Thomas Städeli relaunches - and switches to "Brandwork"

Thomas Städeli doesn't like to speak in templates. Rather in movements. In pictures. You quickly realize: this is someone who has been in this business long enough to know how quickly hypes come - and how slowly real brands grow. And at the same time, there is this forward momentum, this slight "now more than ever", which doesn't sound like the final round, but rather like the starting shot.

Städeli (57) becomes self-employed. "Städeli," is now written on the sign - deliberately simple, deliberately personal. And deliberately with a comma that implies rather than concludes. "There's plenty of room behind the comma," he says. Space for partners, projects, constellations. Not as a vague romanticism, but as a working principle.

m&k met Städeli for an interview - also because a new beginning at 57 is always both a statement and a stress test in this industry. Not just for the individual, but for a communications world that is currently reorganizing itself at top speed.

Acceleration everywhere - and the judgment must keep pace

The industry is facing challenges that are no longer just a question of structures. The pressure is broader, more fundamental - and it affects everyone: brands have to make decisions in shorter cycles, budgets are negotiated harder, channels are fragmenting, technologies spit out variants as if idea production were a commodity. At the same time, the real bottleneck is often where things cannot be automated: when it comes to categorizing, prioritizing and making decisions.

Städeli sums it up in his own way: "Today, tools like ChatGPT provide dozens of directions in minutes. But variants are not yet decisions. This, he says, is where experience regains its importance - not as nostalgia, but as a shortcut to quality. In the end, the parameters are "the classic ones": differentiation, brand fit, target group impact. And: the human touch. AI designs are a stepping stone - "but then you need the experience to get to the point".

Or, to put it another way: machines are a bit like life. They give a lot - if it is clear what should be entrusted to them. Anyone who draws on a fuller range of experience recognizes more quickly what works and what just sounds good.

Workbench instead of waiting loop

The core of his offer sounds deliberately unglamorous - and therefore honest: brand work as work, not as a foil. Städeli emphasizes that he doesn't just want to advise, as many do towards the end of their careers. He wants to implement. "Strategy without implementation is worth nothing," he says. His aim is to accompany projects from A to Z - from brand strategy to production and delivery. And yes: up to the question of whether even an absence note fits the brand.

This "if it says Städeli on it, it's Städeli in it" is not just a claim, but a bet on commitment. Especially at a time when set-ups have become easier - freer, more fluid, faster - but also more susceptible to what nobody likes to admit in the end: Distraction, vagueness, diffusion of responsibility.

Städeli's answer is not "more structure", but a different principle: suitable constellations. In short: no teams in stock, but teams on demand.

Network as an operating system - with a Danish twist

When Städeli talks about his new setup, he is quick to talk about people. Not about organizational charts. That is no coincidence. His network is his operating system - and anyone who listens to him immediately believes him. Examples include a retired copywriter, a boutique agency, a designer from Berlin, exchanges with the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies and young talents. And Denmark again and again.

For Städeli, Denmark is not a vacation foil, but a counter-world with a function: a place of power, inspiration, "Danish dynamite" - the memory of 1992, when the Danes became European champions from their vacation. This anecdote doesn't come across as sporting nostalgia, but as attitude: relaxed under pressure. Agility without arbitrariness.

And yet there is always that Zurich touch: the down-to-earth attitude, the eye for what is feasible, the craftsmanship. Städeli oscillates between these worlds - and this oscillation is more than biography. It is an image for the present: being able to swing as a skill. Between speed and depth. Between digital sprint and analog conversation. Between prompt and gut feeling.

No industry drawer, but clear questions

Städeli does not want to be pinned down to one sector. The breadth of the last three decades is particularly valuable: cloud services in the morning, healthcare in the afternoon, industry the next day. He is also fascinated by B2B because brand issues are often underestimated there. He knows from many conversations what customers are concerned about: it often starts technically - "How do we use technology to communicate more efficiently?" - and ends on a very human level: "Who do we trust? Who helps us make decisions?"

Parallel to the tech wave, he is also observing a second movement: The value of analog is increasing. Encounters, events, direct dialog. He cites his visit to this year's WEF in Davos as an example: you can read articles all day - but the quality of personal encounters with a wide variety of people, especially those from outside the industry, is unbeatable.

A new beginning as a test - and that's exactly where the story lies

As convincing as the ingredients sound: Experience, desire to work, network, brand know-how, openness to technology - in the end, one question arises that applies regardless of the setup. Whether in a group, boutique or solo: can you get it all together - at the same time?

Because that is the real challenge of these times: not only to become faster, but to remain precise. Not just to have more options, but to make clearer decisions. Not just to work flexibly, but to deliver reliably. Städeli seems to know this. Perhaps that is precisely the mature aspect of this step: no cockiness, but no excuses either. Rather an open visor - and the willingness to make his own bet.

What Thomas Städeli is up to is therefore less a "project" than a promise: Brand work that does not hide behind constructs, but accepts responsibility. With a comma that doesn't sound like uncertainty, but rather like an invitation - and a commitment.

Start-up as a field of practice

Parallel to "Städeli", Städeli has already opened up a second playing field - not as an external consultant, but as a partner. He has joined a start-up in the food supplements and vital substances sector as an investor and partner, where he is responsible for the brand and communication. Over the past few months, he has helped develop the brand from scratch and brought it to market maturity; the first three products will be launched in May. For Städeli, the appeal lies in the breadth of the task: together with a highly professional team, he is involved in central topics that go far beyond traditional brand communication - from product development and pricing to launch strategy and sales. It is, if you like, "brand work" in real time: not just saying how things could be done, but helping to build, decide and support them.

Thomas Städeli (57) is a brand professional with around three decades of experience in the Swiss communications industry. He has held management positions at Wirz, Jung von Matt Limmat and Publicis and works at the interface between brand strategy, creation and implementation. With "Städeli, Brandwork", he has deliberately taken the step into self-employment quietly: The focus is not on the launch, but on the daily output - the focused work on the project, instead of investing energy in organization, reporting and administrative sideshows. Städeli does not see himself as a classic consultant, but as a creator of full-fledged agency work from A to Z - with teams that are put together according to the task at hand. He deliberately leaves the direction in which the whole thing will develop open. Thomas Städeli is married and has three grown-up children.