UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Advertising Amsterdam: the rise and growth of an international advertising industry Röling, R. Publication date 2011 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Röling, R. (2011). Advertising Amsterdam: the rise and growth of an international advertising industry. Universiteit van Amsterdam. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:27 Sep 2021 Advertising Amsterdam The Rise and Growth of an International Advertising Industry Advertising Amsterdam The Rise and Growth of an International Advertising Industry Academisch Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op donderdag 31 maart 2011, te 14.00 uur door Robert Röling geboren te Gouda iii Promotiecommissie Promotor Prof. dr. R.C. Kloosterman Overige leden Prof. dr. T. Elfring Prof. dr. E.R. Engelen Prof. dr. G. Grabher Prof. dr. G.M.M. Kuipers Prof. dr. S. Musterd Faculteit der Maatschappij en Gedragswetenschappen This research was made possible through the financial support of the Habiforum Research Program and the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), Universiteit van Amsterdam. ISBN 978-90-9026007-5 Cover and layout Karin Röling, rolingontwerpt.nl Printing Off Page, Amsterdam © 2011 Advertising Amsterdam: The Rise and Growth of an International Advertising Industry, Robert Röling. All rights reserved. iv Contents Contents v Preface xi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 ‘A dramatic shift in marketing reality’ 3 1.2 Amsterdam creative capital: a new hub in the international advertising industry 5 1.3 Contribution to which debates? 7 1.4 Research questions & methodology 9 1.5 Research outline and introduction to the chapters 11 2 Advertising as a global networked advanced producer services industry and a cultural industry 15 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Globalisation: the emergence of an integrated world economy 17 2.2.1 Globalisation before World War Two 17 2.2.2 Globalisation after World War Two 18 2.3 Advertising as an advanced producer services industry 21 2.3.1 The spatial configuration of advanced producer service firms in the network of world cities 22 2.4 Advertising as a cultural industry 24 2.4.1 The socio-spatial configuration of advertising as a cultural industry 26 2.4.2 Advertising as a project-based industry 29 2.5 Conclusions 31 3 Four waves of international advertising in 20th century Western capitalism 33 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 The first wave of advertising 38 3.2.1 Globalisation of American mass production and mass marketing 38 3.2.2 The rise of global advertising from Madison Avenue in New York City: the example of J. Walter Thompson 41 3.3 The second wave of advertising 46 3.3.1 The European answer to the American domination 46 3.3.2 London and Paris: The examples of Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA 48 3.4 The third wave of advertising 53 v 3.4.1 Advertising in a more reflexive consumer society 53 3.4.2 The rise of independent international advertising agencies: the examples of BBH and Wieden + Kennedy 54 3.5 The fourth wave of advertising 56 3.5.1 The rise of small independent international advertising agencies in the new ICT paradigm 56 3.5.2 The entry of international independents advertising agencies in Amsterdam 58 3.6 Conclusions 61 4 The Dutch advertising industry from a historical perspective 65 4.1 Introduction: A good climate for advertising in the Dutch economy 67 4.2 The evolution of the Dutch advertising industry up to World War Two 69 4.2.1 Early 20th century professionalisation of the advertising industry in the Netherlands 69 4.2.2 The American influence in the Dutch advertising industry in the early 20th century 70 4.3 The post-war era 71 4.3.1 The introduction of marketing and the rising influence of the art director 71 4.3.2 The birth of a new medium for presenting advertisements: television 72 4.3.3 The invasion of American advertising agencies into the Netherlands 74 4.4 The European impact on the international advertising industry 76 4.4.1 The gradual decline of the commission system and the rise of the media agency 76 4.4.2 The British (creative) influence in the Netherlands 79 4.5 Advertising from the 1980s: maturing and internationalisation