A Digital Age for Amsterdam

When brands want innovative global campaigns, increasingly they head to the city that has a compelling tale to tell

It’s always a pleasure and privilege to get an insight into the way adland lives works and in different countries. But Campaign’s trip last month to the Netherlands and Amsterdam delivered more than insight. At one stage, during our roundtable lunch debate (see Roundtable Discussion), we were on the receiving end of some fascinating historical and cultural theories that would have made Starkey and Schama proud.

For a city that is smaller than some capitals and claims to be easily accessible, it certainly has its share of compelling personalities with big ideas and hard-to-ignore opinions.

But that’s part of the point - as many of our essayists in Adland in Amsterdam suggest. The Dutch have always had a knack for selling and trading, and transporting new ideas as well as goods, so it’s no wonder they make a strong case for what they have to offer, particularly when it is giving brands compelling tales to tell.

It is also a community where everyone seems to know everyone else – or soon will do – and those connections must put Amsterdam’s Adland in a good place when it comes to collaboration - the key to making the most of the modern-day media and advertising environment and producing the best work.

So the fact that big creative ideas and brand stories are now a global currency – in this digital world - only makes the position of the agencies in the city stronger.

I am sure you will enjoy hearing what some of the leading production companies and creative, media and PR agencies from the city have to tell us on the following pages.

Philip Smith is the head of content solutions at Campaign

 

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