What is Gedogen?
Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam just got itself an owl.
Not a dog. Not a cat. An owl.
Perched on a signpost just above our front door, it looks out majestically over the Herengracht.
Squinting through the feathers of its right wing, giving a jaunty ‘thumbs’ up with its left.
A beacon of chaotic wisdom at the heart of the canal belt.
Created by Dutch street artist Frankey, known for his acts of playful rebellion.
And underneath it, written in the style of a classic Amsterdam street sign, is one word: “GEDOGEN”
A Dutch expression that is almost untranslatable and practically unpronounceable.
Making it the perfect way to define an agency that has traditionally defied definition.
Because ‘Gedogen’ nails the thing that drives us.
In a literal sense it means ‘illegal but tolerated’
The very Dutch tradition of turning a blind eye to inconvenient laws (most people don’t realise that soft drugs here are simply Gedogen, not legal).
But it’s also a broader invitation to ignore the ‘rules’
A larger philosophy on life that cares more about truth than power.
And it speaks to the very specific brand of crazy, culture and creativity that we aspire to here.
Because when Dan Wieden said…
“Chaos does this amazing thing that order can’t: it engages you. It asks stuff of you, order never will. Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative. Demands that you be creative”
…it makes us wonder if he was secretly Dutch.
In short, “Gedogen” sums up the spirit of W+K Amsterdam.
It’s the voice of an office made up of over 120 individuals from all over the globe, square pegs in round holes the lot of them.
Built on the back of many, many ‘Wiedenisms’ that we’ve embraced over the years.
It’s Amsterdam’s version of ‘Fail Harder’.
It’s the ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ (full of canal water) that we strive to create for all our clients.
In other words it’s everything that W+K always has been.
Distilled down into one word with too many G’s in it.
And the owl above our door is a constant reminder that, every day, we come here to do things we’ve never done before.
To create the best work of our lives.
A testament to the creativity of every single person who steps foot in our canal house.
Which is why everything at W+K AMS, from account management to HR, now looks at their jobs through a slightly transgressive Gedogen lens.
And which is why we recently launched the ‘GEDOGEN+’ platform: a series of cultural events, musings and provocations that celebrate the voices that inspire us – within our walls and without.
We kicked it all off by hosting GEDOGEN+Frankey (the famous Amsterdam street artist and creator of our Owl) who talked about the creative risks he takes, his new book and to showcase some of his latest work.
This month it’s me explaining what the hell this Gedogen thing is and, coming up soon, it will be GEDOGEN+Jasper Hunter, one of our Group Strategy Directors, with a spiky point of view on the very current topic of Fandom – why it’s great for some things, but toxic for others.
Just the start of a range of perspectives and opinions designed to help everyone seek permission less, and ask forgiveness more.
Which, if you think about it, is Gedogen AF.
—
Words by Nick Docherty, W+K Amsterdam’s Chief Strategy Officer
