sleep better at night, then sometimes you’ll be lucky.

What I don’t get, is how seeing your own name in print becomes the be-all-and-end-all to the perceived success, or otherwise, of a PR campaign. And why is it always the creatives who act out?

I can secure exclusives in leading NL, UK, and US publications, place interviews with key members of the team, and follow this up with campaign coverage in every major international industry publication. I can even get coverage talking about how much PR coverage there’s been. But if you don’t see your name in print, Mr Art Director and Ms Copywriter, or worse - you see someone else’s name where you think yours should be - then you’ll be throwing your toys out of your Bugaboo faster than I can say ‘Hollywood called, they’re loving your work’.

For the most part, people conduct themselves with a fair amount of dignity. An account director, a planner, or the guy who re-set the alarm this morning, is not especially inclined to make a fuss if their name doesn’t come up in a Google search against the latest campaign title. And let’s be fair, the majority of creatives aren’t either. But if anyone is going to shout at me on the phone, call me incompetent or generally bitch and moan, then, honestly, it’s going to be a creative.

My question is this: what is it about the creative psyche (or the way in which they are allowed to behave at work) which sanctions this kind of behaviour? Nature or nurture? Are creatives good at their job because this is a fundamentally ego-centric and volatile part of their character or through our misplaced hero worship - the creative is king! - have we created a monster?

Rather than a witch hunt, screaming that the PR is shit, or burning me as a lazy heretic, creatives need to appreciate that I don’t single-handedly control the media.

Suggesting that the success of a campaign comes down to your name in lights is arrogant, foolish, ignorant and just plain wrong. We all get it, a creative campaign needs creatives pulling their weight and doing a brilliant job. But wouldn’t there be more time for brilliance if you weren’t on the phone to me wondering why I’m deliberately persecuting you because you aren’t credited?

Dignity. Always dignity.

This article appeared on Monday 5 October at YouAdDaily.com.

Executive Creative Director Seyoan Vela, says:

“Everybody knows breast cancer is dangerous, that it should be taken seriously, that therapy and research need funding. Breast cancer, and the battle against it, is something that unites all women, no matter where they are from, how rich or poor or what culture.

Not only are all women potential victims, also almost all women know somebody that has had breast cancer or is currently dealing with it. In that sense, buying Pink Ribbon Magazine is a sign of solidarity.”
 
To see the print work, click here.

Grey Amsterdam has taken a new way of looking at the issue, through the eyes of uk photographer Rankin. The magazine print work sees three executions - each with the breasts of a model, either young, middle-aged, or older. A celebratory and poignant poem is written across the body, about the breasts. The breasts are seen as a pair of friends, with names, who should never be parted.

The TV campaign is directed by Chris Palmer of Gorgeous Productions. A call was put out throughout the Netherlands, asking for women of any age to volunteer their services in the tv spot. More than 1000 women, aged 16-72, volunteered to be part of the shoot and show their breasts.

Click here to view the TV spot.

DAY in Amsterdam has designed the first Nike Sportswear store in Europe. The store, opened in Paris this month, is the first of a series throughout Europe launched by Nike Sportswear, a new division of Nike.

The new Nike Sportswear collection is based on timeless sports apparel and shoes, with a brand identity which includes images of classic gyms, well-used equipment, and urban environments. DAY’s brief was to push the existing US conceptual retail style further, using the location – an old bookstore in the heart of Paris’ Le Marais district – to influence the concept.

Creative Partner, Gesina Roters, said:

“The heritage of the building itself directly influenced the concept development. The store had been left closed but intact for more than 40 years, so we were able to use traces of wear and tear - such as the floor, which had been repaired but not restored - to our advantage. The result is a store which balances heritage with a modern contemporary twist in sports performance.”

As the first of its kind in Europe, the store is a high-visibility example of DAY’s creative business solutions and interdisciplinary design expertise.

The retail and interior design concept for Nike EMEA is headed up by Creative Partner Gesina Roters and Managing Partner Louk de Sevaux, with Mette Hoekstra (design).

