Hi Everyone. My name is Harm . I have been a copywriter my entire life but only became a professional in 1996.
After graduating from the Rotterdam Art Academy (W. De Kooning), my career started at a real promotion agency. After which, I switched to Publicis: a strong competitive creative team. Big customers. Nice work. Harold Hamersma as creative director.
Finally, I made the transition to Kern, Habbema & Yap. Full-service desk. State Lottery, Coca-Cola, ABN AMRO, Renault, Peter Stuyvesant. All the national and international work and prizes came from this rapidly growing establishment at De Boelelaan.
The next step was Mc Cann with the corresponding desks. Opel and L’Oreal. It was an interesting combination. As a creative director, I took the leap to Rapp Collins. Rabobank and Volkswagen. Strong customers and nice cooperation with DDB. Did I actually see the light then? No idea. But I suddenly chose the title ‘freelancer’: an interesting nomad existence with customers from 1 day to a collaboration with Hyundai for 9 years the next. I now regularly work for the Friends, Postcode and BankGiro Lottery. Online Wolters Kluwer and Damrak 5 banks, Hyundai and an up-and-coming Fitness organization. It is precisely the variety of large and small customers with assignments that make freelance living so interesting. Local, national and international. Thanks to my experience, I can quickly estimate which solutions a customer is looking for. Everything always revolves around quality, price, speed and a satisfied customer. Long live the open doors!
I live in Amsterdam. The most beautiful city in the world. Here you will find everything. Yet, I do not want to limit my work to the capital. New environments offer new insights – and you need that fresh inspiration. I work quickly with consistently, with experience in offline and online world. I combine creativity with effectiveness and I have learned quickly to assess my clients. An important tool for a freelancer.
My best work was in 2006 (Yes, that was 12 years on), but at that moment we were able to move away from our own creation as a mini-team. For Belcompany we developed a year-long campaign (website, ads, Youtube, free publicity) with enormous reach and the largest Oranje fan of Germany was born. We introduced him as a preference for the Dutch national team at Geenstijl, immediately making the man known nationwide. We quickly saw him back in newspapers and magazines. He was convinced that the Netherlands would win the final match against Germany in Germany, and the eccentric soon won the sympathy of the Dutch. When his fame was in the millions of fans, Belcompany embraced the audiences favourite and his image was used in shops and advertisements. This campaign was one of the first successful hoaxes. And it was amazing to be a part of the process. There were recordings from Amsterdam to Berlin. I had far too many late nights out but it was great fun.
My best customers are the 3 lotteries: Postcode, Friends and BankGyroloterij. Everyone who works there is incredibly involved and works hard for better results. Everyone has a smile on their face. It’s a good working atmosphere, plus, the office is at a beautiful location: the Van Eeghenstraat. Unique!
Do you want to become a freelancer as well?
I advise everyone to become a freelancer. The government does not help you. For security, you can best work with an employer. You have to handle the insecurity. If you still have the ambition to walk this uneven path, then I say: do it for the full 100%. Never look back, only forward. And enjoy the many weird hilarious situations and locations that you as a freelancer always end up in. Freedom is enormous and there is also the danger. But you have a beautiful life, guaranteed.
