from Cool to Cold to hot
In the beginning, WHAMwas located
on Bond Street, London, in the heart of
Tony Blair’s Cool Britannia. When they
were brought into the corporate office of
HWL Europe, it seemed a bit of a dubious
proposition. HutchisonHouse is situated
in Battersea. At the time, the building was
located next to an old bus depot (and was
the former location of a go-kart track). On
the day theymoved in, a funeral of sorts was
underway as bus-spotters were assembled
taking photos of the last drive of the old
Routemaster buses. This was the last year
that this neighbourhood, which sits on
a bank of the Thames opposite nearby
fashionable Chelsea, was on the ‘the wrong
side of the river’ – because HWLmade it
‘the right side of the river’.
That was then. Now, WHAM is on the
groundfloor ofHWLEurope, ahipagency in
anultra-hipneighbourhood that has become
a creative hotspot in London. Vivienne
Westwood’s studio, Victoria Beckham’s
fashion home base, The Royal College of
Art and the offices of venerable architect
Norman Foster all surround Hutchison
House. The go-karts and buses are long gone.
insidehwl– the in-house speCialists
WHAMnowworks almost exclusively with
HWL firms. They do have some external
clients including Cancer Research UK
and SABMiller, one of the world’s largest
brewers.
However, despite these top flight clients,
WHAMmadeaconsciousdecisiontore-orient
itsbusinessonHWLa littleover twoyears ago
whenDarren tookover the running of
the agency.
“For us, the huge opportunity is to work
within such a diverse Group, while also
continuing toworkwith some top quality
long termclients,” tells Darren. ForHWL
theworkwhich began with Three was
soon expanded to include other parts of
the Group including ASWatson, Ports,
Properties and a number of energy and
utility companies.
Being perceived as an in-house branding
company could potentially be seen as a
drawback for attracting talented creatives
who fear suppression of the creative drive
and a lack of diversity. Not at WHAM.
“We are constantly surprised by howdiverse
and challenging the work is,” says Darren.
The level of detail and creative expression
can be vast, from creating brands,
building websites, designing magazines,
creating advertising campaigns through
to designing furniture for retail outlets in
Paris. They have done concept stores for
>>
BIG
SIMPLE
TRUE
Doug Hamilton
Below: Campaign for
Three UK about the
One Plan.
wHAM was commissioned
to redesign
Sphere
magazine
with the goal of reflecting
the calibre and global nature
of HwL businesses. working
with the editorial team, the
new
Sphere
now has a clear
focus on people, ideas,
enterprise and culture. And
it is through these lenses
that content and designs
are developed.
SpHere
#34
2013
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