Today's Don Drapers Drawn to Amsterdam Ad Industry - Bloomberg
If Don Draper inhabited a world of legal pot and YouTube instead of three-martini lunches and network television, his office might well be on Amsterdam’s Herengracht. Today’s Mad Men are flocking to the Dutch canal city as the industry develops new hubs beyond traditional centers like New York’s Madison Ave. Amsterdam’s reputation is growing as local upstarts win worldwide accounts from giants such as Google Inc. “It’s a tiny city that genuinely punches above its weight,” said Kerrie Finch, a British expat who owns Amsterdam marketing agency FinchFactor. “London is very British and the U. S. is very New York or L. A. the Dutch embrace other cultures. Amsterdam’s advertising, gaming, media and design companies generate some 4. 3 billion euros ($4. 6 billion) in annual sales, according to the VEA industry trade group. The number of ad agencies in Amsterdam has doubled since 2011 to more than 200, the VEA estimates, while employment has grown 25 percent to about 20,000 -- more than twice the pace of the U. S. While ad agencies can be found in any major city,... ‘Unhate’ The city’s agencies have crafted award-winning campaigns such as Benetton’s “Unhate” in 2011, from the Amsterdam staff of Los Angeles-based 72andSunny, which featured the likes of Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez kissing. Source: www.bloomberg.com
