W+K 12: A Creative Collective

On April 1, 2004, Wieden & Kennedy’s Portland offices launched an innovative program, known as W+K 12. The firm describes the program as ‘an experiment, disguised as a school, disguised as an agency.’ But what does this mean exactly?

Every year, approximately 13 chosen creative people journey to the Portland offices and experience 12 months in the life of a Wieden & Kennedy employee. The interesting matter of the fact is that most of the students lucky enough to get in only have experience in fields other than advertising. These people may be athletes, musicians, scientists, or occupy any number of other unrelated professions. In essence, the program operates as its own mini agency in which students collaborate on projects under the guidance of several creative directors. Over the course of the year students are exposed and thrown in to the intensive day to day operations of the agency, and are privileged to work on both pro-bono and paying client accounts.

Now, you may be asking yourself, why would they want people outside of the advertising industry? As you may remember from my first post, Wieden was quoted in stating, “We’re not trained in the classical sense – we're not trained to produce ads. And one of the successes of our agency is to try to find out what it’s all about.” That statement was made over 20 years ago in 1990, though it appears to hold true today. Wieden & Kennedy prides itself on breaking the norms and staying free of creative restraints, in whatever form they may come. Wieden also points to the notion of an ever evolving America, spurred by younger generations. In this light, W+K 12 was created to bridge the gap between the strange and familiar by connecting with an array of personalities and interests.

The video below is a five minute mini documentary, produced by Wieden & Kennedy Entertainment (WKE), which shows a glimpse of what W+K 12 is all about. However, be warned that the dialogue you will hear is rather profane, and may be offensive to some people. In fact, you will find that each student is given a shirt with a number, from 01/12 all the way to 13/12, each complete with an embedded tag that reads…

OH, MEDIOCRITY

MY CONSTANT COMPANION

MY LIGHT AND NIGHT SHADOW

THE FRED TO MY BARNEY

GO STOMPING OFF INTO DAY

LIKE SIZE 19s

EEEs

TOO F*****G EASILY

OH, MEDIOCRITY

This is certainly no after school program, but if this little poem caught your attention, the video most definitely will.

Warning: Explicit Dialouge

"America is a forever-young country, branding and rebranding itself incessantly. This is no country for old ad people to re-imagine -- that is best accomplished by the youngest hearts and minds. And that is why we turned to W+K12. They did not disappoint."  - Dan Wieden

Learn more about W+K 12 and how to apply at... W+K 12 Extension 



Rebranding America. (2009, May 4). In PaperMag. Retrieved March 11, 2011, from <http://www.papermag.com/arts_and_style/2009/05/rebranding-america-dan-wieden-wieden-kennedy-12-w122.php>