Ad legend Dan Wieden, who coined Nike's 'Just Do It,' dies at 77
When Georgia-Pacific relocated its headquarters to Atlanta in the early 1980s, McCann-Erickson closed its Portland office, and the future business partners moved to another agency where they worked together on the Nike account.
FollowDan Wieden, the architect, advertisement legend and gifted manager who built what is arguably the most famous ad agency in the world, died on Friday, September 30, 2022, at age 77.
Wieden, along with his late partner David Kennedy, formed Wieden+Kennedy, which over the years became the world's largest independent advertising agency. It was best known for its work on the Nike account, consistently crafting messages that lodged themselves in the public consciousness.
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According to reports, Wieden was funny, self-deprecating and hugely ambitious. His greatest gift may well have been his ability to lead and manage the quirky, eccentric, and sometimes difficult personalities behind the best content.
Karl Lieberman, the agency’s current chief creative officer, likened Wieden to Lorne Michaels, the visionary behind "Saturday Night Live".
"The reason it lasted so long was that he didn't build an ad agency, he built a culture," Lieberman said.
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Born in Poland on March 6, 1945, Wieden attended Grant High School and graduated in 1967 from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism.
He married Bonnie Scott in 1966, with whom he had four children. She died in 2008. In 2012, Wieden married Priscilla Bernard.
He worked — and, according to Wieden+Kennedy, was fired from — the Portland paper company Georgia-Pacific but later was hired at its marketing agency, McCann-Erickson. It was there that he met Kennedy.
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When Georgia-Pacific relocated its headquarters to Atlanta in the early 1980s, McCann-Erickson closed its Portland office, and the future business partners moved to another agency where they worked together on the Nike account.
In 1988, Nike unveiled its classic "Just Do It" tagline. While Wieden was usually quick to credit his star creatives for the agency’s memorable work, Wieden always claimed “Just Do It” as his own creation.
It became arguably the most famous advertising tagline in modern corporate history. Since its adoption of the slogan, Nike's annual sales have increased from $877 million to about $46 billion.
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