Compromise - It’s A Killer

We’re all aware that this is a difficult time for the ad industry right now. Most of us are suffering from client cutbacks in one shape or another- and it doesn’t look like the light at the end of the tunnel is guiding our way out of the financial darkness just yet.

So now would be a silly time to turn down business, right? We’ve got staff to feed, bills to pay, lifestyles to lead, and any money that goes towards cat kibble or replacing those dud light-bulbs in the agency foyer is money well earned. After all, that Cup-A-Soup dispenser doesn’t replenish itself. And there’s a new kit needed for the agency football team. Right?

Seems to me, it’s a question of compromise. Of walking a safe route between financial collapse on the one hand and a damaged or mismanaged reputation on the other (which could well lead to financial collapse in the longer term anyway). This giddy tightrope walk can feel as precarious a journey as that performed between the Twin Towers by Philippe Petit in ‘Man On Wire’: one false step and there’s no net to catch you should you fall. And everybody’s watching.

Compromise - it’s a killer.

Let’s say a current client wants you to work on a new project. Okay, it may not be stellar, or creatively challenging, or potentially award-winning, or play to your strengths even, but you are inclined to accept. You have a relationship with this client and the business acquisition involved was minimal. Ker-ching, money in the bank. But what happens when a potential new client, perhaps one you aren’t that excited about, offers you the chance to pitch for a piece of business? A project which will take up precious resources during the pitch process and do nothing to progress your creative output. Or stimulate the team. Or, let’s be honest, provide so very much bang for buck.

Turning down business in this ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ market- refusing to accept any job at any price - can require supreme confidence and the courage of your convictions. Holding out for those clients, or projects, which will further your business and develop your team involves a quality control mechanism which goes a long way to managing your reputation. And let’s be honest: not every agency has an in-built shock-proof shit detector. A creatively-led company? Too much ‘vanilla’ advertising and people start to notice - not least your staff. You can’t sit on your laurels forever.

Of course, accepting new business wherever if falls from the tree means, generally speaking, better financial security- a stocking up of the food larder against even more frugal times. No one wants to let staff go. Or cancel the Friday biscuits in a cost-cutting exercise. But consider the signals you are sending out, both internally and externally. How does an agency maintain its reputation for premium work if it is perceived to be spreading its reputation thin on inferior projects?

I suggest you develop nerves of steel, the balance of an acrobat on the high wire, and an expression a Las Vegas card shark would be proud of. I’m off to practice my Poker face.

 A Finch who tweets!

If you don’t already follow the lady herself on the tweetdeck, get involved - @FinchFactor. Not only are you guaranteed nuggets of ‘Dam based info, but you’ll also be privy to chucksome minecdotes. Plus she says we’re good at karaoke – so we love her!

In Dutch, there’s just one term for it - ontslagen - but to a Brit, there are subtleties at play not to be messed with. You were laid off, made redundant? That sucks, but take heart my friend, it’s strictly business. You’ve been fired? It’s your fault. You either fiddled the books, stole something noticeable like a photocopier, or you were really rubbish at your job (I just can’t believe you lasted this long).

Over the years I’ve been the innocent bystander in a number of cost-cutting exercises; once I even deserved it (I was a young career pup and didn’t know any better). The first time? London 1997, a brand experience agency specialized in the toy industry. I was caught in the crossfire between one business partner who’d just given birth to her third child, and was leaning a little too heavily on the vodka, and business partner 2 (that husband of hers).

He was a micro-manager par excellence and former Navy SEAL who treated every project like a covert operation for the Special Forces. Damn they were good. However, due to this, that and the other, they’d had to ‘let me go’. Frankly it was a relief. That company taught me two valuable lessons, though: never work with a pregnant husband and wife partnership; and, don’t take it personally. Unless, of course, it’s personal.

There’s the time the digital agency moved lock, stock & barrel back to Sweden (“We’re relocating. No, we can’t take you with us”.) I once got locked out of a Consumer Tech agency’s computer system after a company meeting (“If your password is blocked, then sadly, we’ve had to let you go”). And, more recently, I was told: “We just can’t afford to keep you on, but let’s keep it hush-hush for now”. This, whilst sitting in a glass-walled goldfish bowl of an office, smack in the centre of a glass-walled open-plan floor, perched at an elevated table on tall stools. After having been summoned to the meeting over the internal speaker system. Sure. Keep it on the down-low. Right.

