Dreamers Wanted: Wieden + Kennedy’s Freddie Powell writes the creative future
Wieden + Kennedy’s creative director Freddie Powell has lifted the lid on how one of the most distinctive Nike campaigns to date was concocted as part of The Drum’s Dream Awards to champion how the big idea rather than the channel is responsible for the best marketing in a multi-channel world.
Powell is the latest creative force to sit in with The Drum’s resident psychiatrist Dr Sarracenia, painting a lucid picture of the dream he used to formulate the sportswear brand’s 'Write the Future' campaign. Capturing the one moment when headlines are written from a single strike of the ball, while bringing others to their knees, the three-minute epic is littered with stars including tennis legend Roger Federer and Homer Simpson.
But how did Powell come up with such an eclectic and dramatic idea? “I’m on a football pitch and I can feel the pressure of six billion eyeballs hanging on my every move,” he told Dr Sarracenia.
“Suddenly [footballer] Ribéry comes in and intercepts me and I’m in a stock market. I see people tearing up my newspaper. I’m smashing a boot in a mirror and things aren’t looking good.”
The idea that every touch has the ability to change not just the entire course of a match but a tournament or a season is what sets the campaign apart from other football activations.
The video is part of a wider Lost Boys-created campaign that features photography by the renowned Julian Hanford. Other creative visionaries will also visit Dr Sarracenia’s couch in the video series alongside press and social media activity.
It is this focus on how the big idea encapsulates everything about marketing that forms the basis for The Drum’s most eclectic awards to date. Launching this week, The Drum is calling out all creatives - from publishers to production companies, technology makers to PR agencies – to contest its Dream Awards.
The Dream Awards will be judged by leading industry figures including Rosie Arnold, deputy executive creative director at BBH London, Guy Duncan, global creative director at Coca-Cola and Trevor Beattie, founder of Beattie McGuinness Bungay. The awards boast a broad range of vertical sector and medium-based categories, covering everything from TV and outdoor to experiential and creative technology.
The deadline for the Dream Awards is Friday 19 June. To find out more and enter the awards visit the dedicated website.