This minute avalanche of fast paced catchiness, called ‘Write the future’, was created by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, in collaboration with a myriad of creative hotshops – among which its sister agencies in London and Portland. It was launched in 32 countries, during the May 22nd European Champions League Final and directed by one of our most favourite Hollywood directors, Alejandro González Iñárritu – renowned for making parallel storylines intertwine seamlessly. Though a very international production, the itchy song ‘Hocus Pocus’ by Dutch 70′s band Focus – updated by Amsterdam based Massive Music – gave the whole thing a little ‘colour locale’. With a good sense of humour the film elaborately shows that in sports the future is in your own hands; the difference between a made and missed goal is the difference between living like trailer trash or getting your own football stadium. Next to Nike’s muses, Rooney and Ronaldinho, other (sports) stars like Rodger Federer, Kobe Bryant, Homer Simpson and Gael García Bernal (directed by Iñárritu in Amores Perros) got a cameo in this ejaculation of production value. The print and interactive executions show how Drogba, Cannavaro, Robinho, Ronaldo and Ribery will be remembered when cast in a statue. In June the audience is allowed to write its own future on Nikefootball.com and try to get selected to attend the Nike Academy – in collaboration with the English Barclay’s Premier League. The epic production is easily the biggest Nike campaign ever, which makes it not only write the future, but also ad history.

Photo: Maurice Mikkers
The biggest winner last night at the ADCN (Dutch Art Director’s Club) awards was Lemz. All the ‘bulbs’ – of which one was a Grand Prix (the very best integrated work) – went to their Fireworks campaign. Our very favourite campaign of the year Domino’s Pizza Pepperoni by Indie won one Golden and two Silver bulbs (TV, internet and activation) – in our opinion it was at least as good as Lemz’ work. Wieden also won one Gold and two Silver for Heineken’s ‘The making of The Date’ (internet, TV, and activation). Selmore won Gold for Bavaria and Hugh Heffner – so we can be sure that Charlie Sheen will also win Gold next year. We were a bit surprised that N=5 won Gold for Telfort – not really our taste. Y&R won one Gold and two Silver for LG’s ‘smart thief‘ (internet, TV, and viral). A bit strange that alle these films are winning different prizes for the different channels through which they are broadcasted – does the channel matter? Another one of our favourites was Hema’s with a push-up bra in print, promoted by a male model, going viral big time – by Doom & Dickson. It won Gold and Silver. Note: Hema is one of the most down to earth department stores in the Netherlands. TBWA won Gold with its print campaign for DIY chain Gamma; free Lego – “Just like dad.” In Interactive Tribal DDB won Gold and Silver for ‘Obsessed with Sound’ for Philips. One of the most impactful commercials of the year by Publicis for ALS won Silver – “I have died by now.” Special bulbs went to Mischa Rozema (for directing OFFF), Christian Borstlap (art direction and illustration, for LV and Mr Porter), and Simon Warner (photgraphy, for Octopus).

This graphically inviting game called ‘Hitchhike with a like’ was created by Tribal DDB and Facebook. It let’s you hitch rides through Europe to different destinations with different Volkswagen Beetles. Though the copy teaches us that it’s about the journey and not the destination, the game doesn’t really show the journey. It simply tells you how many points you’ve earned after you’ve reached your different destinations. If you travel long enough, you can win a Beetle trip across Europe. Oh, and there’s also a ‘mojo’ meter that slowly runs on empty. Only by sharing your trips on Facebook you can recharge it. And that’s where Volkswagen’s briefing peeks around the corner: “Wir wollen Facebook Likes, und schnell!” As usual we weren’t patient enough to sit out the entire game, but we’re sure that if you do there’s champagne and fireworks – and if you’re lucky a grand prize. The game was produced by B-Reel, the 3D animations built by Prime Focus, and the different tunes accompanying each trip created by Massive Music.

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam has promoted Clay Mills to Managing Director. He follows up Lee Newman, who was appointed as MD in 2008. Newman will become president at O&M Chicago. Mills was hired by Wieden in 2010 as Group AD on Heineken. Since his hiring Heineken became one of Wieden’s more profitable and successful accounts, making the agency even lead this year’s Gunn report. Prior to W+K Amsterdam, Mills worked at JWT New York, and BBH in New York and London. ECD’s Mark Bernath and Eric Quennoy about Mills’ appointment: “Spending the last two years making the Heineken work with Clay has been one of the more enjoyable experiences of our careers. You have to work with people who make work feel more like having fun. That’s when the best stuff happens. Of course, you can’t have fun without being dead serious and smart about what you’re doing. A balance that Clay gets as good as anyone.”

It’s not easy to start a new financial service these days. Especially when it’s an investment service. Some see opportunities though. And since today transparency is key, you can imagine how ‘Open’ came out of the brand name brainstorm. What we don’t really understand is the random ‘h’ in there. Even if you want to own a short URL, oHpen does make quite a weird name – especially if you’re dyslectic. And while we’re at it; the logo (created by …, Staat) is a bit too grey in our opinion. This brand is about a fresh start, a new dawn. What’s more, there’s a foundation behind Ohpen – we found out on their website – that strives to create a better world. So we would have opted for a more colorful logo. Anyway, the voice over: “It’s a natural law; everything starts small. Just like an asset. That’s why Ohpen is the first in Europe to introduce index-investing and keeps it simple and responsible. So whether you have 1 million euros or just the one; Ohpen is there for everyone. Because everything that ends big, starts small.” So that’s why this pleasant film is shown in reverse. You see how money is made; and it all starts with a cotton plant. Got it. Created by SSSS & Orchestra, directed by Bruce St. Clair (Caviar), and music by Massive Music.