Remembering Dan Wieden and How He Still Inspires Wieden+Kennedy's Creatives

The ad industry is a representation of how creativity, culture and growth come together. Those who knew Dan Wieden, one half of the duo behind Wieden+Kennedy, say he was the embodiment of this representation. When news of Wieden's passing spread on Sept. 30, many in the industry immediately knew that his substantial impact in the space would be felt for years to come and inspire future generations of creatives. Throughout Wieden's career, spanning over 50 years, he was known for crafting influential works, such as coining Nike's "Just Do It" tagline in 1988. But for others, he was known more for being encouraging, caring, passionate and dedicated to elevating others' voices. Since co-founding Wieden+Kennedy with David Kennedy in 1982, Wieden led the agency and mentored many of his colleagues with a methodology often described as an "organized mess" approach. As one of Wieden+Kennedy's first 10 employees, Susan Hoffman, now its creative director, was there when Wieden first began to cultivate the agency's unique culture. "There's a lot of things about Dan. He hated process and loved chaos," Hoffman told Adweek. "He felt that the work would get better, and that's a bit counterintuitive to any kind of organization, but that is what he felt made things different." Susan Hoffman and Dan Wieden For Hoffman, she first felt this chaos in Wieden's unusual theory called the "slime mold." "The idea is that you have a Petri dish and all the slime molds. You put them together, and they begin to reformulate and come into new groups to grow," she added. For Wieden, the "slime mold" theory was a way to mix people up and put different groups together to drive everyone to use their own voice and challenge themselves. "I saw a lot more magic when I went to Wieden+Kennedy," Hoffman told Adweek. "Both of them felt they wanted to create a place where people could exercise their own voice and have their own opinions and that the place would have a lot of diversity." Susan Hoffman and Dan Wieden Hoffman points to one of her first works at the agency, Nike's "Revolution" spot in 1987, where Wieden's influence was felt. The campaign, which was produced in black-and-white and mashed up sports with a music video, ultimately changed how agencies created ads. Up until "Revolution" almost all songs used in ads were either jingles or covers of pop tunes, but with the use of the Beatles’ “Revolution,” Nike and Wieden+Kennedy paved the way for real songs, performed by the original artists, to be featured. Wieden built a team of three women for the spot—Hoffman, the agency's receptionist, Janet Chan, and Christine Meyers. "We presented an idea, and Dan and David asked us how we [thought] we [could] use the Beatles, but had us come back two hours later and they just looked at us and said 'this is the best idea on the table, that's the one we want to go with,'" Hoffman said, adding the way the agency experimented and believed in people led to different work. Cultivating a culture of freedom and safe space Wieden, well-known for his passion for diversity, culture and creativity for younger generations, founded Caldera Arts, an arts and environmental summer camp in Central Oregon, in 1996. For Jinnina Chiles, community and talent operations specialists at Wieden+Kennedy, beginning her career at Caldera gave her an opportunity to challenge herself. She credits Wieden's leadership as the factor that made Caldera and the agency a safe place for her to work and grow. "During my time at Caldera lots of things happened for me and I'm really grateful to him for that," Chiles told Adweek. "He always [said] 'fail harder' and he [meant] it—that big mistake we make is really important because it becomes less scary to make them." Although Wieden had a large impact on creativity and the work that followed it, he was also instrumental in fostering a sense of community, both at Caldera and at Wieden+Kennedy. Chiles strives to emulate that when she brings people onto the team. "I want people who are willing to share [who they are] with us as an agency because that's how we make our work better. Each of us bring our [stories] and our experience[s] to the table," Chiles told Adweek. "Dan truly valued our individuality and [wanted] to have conversations and push boundaries that [pushed] our work forward." Taking Wieden's vision into the future While Wieden leaves behind loved ones and an industry full of aspiring creatives, Karl Lieberman, global chief creative officer at Wieden+Kennedy, hopes to continuing bringing his unique and meaningful approaches to advertising to the agency. "I always appreciated and was inspired by how he didn't take things too seriously," Lieberman told Adweek. "He understood advertising's place in the world and he was always grounded in what it means to real people. The kind of impact we can have outside our agency and brands is more relevant than ever and I'm aiming to continue bringing that into Wieden+Kennedy." When it comes to Wieden's determination in building a community, Lieberman said that was just who Wieden was, and that the emphasis on community is ingrained in the culture at Wieden+Kennedy. "He was just so invested in the people. The relationship between him and the place never felt transactional; it was always personal and that is the thing that binds everything together," he added. How Wieden+Kennedy Staffers Will Remember David Kennedy