Amsterdam Focus: Collaboration & Canal-side Cool

Despite its numerous charms, Amsterdam as a city has seldom been considered a major player on the creative landscape. Ryan Watson cruises on in and discovers an unusally optimistic and vibrant city in the face of the global economic downturn.

Amsterdam runs like clockwork. From the rows of wind turbines scattered in fields and double-decker trains running relentless schedules via Schiphol Airport, to the flow of canal water and vehicles constantly crossing each others’ tracks in the city centre; it’s a vibrant, connected place which oozes creative spirit and practice.

A gradual evolution

For years we’ve witnessed how its accepting culture (the Dutch are more than happy to communicate in English), accessible European location and appealing tax laws have seen the city emerge as a favourite among expats looking for a unique international working experience. Maybe a hint of scepticism that the fairytale would last might have been a hindrance in the past, but is it finally time for the spontaneous patches of hazy interest from the outside world to turn into serious long-term admiration?

 Judging by the current positive feeling, recent company launches and continuing award-winning campaigns coming out of the city, the answer may very well be yes. Certainly its local creative community sees it as a permanent player and constantly evolving force, and is serious about its position on the wider creative landscape among advertising’s elite.

“It’s not a huge city in global terms,” considers Phil Linturn, managing director of Glassworks Amsterdam, “but it certainly has a tangible buzz about it that allows it to punch above its weight creatively.”  Nick Bailey, executive creative director at AKQA Amsterdam supports his sentiments: “For me it’s felt like a steady evolution and growth,” confronting the often perceived perspective that the city may be experiencing a temporary ‘boom’. “It doesn’t feel like a boom right now but it’s never felt like bad times,” he adds.

Having formerly managed Nike’s football account out of the London office, Bailey made the transition to Amsterdam in 2008 to escape the “doom and gloom”, and he remembers it being a different picture in the Netherlands with an uplifting, optimistic vibe. It’s one that hasn’t lost its momentum and is still present four years on.

“The good agencies have been doing well and there’s been some really good work coming out of Amsterdam across the board,” he says. “It feels like quite a young culture in terms of how evolved it is and almost feels a bit like London did in the early 2000s when we were all involved in the growth of digital. Everything’s up for grabs.”

The city continues to attract some of not only Europe’s, but the world’s best young creative talent, who continue to subscribe to the success story. One of the differences now (as opposed to, say, ten years ago) is that it feels like there’s real opportunity for career progression and long-term scope with international agencies populating the cobbled streets alongside local Dutch shops that have been there for years.

“People want a trajectory and don’t want to be uprooting their lives every five minutes,” muses Chris Baylis, executive creative director at Eurobest’s Interactive Agency of the Year, Tribal DDB Amsterdam. An expat himself, he’s been in the city for four years and has witnessed the gradual evolution, with agencies such as 180 Amsterdam, Sid Lee and Anomaly opening up shop. Post-wise, companies like Glassworks and ventures such as the recent introduction of The Whitehouse into the Ambassadors’ quarters have also clocked in.

“When new people come to Amsterdam, it just makes the case stronger,” insists Baylis. “It’s a little bit like when you used to have estate agents in the UK all in a row because they knew that if you go to one, you’re going to look in all the windows. The more agencies that are here, the better and stronger the story becomes.”

Traditional Dutch agency BSUR’s CEO, Jan Rijkenberg, and its creative founder Joost Perik, have seen people come to stay temporarily, as well as permanently, over the years and support Baylis’ sentiments: “We like the freshness that they bring in. Maybe they’ve done three years in Argentina, three years in Brazil or Singapore and then come here, and that’s great because you can do a large chunk of work in that time on a brand.” They’re firm believers in the “stream” of talent constantly moving through the city, in addition to the people who have maybe settled for a decade and are now part of the older generation of expats.

The importance of cross-pollination

In most Amsterdam companies the international mix is balanced, making for a unique multicultural blend. AKQA boasts 17 nationalities in a roster of 45 people and of Glassworks’ 18 staff members, 10 are of different nationalities. “We’re often asked why we don’t skew our recruitment in favour of Dutch nationals, but we see creativity and talent as the key factors in staff selection,” explains Linturn. The Dutch presence is often significant anyway, as with Tribal DDB’s numbers which swing 70 per cent in favour of the Netherlands.

When Baylis ponders the situation further, whilst walking around his newly refurbished offices, he also talks about cross-pollination and says that if there are more companies based in the city, there will be more chance of people staying, increasing the likelihood that the creative standards will continue to be held high with a certain element of stability and growth.

In the past year, the Tribal DDB ECD has led his agency to success with campaigns such as Wake Up The Town and Obsessed with Sound for Philips as well as Tile & Inspire for Dutch airline KLM. Bailey on the other hand continues to push AKQA’s offering with innovative projects for Nike, more interactive movie campaigns for films such as Sherlock Holmes as well as harnessing and developing mobile possibilities with the likes of Heineken StarPlayer.

But it isn’t just digital calling the shots, and Wieden + Kennedy has demonstrated that TV is still highly relevant with inspiring work for Heineken and there’s an appreciation that mediums now need to sing in harmony to achieve the most effective results.

Specialising in a vast assortment of multiplatform executions in other parts of the world already, with its New York and London offices, Anomaly has recently entered a canal-side building in the city. The agency’s managing director, Hazelle Klonhammer intends to bring something fresh and new to Amsterdam to add to the “progressive” place that it already is: “I think we can make different work here to what’s being done. It’s just a matter of checking the brief and seeing what’s best.”

International melting pot

According to the majority of Amsterdam’s creative community, there’s enough work for everyone to co-exist, and the more success one agency has, the better it is for the bigger picture. The small scale of the place means that people are tight-knit and often bump into one another socially, as well as for business so the optional anonymity of somewhere like New York doesn’t exist. The overlapping and collaborative mentality is a good thing. One truth which almost everyone would agree on is that the city is a melting pot of international creative talent that surely now has proved its ability to sustain a position as a regular performer on the global scene with a lot of diversity and quality work to offer on a permanent basis.

So while alarms may continue to sound every now and again reminding the international community of Amsterdam’s presence, it’s clear that for those who operate within the means of the local creative clock, the hands have always been and will continue to keep ticking.