Quadruple Cannes Lion winner joins The Pond

Amsterdam agency founder and Quadruple Cannes Lion winner joins The Pond

What do you get when you combine award-winning ideas (4 Cannes Lions), business nouse (co-partner of Agency of the Year) and Amsterdam edge? Arjan van Woensel, CD/Art director and now Pond consultant.

Says Arjan (just call him RJ) “I specialise in generalism. The spirit behind this is to create ideas that are bigger than advertising – holistic ideas that cross boundaries. I’m familiar with all aspects of communication, media, brands and human nature.”

A case in point is Arjan’s work for Amsterdam’s Amstel Beer, which not only picked up 2 consecutive Cannes Lions and reversed a declining trend; it’s also an idea that transcends countries.

Amstel Beer’s brand position is ‘Our Beer’ but obviously Arjan wanted to try some Pacific beer. So he sold his highly successful indie agency, Doom & Dickson to the TBWA global network and moved from Amsterdam to Auckland, where he is based and working for the Australasian market through The Pond.

RJ teams up with Glenn Jamieson and Phil Parsonage as a strong strategic thinker and art director. He has a wide skillset across television, design, print, web, ambient, as well as a particular detail fetish for fonts.

 “When it comes to my interests, think of me as a carnivorous sponge. I’m all about bringing down the walls between advertising, design, events, digital.” This thinking led him to The Pond, a creative collective of art directors, writers and designers who work for agencies in N.Z and overseas. 

“Arjan is typical of many globally savvy, business-minded imports who are coming to N.Z to find creative independence, “ says Leighton Howl, Pond Partner. “His work for Samsonite, Sky Radio, Ford and even The Green Party is universally appealing, with a strong visual approach.”