Dan Wieden, Co-Founder of Wieden+Kennedy, Dies at 77

Dan Wieden will forever be associated with one of the most creative independent agencies in the world. As half of Wieden+Kennedy, he coined perhaps the most recognizable tagline in history—Nike’s “Just Do It.” He died peacefully with his wife by his side in his home in Portland, Ore., at the age of 77 on Sept. 30. While Wieden never formally retired from the agency he founded, he stepped into a chairman role and away from active agency life in 2015. The agency released the following statement after his passing: “We are heartbroken. But even more so, we are overcome with gratitude and love. Thank you Dan, for throwing the doors wide open for people to live up to their full potential. Thank you for your steadfastness, courage, faith and abiding love. Thank you for making this beautiful creative life possible. We will miss you so much.” Wieden, a native Oregonian, was born in 1945 and attended Portland’s Ulysses S. Grant High School. He graduated from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication in 1967 and spent several years in public relations before finding his way into advertising. Wieden’s father was in the business with Gerber Advertising, but it wasn’t a natural fit for the younger Wieden until he started doing commercial freelancing and discovered he had a knack for the industry. While at a small Portland agency with partner David Kennedy, the duo started working on the Nike brand, which was just beginning to grow at the time. Nike founder Phil Knight saw their talent and suggested they start their own agency. Thus, in 1982, Wieden+Kennedy was born in Portland, Ore. It currently has offices in Portland, London, Amsterdam, New York, Delhi, Shanghai, Tokyo and São Paulo. Kennedy died a year ago, on Oct.12, 2021. Nike was instrumental in building the agency from the ground up, especially when W+K expanded to Amsterdam. “It’s hard not to overstate the importance of Nike as a client. We were trying to serve Nike as they were expanding, and they put up with a lot of our stumbles in the early days over there, and then we were able to gain other clients eventually and grow out from that,” he told Adweek in 2003. The stunning work Wieden+Kennedy has done for the athletic shoe and apparel giant over the years has led to multiple awards, from Michael Jordan ads to Tiger Woods commercials and the latest Colin Kaepernick spots. It all rose from Wieden and the agency’s ability to listen and execute. "The bravery of the client is central to doing good work," he said to Adweek in 2012. "The one thing Nike did for us was, they didn't believe in advertising. They didn't want us to do any of the conventional things people do. For instance, they said, 'We don't want to run an ad more than once.' I said, 'OK, why would that be?' And they said, 'Well, you don't write your friend the same letter over and over again, do you?'” Wieden constantly pushed his global crews to expand the envelope and take chances, as on Old Spice's “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign and the ongoing animated Coca-Cola holiday bears ads, along with work for AB InBev, Booking.com, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Delta Air Lines, ESPN, Honda, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble and Verizon. Wieden won numerous awards and accolades during his storied career, including a lifetime achievement award from the Clios, a Cannes Lion of St. Mark for his lifetime of achievement and being named to the Advertising Hall of Fame. Wieden, who served as chief creative officer and CEO of the agency, admitted to Adweek he shunned the spotlight. “I would be quite content to be a hermit somewhere, [in] a brown shack with a sleeping bag,” he said in 2003, though he always remained approachable to employees, clients and creatives. Wieden always championed the agency’s independent status, famously said he would burn the place down before selling the agency, and ultimately put the agency into a trust, ensuring that it will remain independent forever. He championed diversity and always gave back to his community. That was especially true with his passion project, Caldera, an outdoor camp for at-risk youth that he helped create in Oregon as a concrete example of his work in introducing minorities to the art of filmmaking and a career in advertising. His other philanthropic endeavors included SEI, the National MS Society, Literary Arts, EcoTrust, Hopewell House, PICA, Friends of the Children, Pachamama Alliance, Oregon Symphony, Portland Art Museum, Warm Springs Museum, American Indian College Fund and many more. The family has asked that gifts be made to Caldera Arts. David Kennedy, Co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy, Dies at 82