Young & Rubicam focuses on integrated offering under new leadership
A new agency group is being formed in Switzerland: Advico Young & Rubicam, Futurecom interactive, and Wunderman are merging their personnel and organizational structures to form the Young & Rubicam Group Switzerland. Andreas Widmer and Markus Gut will serve as the co-CEOs of the new group. The new agency group aims to bridge the online and offline worlds and facilitate the integration of dialogue-oriented and broad-reach communication tools.
A new agency group is being created in Switzerland: Advico Young & Rubicam, Futurecom interactive and Wunderman are merging in terms of personnel and organization to form Young & Rubicam Group Switzerland. The management duo of the new group will be Andreas Widmer, previously CEO of Futurecom and Interactive, and Markus Gut, previously Head of Creative at Publicis (see ). In addition to Widmer as CEO and Gut as Chief Creative Officer, the entire management team of Advico Young & Rubicam consists of Lukas Tenger (Consulting), Caspar Coppetti (Strategy), Felix Kündig (CFO) and Philipp Skrabal (Executive Creative Director). According to a press release, this will rejuvenate the Group's management.
Edgar C. Britschgi, the former CEO and Chairman of Advico Young & Rubicam, will remain Chairman Young & Rubicam Switzerland and Chair Young & Rubicam EMEA Retail Practice. Britschgi has led the agency for the past five years.
The new group is a response to changing customer needs and the desire to merge online and offline worlds and integrate dialog-oriented and broad-based communication tools. The brands of the Young & Rubicam Group, Wunderman (dialog), Allaccess (events & promotions), Exxtra (retail) and Futurecom (interactive) will continue to operate under their existing names and with the same management teams.
"All major traditional advertising agencies are currently undergoing strategic realignment. They are all looking for ways to meet the digital transformation. We bring online, dialog and advertising together on an equal footing for our clients," Widmer is quoted as saying in the press release.
Markus Gut is leaving Publicis to become Chief Creative Officer of the Young & Rubicam Group from January 2008. "We want to develop holistic creative ideas for our clients that can be implemented in the classic and new digital channels in a medium-appropriate way. I see this new integrated model as the only chance we have of remaining at the top in the future," he says.
Under joint leadership, clients will in future be offered an integrated service with the "best of off- and online communication". Massimo Costa, Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam in Europe, comments on the new management duo at Young & Rubicam: "An innovative dream team with a unique understanding of the power of creative ideas and a conviction for integrated communication. With Andreas Widmer and Markus Gut, a new generation is taking the helm at Young & Rubicam that stands for a paradigm shift in communications".
Edgar C. Britschgi, the former CEO and Chairman of Advico Young & Rubicam, will remain Chairman Young & Rubicam Switzerland and Chair Young & Rubicam EMEA Retail Practice. Britschgi has led the agency for the past five years.
The new group is a response to changing customer needs and the desire to merge online and offline worlds and integrate dialog-oriented and broad-based communication tools. The brands of the Young & Rubicam Group, Wunderman (dialog), Allaccess (events & promotions), Exxtra (retail) and Futurecom (interactive) will continue to operate under their existing names and with the same management teams.
"All major traditional advertising agencies are currently undergoing strategic realignment. They are all looking for ways to meet the digital transformation. We bring online, dialog and advertising together on an equal footing for our clients," Widmer is quoted as saying in the press release.
Markus Gut is leaving Publicis to become Chief Creative Officer of the Young & Rubicam Group from January 2008. "We want to develop holistic creative ideas for our clients that can be implemented in the classic and new digital channels in a medium-appropriate way. I see this new integrated model as the only chance we have of remaining at the top in the future," he says.
Under joint leadership, clients will in future be offered an integrated service with the "best of off- and online communication". Massimo Costa, Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam in Europe, comments on the new management duo at Young & Rubicam: "An innovative dream team with a unique understanding of the power of creative ideas and a conviction for integrated communication. With Andreas Widmer and Markus Gut, a new generation is taking the helm at Young & Rubicam that stands for a paradigm shift in communications".
