Baumgartner and Vontobel leave Scholz & Friends
Turnover in Leadership: CEO Erich Baumgartner (pictured) and CD Nicolas Vontobel have already left the Scholz & Friends agency. They had only taken over as the new management duo last September.
Unsteady leadership: CEO Erich Baumgartner and CD Nicolas Vontobel have already left the Scholz & Friends agency. They only took over as the new management duo last September.
Group CEO Frank-Michael Schmidt announced the separation internally at the beginning of the week, according to the German industry service Horizont. He justified the move by citing differences of opinion about the direction of the agency, which is why they had jointly decided to go their separate ways. According to insiders, there was resistance within the agency to Baumgartner and his management style.
Uli Geiger (consulting) and Joerg Jahn (creation) have now taken over the management of S&F Zurich. Jahn was already Creative Director at the agency before Vontobel's appointment. The Basel office of S&F, which emerged from the takeover of the Favo agency at the beginning of the year, is not affected. It will continue to be managed by Hinrik Wachsmuth. In total, Scholz & Friends employs around 40 people in Switzerland, with the Basel office being slightly larger.
"With his appointment, we will initiate a new phase of our market presence in which S&F will gain an independent Swiss profile and strive for growth that corresponds to the importance and economic strength of the country," Schmidt explained last August on the appointment of Baumgartner.
Previous stations in Baumgartner's career include Neutral, Philipps, Publicis, DDB, McCann, GGK and Ogilvy.
Group CEO Frank-Michael Schmidt announced the separation internally at the beginning of the week, according to the German industry service Horizont. He justified the move by citing differences of opinion about the direction of the agency, which is why they had jointly decided to go their separate ways. According to insiders, there was resistance within the agency to Baumgartner and his management style.
Uli Geiger (consulting) and Joerg Jahn (creation) have now taken over the management of S&F Zurich. Jahn was already Creative Director at the agency before Vontobel's appointment. The Basel office of S&F, which emerged from the takeover of the Favo agency at the beginning of the year, is not affected. It will continue to be managed by Hinrik Wachsmuth. In total, Scholz & Friends employs around 40 people in Switzerland, with the Basel office being slightly larger.
"With his appointment, we will initiate a new phase of our market presence in which S&F will gain an independent Swiss profile and strive for growth that corresponds to the importance and economic strength of the country," Schmidt explained last August on the appointment of Baumgartner.
Previous stations in Baumgartner's career include Neutral, Philipps, Publicis, DDB, McCann, GGK and Ogilvy.
