welcome to optimism

spitalfields music

A post by Clare Lovett of Spitalfields Music, with whom we've just done some work on a rebranding project.

I work for Spitalfields Music as the Programme Director for Learning and Participation and this was my second experience of a re-branding process, and entirely different!  Anticipating long and involved meetings with circular discussions I initially approached the offices with trepidation.  Differences started from right inside the front door, with an exceptional reception area and very friendly staff, in fact over the course of the project there was always something new to discover in the offices! 

 Things I remember about working with W+K

• Strange Russian dolls in the amazing reception area
• Socks, socks and socks
• Fun and concentrated atmosphere
• Inventive approaches
• Waving my arms in the air to keep the lights on in the meeting room
• Laughing
• Design/project research wall in the stairwell
• Cake
• Great concepts and solutions
• Eagerness to try something different
• Regularly going one step beyond
• Rapid and pragmatic responses
• Lots of special attention

The project took place in a very short space of time and was an amazing experience, and great to get to know such a wonderful bunch of creative people.  The new branding is a creative project in itself and has inspired us to think of new ways for people to encounter Spitalfields Music.  And it’s just the start.

So here's the new logo created by W+K for Spitalfields Music (viewfinder using traditional and modern typefaces to show glimpses of the Spitalfields area and the musical instruments). Spot the Brick Lane graffiti and the Gherkin in there along with a guitar fret-board, a trumpet and a microphone.

The rebranding work is part of an initiative to bring about a widening of public perceptions around the 'Spitalfields Festival'. The new 'Spitalfields Music' brand encompasses all other year-round events and teaching that the organisation provides, as well as the main summer and winter festivals. As neighbours, we were happy to be able to get involved and help out.

There are a few things happening under the Spitalfields Music umbrella in the next week. Find out more about open rehearsal events and singing bus stops in the Spitalfields Opens Up listings.

golf day

On the eve of the Ryder Cup, yesterday saw the 4th annual W+K golf day at Hever Castle Golf Club. Although lucky with the weather, some of the participants weren't so lucky with the unpredictable train journey from London Bridge down to deepest darkest Kent. A missed train and then a cancellation probably wasn't the greatest preparation for such an important sporting event. However the steely professionalism shown in difficult circumstances was admirable.

First to tee off nervously was Team Walker. l-r Simon Charlesworth (Nike), Ben (W+K), Danny Micklethwaite (Arla).



Followed by Team Davidson: l-r Simon Pestridge (Nike), Tony D (W+K), Ian Armstrong (Honda), Chris G (W+K).

And finally Team Harkness: l-r Ed Collin (Nike), Stuart Harkness (W+K), John Thompson (Arla), John Hardman (Morgans).

The golf may not have been of the highest standard but the competitiveness certainly was. Some interesting side bets were struck: Tony D and Simon Pestridge's bet for an expensive bottle of red wine went all the way to the 18th hole  - Tony still hasn't learnt the art of letting the client win.

The longest drive competition had to be scrapped (twice) due to not one of us managing to hit the fairway. And the nearest the pin prize was won by the only person who managed to put the ball on the green.

The overall prize was contested very closely with Danny 'Doesn't he look like Gareth Gates' Micklethwaite pipping Chris 'Metronome' Groom and Ed 'Bandeeet' Collin into second and third place respectively.

Couple of new spots for Orange

Millidge and Doig, the two little characters we created for Orange's tactical activity in Romania, seem to be developing a fanbase. Here are a couple of new short ads we've just created featuring the two little guys with one mouth between them. Funny?

client entertaining

Client lunch today at this fine establishment. Never mind your swanky adland Soho lunch venues. This is the way forward for the 21st century. Although, I have to admit, I've had better garlic bread.

new Guardian campaign

Wieden + Kennedy London's first brand campaign for The Guardian breaks on Monday 12 March. This is the first brand advertising The Guardian has launched in almost a decade.

The work highlights the core values upon which The Guardian is founded. There are four executions in the initial burst, each one covering a different aspect of the Guardian's values. Further executions and a cinema campaign will follow later in the year. The use of bold colour and design reflects The Guardian itself, which offers colour on every page.

The campaign launches with posters on buses across the UK and on London taxis. The following week the campaign will be extended to Transvision screens at railway stations and poster sites on the London underground and at network rail stations.

The Guardian has an illustrious heritage of great creative work and is a brand close to the heart of many working in the media, so inevitably this campaign will come in for much scrutiny. We've tried to do something that's fresh, and true to who they are. It'll be interesting to see how people react.

Goodbye Yakult

Bad news this week when we heard that we’d been fired by Yakult. It’s customary in such situations to say something like, ‘This represents a big opportunity for us and frees us up to work with new partners in the fast-growing functional foods category.’ But, to be honest, it’s not an opportunity, it’s a blow. It’s a bummer. It does not represent the dawning of a bold new era for W+K London.

We’re very proud of the work we’ve done for Yakult and the results we’ve achieved. We’ve really enjoyed working with the

UK

team, who are smart, passionate, honest and good fun. Unfortunately, there is a desire for a reduction in the number of agencies across

Europe

and we lose out. It just shows how precarious this business is and that you can never get complacent. One week you win Nokia, next week you lose Yakult.

We’ll miss the little bottle.

Bean Bag Bonanza

We attended a media brainstorm today, with The Guardian.

It was hosted by our friends at PHD.  They are well blessed in the bean bag department, to the tune of loads:

new space.NK film

Our new campaign for Space.NK just broke. Reviewing it in Campaign yesterday, Dave Alberts, ECD of Grey London described it as, "60 seconds of bliss that literally floated from one image to another, finally coming to rest on a woman inside a lily inside a box inside an ad. So intoxicating was the music and the perfume that seemed to emit from the screen, that my computer was hypnotised into a loop of continuous play. By the time I came to, I realised I had in fact watched the ad more than 13 times.' Cheers, Dave.

BIG round of applause for creatives Guy, Mark and Ben E and all the rest of the Space.NK team who made this possible.

See what you think yourself:

And why not check out www.spacenk.com

Meet Millidge and Doig

If you follow this link you can watch a new commercial produced here at wieden + kennedy london for our client Orange Romania. The ad was produced by Nexus, who we also worked with on Honda 'Grrr'. It was created by Pete and Vicky at W+K and introduces to the world two characters (we call them Millidge and Doig) who - because they only have one mouth between them - are ideally suited to demonstrating the benefits of sharing. We like them. See what you think.

If anyone from Romania is reading we'd be interested to hear how our boys (or could they be girls?) are going down over there.

Meanwhile, another of our ads for Orange Romania, 'Hide and Seek', is at number six in Adcritic's top ten.

Big in Japan

Kim Papworth, Simon Summerscales and Stuart Smith are currently in Tokyo, where they met up with some of Honda's Corporate Planning Division yesterday, along with some colleagues from our Tokyo office.