The PR veteran
As president of the BPRA, Peter P. Knobel continues to emphasize that public relations is a top priority.
companies, that's a track record," says Peter P.
Knobel. His company is the number one in the Swiss PR landscape.
8 The largest agency in Central Switzerland is now the
The only one in Switzerland that is both ISO and CMS-certified. "The
is a key positioning in the market. We have a very
clear focus on quality," explains the boss. Of the 14 employees
are 8 academics. His crew is interdisciplinary; they come from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Fields of study. Knobel himself studied economics
studied.
The PR consultancy of Dr. Peter P. Knobel AG focuses on the four areas of
IT/Telecom, Financial Relations, Healthcare and
Lifestyle products. "Many well-known companies have set up shop here in
Zug have their Swiss headquarters or even their European headquarters," says Knobel. "Of course, we're in the right place.
He believes that the main reason for choosing Zug as a location is not so much the
tax advantages as, in particular, "the extremely
business-friendly attitude of the authorities".
In the future, Healthcare with a focus on biotechnology will be
be expanded. "Not least because there is a lot of missing
PR expertise in this area." Knobel is planning further growth in
the small caps. With a "clever editorial system", the agency can
an "enormously good cost-benefit ratio" when realizing
offer IR publications. The patented program with a partner
in prepress makes it possible to produce annual and quarterly reports
efficiently and interactively with the customer.
The "Chronic Pain" campaign is an example in the healthcare market
which Knobel has been supporting throughout Switzerland for three years. In the
commercial sector, he is proud of Chiquita. Their bad image
enabled Max Havelaar to enter the Swiss market with Coop.
So Chiquita had to react. Together with Migros, the
fruit multinational in Costa Rica to reopen a former banana plantation.
a rainforest. Knobel has shown this - as well as the
The fact that Chiquita has been following the rigorous
environmental regulations of the Rain Forest Alliance. Knobels
work was turned into an international CSR showcase for Chiquita and
Pilot project for several countries in Europe.
Before founding his agency, Peter P. Knobel worked in marketing for ten years. "I
have no fear of contact with advertising. This kind of collaboration is virtually encouraged in our agency."
Peter P. Knobel's PR agency was founded as a joint venture with
Advico. The advertisers held a 40 percent stake, Knobel 60 percent
percent. When Advico mutated into AY&R and Burson-Marsteller left the
same network through the purchase of Dieter Jäggi Fuss in Switzerland
Knobel was the "fifth wheel". He bought the Advico shares
and found a new partner six years ago in Hill &
Knowlton. "An exciting collaboration, because there is no other
There is no other global network that has such a strong presence in Europe," explains Knobel. The collaboration with H&K brings
significantly more orders than other Swiss PR agencies receive from their
networks. "What's also great about it is that we are treated
like an H&K subsidiary. We use all the services and international
training offers. But we have no further reporting obligations."
And how did it all begin? Knobel studied in St. Gallen
Economics with an emphasis on marketing. Because back then
"getting a taste of the industry" was considered beneficial, he
Rotarians for a scholarship in the USA. There he studied
additionally Industrial Management.
Back in St. Gallen, Knobel wrote his dissertation on the topic of
Consumer behavior. In his first job, he managed a large
Reorganization project at Migros Zurich. To get a little more
to get a taste of international air, he switched to the
pharmaceutical industry. At Schering, he was responsible throughout Europe for the
Market research and therefore permanently on an airplane. "You have to
have experienced. Back then, this lifestyle was right for me."
A job with the German Hoppe Group made him more settled again.
For the European number 1 in the field of building hardware, he has developed the
marketing headquarters. When the headquarters moved to South Tyrol
Knobel moved to Estée Lauder in Zurich as brand manager.
Then, eleven years after graduating, an assessment followed: how should it
continue professionally?
Knobel's "clear answer" was: communication. He found "an opportunity" with
Dieter Jäggi and managed the PR agency together with Ulrich
Bollmann ran the Zurich office until 1987.
Peter P. Knobel is currently also active as a journalist. He has
won the Public Relations Book Award last year with a book project
won. "That meant I had to write it too," he laughs.
Public Relations Agency Management" will be launched in August. How
can I get the most out of the agency as a client? How can a
agency, so that the customer is satisfied and can be satisfied in the long term.
remains? He also lectures on these questions at the University of Applied Sciences in
Winterthur. A second book in October will deal with the topic of crisis PR.
treat. "I am now a veteran in the industry. I can
the need to pass on his knowledge to younger generations.
to pass on."
With a similar motivation, Knobel took over the presidency of the BPRA this year.
accepted. "The association is at a crossroads. It is our
success that more and more agencies are willing to take the CMS certification
to make. But many also say that PR is a dying discipline.
The age of integrated communication has dawned." Here is
the BPRA clearly disagrees: A holistic management consultancy
on an analytical basis that only PR professionals can offer,
will set the pace in the long term. Other disciplines are competently
perform partial tasks. However, it needs the
Corporate Relations Manager, who is responsible for all communication
bundles.
With this in mind, Knobel wants to develop the BPRA into a strong association, also as an interesting partner to the BSW.
Knobel's inspiring hobby is literature. He calls himself a
"book eater" and owns a large library with German and English books.
contemporary English literature. Together with his wife, he is also active in
half of Switzerland to present the "very lively and time-critical
scene" of small theaters. His third passion is
"Travel primitively". As simple as possible with trekking and a bivouac. That's how he
for example, crossed the Anti-Atlas with mules or traveled across the
canoeing through the Yukon Territories. "In nature with
as little as possible", he wants to "get by with both feet on the ground".
to stay on the ground instead of becoming a high-flyer".
Andreas Panzeri
