Freelance creative director, art director and graphic designer, working directly with brands and assignments within agencies.
Originally from Ilkley in West Yorkshire, studied graphic design and worked the first five years in corporate branding, publishing and packaging design, before moving to Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, working on campaigns for Nike and Coca-Cola. Since then has split time between freelance life and full time positions at 180 Amsterdam, W+K Amsterdam, W+K Shanghai and five years at W+K Portland. Working with clients such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Facebook, P&G, Booking.com, Adidas, Visa, Ford Europe.
Awards include the 2012 Emmy for Outstanding Commercial for P&G 'Best Job' Olympic campaign, Gold, Silver and Bronze Cannes Lions, Clio's, Andy's, One show, D&AD.
Retains a hands-on approach to work, combining creative directing with designing and producing work in a variety of areas.
Contact: misteroswatson@me.com
Instagram: @olliesonofwat
The smallest of the Transit lineup - Courier is the do-it-all van used by thousands of business owners, makers and doers. Redesigned to be bigger and more comfortable for whatever your business needs. Quick social films calling out new features that make a big difference to business owners.
Copywriter: Matt Fee
Agency: W+K London
Client: Ford Europe
Director: Tom Brown
The Ford Tourneo is an MPV - has loads of room and gets a whole lot done - from Basketball squad to family getaway dash, the Tourneo does it all in style.
Copywriter: Matt Fee
Agency: W+K London
Client: Ford Europe
Director: Tom Brown
Global TV and Social campaign building on the new Meet Visa strategy - showing how easy and secure payments are with Visa, no matter which rabbit hole you’ve gone down.
Copywriter: Allan Stevenson
Agency: W+K Amsterdam
Director: Brian Kazez - Pantera & Co.
Social campaign to demonstrate the class leading capabilities of the Leica camera within the new Huawei smartphones, in a way that might actually make someone care or at least enjoy.
Anomaly Berlin
Director: Wolf & Lamm
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: Sebastian Lyman
Producer: Niko Koot
ECD: Frank Hahn
Working directly with Booking.com we were asked to find a way of explaining some of the many ways in which travellers can shape their search to find accommodation that is exactly right for them. Featuring big simple elements taken from the Booking.com UI, such as a knife and fork icon to a button that selects pet friendly properties, we made a direct connection to the straight forward, easy to use app experience. The voiceover also says it simply like it is, you book exactly what you want. Yeah!
Copywriter: Matt Fee
Director: Neil Goringe
Logo and design work for the United Ukrainian Ballet. A troupe of dancers based temporarily in their new home in The Hague, a safe place to spread their defiant message around the world.
Creative Director: Charlotte Moore
Messenger
Facebook introduced a lot of features to it's messenger app, now you could send video files, animated emojis, voice messages etc. In a simple empty space we wanted to show these features in a quick visual story of a couple in love and how little messages can make you feel like you are together, right up to the point when you float hand in hand through a virtual ceiling. Awwww.
Director: Aaron Duffy
AD: Ollie Watson, Zack Madrigal
CW: David Povil, Matt Skibiak
W+K Portland
Mother's Day
Facebook love to celebrate mother's day, usually with a simple post. But this year we proposed a bigger message using film and photos from friends and friends of friends and friends of those friends and so on. We only had two days though, so needed some kind of social network to ask for help and find footage. David had a nice song up his sleeve to tug the heart strings and at the last minute we received a sweet final shot. I have something in my eye.
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: David Povil
W+K Portland
As an official sponsor of the Olympics, P&G needed a simple way to show how mothers around the world have a common goal in raising their kids. It's hard work whatever your children end up pursuing, but athletes have to fit an obsessive amount of routine and gruelling training into their already busy kid lives. Developing a strategy with W+K Portland as 'The Proud Sponsors of Moms', P&G successfully used this campaign to continue their documenting of a mother's role in helping their little athletes to become Olympic athletes.
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Art Director: Ollie Watson
Copywriter: Kevin Jones
W+K Portland
Awards:
Best Job TV commercial:
Emmy for outstanding commercial 2012
Two golds and three silvers Cannes Lions
Gold at One Show
Clio gold
Andy gold
DGA award
Proud Sponsor of Moms campaign:
Gold, titanium and integrated Cannes Lion
Gold Effie
Raising an athlete is hard work. Raising an athlete in snow and ice, with all the danger let alone the extra kit and travel those sports usually require, adds a few levels of difficulty.
An unashamed follow up to the P&G Summer 2012 Olympic campaign, we used a simple reality that exists in winter sports, you fall over a lot. It hurts, but it hurts even more to watch your kids do it again and again, but if they love it and it's safe, kind of, you do everything possible to help, while teaching them to keep getting back up time after time.
Director: Lance Accord
Art Director: Ollie Watson
Copywriter: Kevin Jones
W+K Portland
Awards:
Gold, silver and bronze Cannes Lions, AICP award, Clio silver, One Show silver and bronze, LIA silver and bronze, Andy silver.
Based on the epic game where Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, this campaign was to inspire Chinese kids to train with the dedication and spirit of Kobe. He was set to host training camps in China and they were happening soon. Very soon.
These posters literally show the writing on the wall and use some of his training mantra to instil the benefits of hard work in building your game.