It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.

These are turbulent times, where belt-tightening is required and there’s no shame in a company facing a harsh reality - ‘the clients have cut back, so must we’. It’s tough all round. Unfortunately, too often the cutting back is done without grace or regard for reputation management. Of course, sometimes we’ve just got to take it on the chin. But I’ve heard too many stories of employees feeling let down, disrespected, appalled at the way their former employer has handled the exit policy (if there even is one), that last ‘I’m sorry but’ conversation. An agency may have enjoyed eight strong years of loyal service from Account Director X, but, like breaking a mirror, one final slip-up and you could be left with smashed glass at your feet, bloody scratches and seven years bad luck.

Reputation is everything. The quickest, strongest way to build it is word of mouth. And break it too. Your people are your ambassadors. Whether working in the local market or internationally-focused, Amsterdam’s creative industry is a small incestuous pool: we splash around, getting our feet wet, often jumping from one boat to another, seemingly regardless as to whether it’s the Goodship 180, HMS Indie or the Water TAXI.

 And as we go, we’re talking all the way.

Think about the number of people freelancing these days, or looking for a new position. As they go from one place to another, interviewing, meeting people, they are storytelling. And if the last experience was inglorious and undignified, those war stories can get ugly. No matter how long they worked for you and how happy the relationship had been.

Read more at http://www.youaddaily.com

DAY Creative Business Partners, Amsterdam, extends it’s worldwide offering with the opening of DAY Dubai. From the new location, the company services major advertising, integrated design, interiors and packaging projects throughout the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region.

DAY Dubai launches with it’s first client - Sudan’s largest privately-owned company, The DAL Group.

Established in Amsterdam in 2006, DAY combines creative thinking methods with brand strategy, interdisciplinary design and advertising as a key asset in business development. A cross between management consultancy, brand consultancy, advertising agency and design bureau, DAY services international clients, including Bugaboo, The Van Gogh Museum, Ziggo, Nike and Orange.

The DAL Group, Sudan’s largest and most diversified privately-owned company, has appointed DAY as preferred supplier in all aspects of brand and management consultancy.

Operating across consumer, industrial, agricultural and property development sectors, the DAL Group is the exclusive bottler and distributor for Coca-Cola (DAL Food Industries Co. Ltd.), has the largest and most advanced mills in the Sudan (SAYGA Flour Mills), is the exclusive distributor for both the Mitsubishi Motors Company and Mercedes-Benz (DAL Motors Company), and is the leading producer of dairy products in Sudan (Blue Nile Dairy Company Ltd.)

DAY Dubai’s Managing Director, Dennis de Rond, said:

“Our relationship with the DAL Group has been developing over a number of years. This is a major heavy-weight client for any agency, and DAY is honored to be selected as preferred supplier. The DAL Group operates throughout the region as a leader in its field, with a strong vision for business development and regeneration. There are a wealth of projects to get our teeth into as we establish and grow our Dubai office.”

Working from both Amsterdam and Dubai offices, DAL Group projects are headed up by Strategy Partner Dennis de Rond, Creative Partner Gesina Roters, and Managing Partner Louk de Sevaux, with Omer Elmaien (account director) and David Verburg (designer).

Grey Group EMEA completes the reorganisation of its Amsterdam agency today, with the appointment of Hazelle Klønhammer to the role of Managing Director. Formerly at 180, Wieden+Kennedy and Modernista! Amsterdam, Australian-born Klønhammer has an established track-record in successfully managing international business for creatively-led clients.

Working closely with Executive Creative Directors Colin Lamberton and Seyoan Vela, Klønhammer will be responsible for building Dutch business as well as extending the strengthened Grey offering to international clients. The no-silos, creative approach focuses on holistic solutions and flexible resourcing to meet the changing communications needs of clients.

