180 Celebrates Two Decades of Creativity

One of the forerunners of Amsterdam’s international ad scene, 180 Amsterdam, turns 20 this month and to celebrate, the agency - now called 180 Kingsday - will open its doors to reflect on 20 years of big ideas and iconic campaigns by presenting a creative retrospective and live event.

Originally founded as a breakaway from Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, the agency began in a kitchen in 1998. The founding partners, Guy Hayward, Chris Mendola, Larry Frey and the late Alex Melvin, left Wieden+Kennedy to start an agency to work on an initial brief for adidas. 

Melvin chose 180 as the new agency's name based on a quote from Francis Ford Coppola; “To keep going in a crisis, do a 180-degree turn. Turn the situation halfway around. Don’t look for the secure solution. Don’t pull back from the passion. Turn it on full force.”

Above: adidas's Impossible Is Nothing, Ali vs Ali 

They spent the following decade creating a raft of innovative and award-winning campaigns for adidas. Including iconic work such as the Impossible Is Nothing platform, with Laila Ali boxing her father Muhammad Ali [above]; 2007’s Sport Meets Art campaign; World Cup campaigns including 2006’s +10 and the David Beckham and Johnny Wilkinson spot, which charmed the world [below].

“We’re commemorating this moment in time by looking back at our achievements, but also by looking forward to our future."

To celebrate the anniversary, a series of murals have been produced to capture the iconic imagery and moments from the last 20 years. These images will be seen throughout the building, on t-shirts and on social media. As a final touch, a bespoke 180 font has been developed in-house to commemorate the date – and to celebrate the studio’s obsession with type fonts.

Above: adidas, Kicking It

After splitting with adidas in 2010, the agency grew to service a range of clients including PlayStation, Asics, Benetton, DHL, Replay, HP, Heineken, BMW and Under Armour and, 20 years later, the boutique agency is now almost 100 man and women strong and in 2017 the 180 Amsterdam office announced a merger with Kingsday to boost their data, social and digital expertise. 

“We built 180 upon the concept of 180 Thinking, which is breaking away from the tired status quo of how brands are often built and how they are taken to market,” says Chris Mendola. “Advertising and marketing is constantly evolving as technology and culture move forward, yet it can be all too easy to slip into the trap of conventional marketing and advertising thinking. Proud brands deserve better. 180 has always been centred on creativity. Creativity is not just about content creation, but also about the consumer journey that a brand creates. My partners and I are proud of the 180 we set-up in 1998. It was a smart agency model then, and it’s proven to be an even better one today.”

Above: One of the murals created to celebrate the anniversary.

The agency is using tonight's Adnight [Friday October 5], to kick off the 20-year anniversary celebrations which will last throughout the month of October. The night will reflect on some of the greatest work and best memories, including a panel discussion between some of the agency's most well known names from the last two decades discussing the impact of 20 years of 180 thinking. 

“We’re commemorating this moment in time by looking back at our achievements, but also by looking forward to our future," explains Al Moseley, president 180 Kingsman. "And we’re celebrating the wealth of talent that has been part of 180’s story. To all 180 people, past present and future, we salute you!”