Fly posted in cities and at the training camps, they helped emphasise how skillz to pay bills don't come without hard work.
Art director: Ollie Watson
Copywriter: Iric Chun
Illustrator: Julien Choquart
W+K Shanghai
Awards:
Bronze - long xi awards, china - billboard/signage
I don’t have a cat, I don’t have a dog, I don’t eat fancy looking food, so for instagram I make things and try to animate them in my shed. Go to instagram for added sound, it is amazing.
To continue and combine with the Kobe Bryant 81 spirit training camps we wanted to celebrate and inspire kids from across China to train with the spirit and passion of their hometowns, bringing different skills and styles of play. Each poster shows not just a local kid in training, but also the essence derived from the city and region where they play. Whether you're a ram or a machine, bring your spirit, your dedication and your game. And a ball, don't forget a ball.
Photography: Jean-Louis Wolff
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: Iric Chun
W+K Shanghai
Awards:
Bronze - long xi awards, china - billboard/signage
Nike sponsored the annual Panna Knockout competition, held in Amsterdam's best music venue, The Paradiso.
Panna KO is two players in a circular cage with a small goal in each half, but it's less about scoring goals and more about nutmegging your opponent while showing lightning fast footwork.
This was to be the fifth and final year Nike were to run the event, so we suggested crowning this winner as The Grandmaster of Grandmasterdam.
Based on hand cut hip-hop posters from New York in the 80's, the four past winners were each heralded as returning to play for the ultimate crown. In the end some other younger kid won, TAXI!!!
Photography: Yamandu Roos
Art Direction: Ollie Watson
CW: Antony Goldstein
W+K Amsterdam
OLÉ European Championship campaign
In the run up to the European Championships, Nike wanted to showcase a long list of star players but, not an official sponsor, they could showcase their European stars and other players that embodied an irreverent style of game. We developed a campaign based around the South American chanting of olé, when a player trashes an opponent.
Who better than Brazil vs Portugal to get some of the world's best players together in one stadium, there's even a very quick shot of a young Cristiano Ronaldo, before he became massive and had an airport named after him..
Director: Fredrik Bond
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: Sebastian Willhelm
W+K Amsterdam
Awards:
Bronze Cannes lion - film
LIA award - apparel
Nike Shox are not super light elite running shoes, they have a strong support, good stability and cushioning against a heavy heel strike, giving a spring back upwards. Perfect for a heavier runner on a varied course.
We wanted to show a less traditional athlete, someone who would obviously need a good support over moderate distances but tough terrain. We found the perfect rugby player in hilly Lisbon and asked him to run after a cart full of hot dogs.
Director: Ringan Ledwidge
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: Antony Goldstein
W+K Amsterdam
Own the ball, not literally, well, probably do that as well, and the socks and the shorts and the shirt and the bag, but own the ball with your skill and you kind of own the game. It helps if you are Zidane, then you own football and the game and the ball.
client: adidas
agency: 180 amsterdam
art director: ollie watson
copywriter: giles montgomery
director: rupert sanders
An example of one of the smaller side projects i do in-between longer assignments. These keep me making and away from searching for more vintage bicycle parts.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam holds an annual competition to create items to promote themselves and possibly sell in their huge gift shop. Entrants are free to use anything from the vast Rijksmuseum collection.
After exploring the whole museum a few times and searching the online Rijksstudio library, honest, i ended up using the most obvious painting as reference for a couple of cosy nightshirts. They would be very comfortable after a long night of watching.
Despite making it into the top ten finalists from thousands of entries and even after crafting an amazing video introducing myself and the idea, i only got a bunch of flowers. Oh well, goedenacht!
Coca-Cola were the new official sponsor of the English Premier League. Not really having any claim to use players or the actual game, they did however have a strong place on the terraces. Mirroring a fans dedication, the Eat, Sleep, Drink campaign pointed the camera at the fans and found endless examples of undying love for the game.
Director: Lenny Dorfman
AD: Ollie Watson
CW: Jon Matthews
W+K Amsterdam
Awards:
Gold arrow - BTA awards - The Eagle
Nike Italy had a wave of very young players who were taking over from the old guard. They had a different style of play and physical presence, plus a healthy lack of respect for the old ways.
Planned as a series of newspaper ads, we shot classic strong portraits but couldn't resist trying to ad more to the campaign, super 8 footage seemed to fit perfectly. Street casting genuine voices also gave the right feel for the TV spots we put together, running alongside football shows in Italy. They are all retired now. Ouch.
Photographer: Robert Wilson
AD + super8 film: Ollie Watson
CW: Lorenzo de Rita
W+K Amsterdam
director: ralf schmerberg
art director: ollie watson
copywriter: boyd coyner
w+k amsterdam
director: samuel bayer
photographer: niels van iperen
art director: ollie watson
copywriter: jon matthews
w+k amsterdam
d&ad yellow pencil, gold arrow - bta awards
Sales videos for Old Spice and Adyen digital payments, print for Telecom Italia, adidas, plus a load of old bit and pieces.
Print for adidas and nike shoes, Turbotax, Nike running, Dunlop tyres etc.
Posters for adidas football, Nike golf etc.
lost and found
and forgotten