He and his creative partner Dan Wieden were listed as number 22 on the Advertising Age 100 ad people of the 20th century.
[1][2] The duo moved to the William Cain advertising agency where they made the first pitch for Nike, Inc. which was then a small and growing company based in Beaverton, Oregon.
[2] In one of the agency's most popular campaigns for Nike, Inc. in 1988, Kennedy was the creative director of the first commercial to use Wieden's slogan "Just do it" which featured an 80-year-old man named Walt Stack who ran 17 miles every morning.
[5] Working with Wieden, he also developed the campaign for Honda scooters which had American musician and lead of The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, calling out "Don't settle for walking".
[2] Some of the other brands that the agency has served include Travel Oregon, Microsoft Corporation, Electronic Arts, Old Spice, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Heinz.
[2] He also used to carry a ring of keys tied to his belt loop, leading to at least one instance where he was mistaken to be a janitor by an executive's wife.
[2] A creative accelerator program aimed at younger employees getting into the advertising profession was set up in London in 2010 was called The Kennedys in his honor.
[10] Kennedy was featured in filmmaker Doug Pray's 2009 documentary Art & Copy on the American advertising industry.
[11] Kennedy retired in 1995,[12][13] but continued to work part-time on the American Indian College Fund, a pro bono account for W+K.