Klønhammer’s strong track record for winning new business and re-positioning global brands is evidenced in her work as group account director at Wieden+Kennedy. Over a 10 year period she worked on numerous brands such as Nike, Heineken, Microsoft, Carlsberg, and the global launch of Vodafone. She was instrumental in setting up the agency’s digital offering and was responsible for winning their first digital client, Electronic Arts. Since leaving W+K 18 months ago, her senior management skills have been in play at Modernista! and 180. Prior to this, Klønhammer has also worked at Amirati Puris Lintas, Sydney, and TBWA Campaign Company.

Hazelle Klønhammer, Managing Director, says of her new position:

“It is the attitude of the people rather than particular categories or brands that is important to me. I like to work with people who are positive, highly motivated, fun loving and inspired by their work. I am a sucker for a good challenge. The Grey network has an exceptional reputation - with Colin and Seyoan in the lead I feel confident we can make Grey Amsterdam a creative powerhouse. And have some fun along the way”.  

The newly established team reports directly to Carolyn Carter, Grey Group EMEA CEO, with immediate effect.

Carolyn Carter says:

“With Hazelle onboard, Grey Amsterdam’s strategic-creative leadership balance is firmly established. Clients, both current and future, local and international, will benefit from her significant digital background and prowess in managing integrated brand solutions without a creative bias associated with a particular market.”

Executive Creative Director, Seyoan Vela, continues:

“Hazelle has clearly demonstrated her ability to work across disciplines - her track record in developing digital business opportunities and working strategically with clients speaks for itself. Together, the management team will be concentrating on what we consider clients value – a strategic blend of focused, creative insight and integrated brand leadership.”

Lamberton and Vela, known for their pioneering work methods as co-founders and Creative Directors of St. Lukes, joined Grey’s EMEA team in London in 2007. They provided the creative muscle behind two successful regional wins, Toshiba and Fortis. In May 2008 they moved with the Fortis win to Amsterdam as Executive Creative Directors, to rebuild the agency as a new kind of creative resource for Grey’s local and multinational clients.

Grey Amsterdam’s client list includes GSK, Procter & Gamble, Unilever Nederland, Fortis Bank Nederland, Manpower, Fashioncheque, Abbot Nederland, Roche, Eli Lilly, Gemeente Lelystad, Mees Pierson and Stichting Nederland Schoon.

DAY has rolled out a new visual identity for Dream Amsterdam, the annual city-specific public art event.

The on- and off-line visual presence for Dream Amsterdam, which includes billboards, website, email, posters, merchandise and postcards, was created by Creative Partner Gesina Roters, with Lotte Peters and Carolin Hermann (designers) and Fleur Bos (project manager).

Dream Amsterdam was established in 2007 by founding director and curator Jamain Brigitha. It is an annual opportunity for an internationally acclaimed artist to present non-traditional art in public areas, by using the city of Amsterdam as a source of inspiration, canvas, set and exhibition space. dream-amsterdam-logoThe work of Spencer Tunick, who uses naked people as part of his open-sir installations, launched the initiative, followed by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda in 2008. This year sees the work of acclaimed Danish visual artist Peter Funch culminate in an open air exhibition at Museumplein until 31 August.

Creative Partner, Gesina Roters, said:

“We started by defining the key ingredients of Dream Amsterdam, which is a platform for selected artists working in the public urban space. The concept is based on a starry sky depicting the outlines of the city, offering a backdrop to the work itself.”

Creative design partners, DAY, was established in 2006 by Dennis de Rond (Strategy Partner), Louk de Sevaux (Managing Partner) and Gesina Roters (Creative Partner). With offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and New York, the company combines creative thinking methods with brand strategy, interdisciplinary design and advertising as a key asset in business development.

A cross between management consultancy, brand consultancy, advertising agency and design bureau, DAY services international companies and markets, including Nike (new retail concept and pilot shop in Paris), Bugaboo (event concepts and interior design), Ziggo (full retail business strategy and model, including store design), Orange (brand strategy and adaptation across all consumer touch-points), and the Van Gogh Museum (retail concept and lobby design). From Dubai, DAY is the preferred supplier in all aspects of brand and management consultancy for the DAL Group, the largest privately owned company in the Sudan.

www.day.nu

http://www.dreamamsterdam.nl/