of the Dutch advertising industry 81 4.5.1 New creative élan in the Dutch advertising industry 81 4.5.2 The double face of the internationalisation of the advertising industry in Amsterdam from the 1990s: GNAAs vs. independents 83 4.6 Conclusions 86 5 Mapping the advertising industry in the Netherlands 89 5.1 Introduction 91 5.2 Amsterdam within the Randstad mega-city region 91 5.3 The Randstad economy: the dichotomy between the North and the South Wing 92 vi 5.4 The Dutch creative and cultural economy in figures 96 5.5 The advertising industry and its main creative project partners in Amsterdam and the North Wing of the Randstad 99 5.6 Diverging location patterns of Amsterdam’s international advertising industry 103 5.7 Conclusions 107 6 Organisational structure: GNAAs vs. independents 111 6.1 Introduction 113 6.2 The organisational structure of the GNAAs 113 6.3 The function of the Dutch GNAA offices within the international network 118 6.4 Global intra-office network of independent advertising agencies from Amsterdam 120 6.5 Amsterdam’s competitive assets 124 6.5.1 The large number of international marketing departments 124 6.5.2 The creative climate and labour market 125 6.5.3 Schiphol Airport 128 6.5.4 A favourable tax climate 128 6.5.5 The quality of life 129 6.6 Conclusions 130 7 Creativity and reproduction in the advertising industry: awards and spin-offs 133 7.1 Introduction 135 7.2 The Dutch advertising awards 135 7.3 International advertising awards 140 7.3.1 The Cannes Lions advertising festival 141 7.3.2 The Dutch performance in perspective at the Cannes Lions Festival 142 7.3.3 The performance of Dutch GNAAs at the Cannes Lions festival 143 7.3.4 The performance of Dutch independents at the Cannes Lions festival 145 7.4 Reproduction of the advertising industry through spin-offs and knowledge spillovers 148 7.4.1 Growth and reproduction of the advertising industry through spin-offs 150 7.5 The reproduction of Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam 153 7.5.1 Wieden + Kennedy breakaway: 180 Communications 157 7.5.2 Wieden + Kennedy breakaway: 72AndSunny 159 7.6 Conclusions 160 vii 8 The geography of advertising production in project networks 163 8.1 Introduction 165 8.2 From making the pitch to producing the campaign 165 8.3 Methodology and approach 167 8.4 The client profile of the international advertising industry in Amsterdam 169 8.5 The creative networks of the international advertising industry in the Amsterdam Region 172 8.5.1 Creative networks with film production companies 172 8.5.2 Creative networks with post-production companies 175 8.5.3 Creative networks with sound and music companies 177 8.5.4 Creative networks with photographers and image manipulation firms 178 8.6 The project networks of three different types of advertising agencies in the Amsterdam Region 180 8.6.1 GNAAs in the Amsterdam Region 181 8.6.2 The case of the independents with a foreign background in the Amsterdam Region 184 8.6.3 Independents with a Dutch background in the Amsterdam Region 187 8.7 Conclusions 190 9 Conclusions & Summary 193 9.1 The background of this study in retrospective 195 9.2 The rising prominence of Amsterdam within the world system of advertising cities 196 9.3 Cluster reproduction and growth: prime mover Wieden + Kennedy and increasing return effects through knowledge spill-over and spin-offs 200 9.4 Two different geographies of production in Amsterdam’s international advertising industry: one local and one global 202 9.5 Suggestions for future research 205 Appendix 1 209 Appendix 2 211 References 213 Samenvatting 227 viii ix x Preface Advertising is everywhere. From commercials on television, print advertising in magazines and newspapers, banners and games on the Internet, to more unusual forms such as prints on toilet paper in bars, paintings on cows, prints on sidewalks, or even as little flags in dog excrement on the street. On the one hand, advertisements are seen as disruptive, pushy, cluttering, and motivate many people to protest against the overload of advertisements they have to digest. On the other hand, advertisements are also considered funny and therefore a popular conversation topic, especially as advertising is memorable and people connect it to specific stages in their lives.