Merger with style

 
Job agency Stylingpool.ch is a virtual association of experienced stylists in Switzerland.  
The shortage was discovered at a party. Stylists Jeanette Blättler and Regula Wetter were discussing their current jobs with an advertiser. The latter thought it was a shame that he only ever had to deal with agencies as intermediaries for the specialists he was looking for when realizing a photo shoot. "You don't even get to talk to the technicians and specialists involved in person anymore." The idea for Stylingpool was born that very evening. Blättler and Wetter drew up a concept. They phoned many colleagues and competitors. They looked for a webmaster. And were surprised to discover that the Stylingpool domain was still available both for Switzerland and with the ending .com.
First platform of its kindToday, 13 professional stylists are already offering their specialized services on the first platform of its kind. Potential customers can click on the search terms stills, interiors, food, people, set design or film via a control bar - the names of the relevant specialists then appear.
Anyone who can provide two members already involved in the styling pool as guarantors of their professional work in addition to their professional references will be included in the electronic file. This is similar to the way it is handled by the journalists' association, for example. Stylists, even more than journalists, are still a freelance profession with no regulated training and therefore no official certificates. Most have learned their profession "on the job". Stylingpool initiator Jeanette Blättler came to her company Fotostyling.com as a work teacher. Regula Wetter used to work as an editor at Annabelle.
All 13 names behind Stylingpool can regularly be found in the credits of many top-class film and image productions in Switzerland - or not. This is because the creative service providers are often not even noticed personally by the AD or CD in the heat of the shoot. Yet they often make a very significant contribution to the success of a production.
All these references are now finally publicly accessible and attractively presented in the portal's innards
. To give just one example, Uschi Stähli, in addition to her jobs at Beck & Bondi, collected hundreds of cups and other tableware for the Mobiliar spot "Fotograf", which won a Gold Lion in Cannes. Regula Wetter recently created the exotic costumes for the first Swiss Bollywood film "Tandoori Love". Christian Splettstösser is a trained chef and has contributed to countless cookbooks such as "Süsse Sünden" (Sweet Sins) published by Werd Verlag. Oliver Roth, Karin Messerli and Katja Rey also offer food styling - among many other things. Anita Oeschger's specialties are fine staging and decorations. Ruth Bugmann and Bettina Haffter light up when you search for film or people, among other things. Monika Hansen and Franziska Müller can be found not only in interiors but also in set design. In addition to people, Karin Frey does prop construction, for example.no agency feesOf course, there is sometimes a competitive situation, says Jeanette Blättler. However, the advantages of a joint appearance already outweigh the disadvantages for the 13 pool members. Three days after sending out a mailing to 700 interested parties, the first orders have already come in via the styling pool. No agency fees are charged to anyone. Only the maintenance of the website has to be financed jointly. The site is now also linked to the ADC and the Swiss Film Technicians Association and is also well positioned in the search engines - thanks in part to the help of good friends in advertising, because in this industry it ultimately takes teamwork.
Andreas Panzeri