"You were an artist"
Andreas Prokesch, CEO of ADC Switzerland, bids farewell to Claude Martin
Andreas Prokesch, Chairman of ADC Switzerland, bids farewell to Claude MartinDear Claude, I never actually read obituaries, and I don't know why I looked at the page with the black margins this morning of all mornings. One of them had your name in it. We met for the first time on Dufourstrasse in Zurich. At an agency called Young & Rubicam Zurich, which consisted of Urs Beer, his assistant Irène Kuhn and you. I didn't know you back then, but only got to know you over time at the Art Directors Club (ADC). You were the type of person who stood out when you walked into a room. But who also stood out in the midst of a crowd of like-minded people, as represented by the annual meeting of the jurors.
Although you weren't able to take part the last few times, I can still see you right in front of me. How you entered the scene leaning slightly backwards rather than forwards. And how you greeted everyone with your Bernese German "Ciao", your eyes shining with interest and your hearty laugh. It was your trademark. Just like the elegance of your textile appearance, which always included a veston and a pair of shoes that I admiringly assumed you had made to measure.
So that people understand you (and me) correctly: You were not a man of fashion who embodies this today and that tomorrow. You certainly weren't when it came to the ADC judging. You didn't say anything about many of the works being judged - because they didn't mean anything to you. With others, you debated passionately. Sometimes highly laudatory, sometimes deeply hurtful and always completely regardless of whether anyone applauded you.
Claude Martin always broke the norms
Like few others, you were entitled to the decisive, unyielding, uncompromising vote. Because you have won bronze, silver and gold more often than few others. One example is enough to make you a lasting memory: You turned freeze-dried coffee into the glow of the south and turned the Farner advertising agency into an advertising agency - one of the biggest and best in this country.
I would have had one opportunity to work with you - for Swatch and the zeitgeist of the time, which is now called lifestyle. I missed it because I was already engaged elsewhere. Or did I just have a false sense of respect or even a little jitters?
Colleagues of whom this cannot be said also describe you in daily business as very cheerful, very creative and very playful and add admiringly that you did not allow yourself to be restricted by strategic guidelines. Markus Gut, for example, says that you always pushed through the norms, in all things, and that you were - "in a positive sense" - an artist.
The last time I really noticed you was at the vernissage of your paintings. I bought one. It was exactly the one that Helen Müller would have preferred. It's been hanging in the ADC office on loan ever since. Every time I go there, we look at it together.
At this year's judging, the ADC members learned that you were very ill. Martin Fueter and André Benker visited you on your birthday in February and brought you a present on behalf of the ADC. They reported that you were delighted, even though you were no longer able to see them properly.
What a coincidence: tonight I was at Publicis, at your agency - invited to the fabulous Sechseläuten party. Claude, we missed you very much.
Although you weren't able to take part the last few times, I can still see you right in front of me. How you entered the scene leaning slightly backwards rather than forwards. And how you greeted everyone with your Bernese German "Ciao", your eyes shining with interest and your hearty laugh. It was your trademark. Just like the elegance of your textile appearance, which always included a veston and a pair of shoes that I admiringly assumed you had made to measure.
So that people understand you (and me) correctly: You were not a man of fashion who embodies this today and that tomorrow. You certainly weren't when it came to the ADC judging. You didn't say anything about many of the works being judged - because they didn't mean anything to you. With others, you debated passionately. Sometimes highly laudatory, sometimes deeply hurtful and always completely regardless of whether anyone applauded you.
Claude Martin always broke the norms
Like few others, you were entitled to the decisive, unyielding, uncompromising vote. Because you have won bronze, silver and gold more often than few others. One example is enough to make you a lasting memory: You turned freeze-dried coffee into the glow of the south and turned the Farner advertising agency into an advertising agency - one of the biggest and best in this country.
I would have had one opportunity to work with you - for Swatch and the zeitgeist of the time, which is now called lifestyle. I missed it because I was already engaged elsewhere. Or did I just have a false sense of respect or even a little jitters?
Colleagues of whom this cannot be said also describe you in daily business as very cheerful, very creative and very playful and add admiringly that you did not allow yourself to be restricted by strategic guidelines. Markus Gut, for example, says that you always pushed through the norms, in all things, and that you were - "in a positive sense" - an artist.
The last time I really noticed you was at the vernissage of your paintings. I bought one. It was exactly the one that Helen Müller would have preferred. It's been hanging in the ADC office on loan ever since. Every time I go there, we look at it together.
At this year's judging, the ADC members learned that you were very ill. Martin Fueter and André Benker visited you on your birthday in February and brought you a present on behalf of the ADC. They reported that you were delighted, even though you were no longer able to see them properly.
What a coincidence: tonight I was at Publicis, at your agency - invited to the fabulous Sechseläuten party. Claude, we missed you very much.
