Simple. Exactly. Like this.

KPM's most striking work at the moment is certainly the communication for the new exhibition of the Natural History Museum of the Burgergemeinde Bern, "Riesenkristalle - der Schatz vom Planggenstock". KPM planned the media work for this exhibition, wrote the media texts and organized the vernissage with former Federal Councillor Adolf Ogi. "Although we like to accompany cultural events and often provide communications support, we are not restricted to the cultural sector," says KPM founder and owner Rolf Kästli (49). "The sectors we work for have gradually crystallized over the years. " For example, Kästli and his team shaped the repositioning of the Swiss School of Journalism MAZ: the agency advised the educational company on the development and implementation of its new marketing strategy. Other notable clients of the Bern agency include the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, Gerber, the SOS Children's Village, the Cleven Becker Foundation, the professional association of professional social workers Avenir Social, the Federal Office of Sport FOSPO and the Emme Regional Ice Sports Center. Kästli, who comes from a family of building contractors, also holds several mandates in the construction industry: at flat roof manufacturer Gyger, at Flexobau, at the Swiss Gravel and Concrete Industry Association FSKB, at Kies AG Aaretal and also at Kästli AG Bauunternehmung, which was founded 125 years ago by his great-grandfather and is now run by Kästli's brother and his brother-in-law. Rolf Kästli has also been on the Board of Directors of Kästli AG since 2008. He is primarily responsible for the repositioning and strategic direction of the company.

From advocate to mouthpiece

Born in the Swiss capital in 1961, the "Bärner Gring" could never have dreamed that he would one day become a marketing and communications professional. Kästli grew up with two brothers and two sisters in Bern-Bolligen. At the age of 18, before finishing school, he went to the USA for a year and then became involved in voluntary youth work in order to give back some of the formative experiences he had had in America. On his return, Kästli decided not to join his father's construction business - as his older brother Daniel and his cousin had already expressed this plan when asked by his grandfather. "I couldn't follow the same career path as them," says Kästli with a grin. "I also didn't want to plan my life for managing an SME with over 300 employees so early on, but rather enjoy it a little longer." In 1981, Kästli began studying law. He wanted to become a Bernese advocate, i.e. a lawyer, because he hates injustice. After seven years of studying at the University of Bern and several internships, Kästli had achieved his goal - but was still not there yet: "I embarked on my studies with great enthusiasm and high ideals, and I found the internships with lawyers and at court very exciting," he says. "Nevertheless, I couldn't really imagine a life as a lawyer, judge or in administration. I completed my studies anyway, because I learned that you finish what you start."

After his exams, Kästli received a lifeline: he was offered the opportunity to work as an academic lawyer. "I thought that might be something and went to Hamburg for a year on a National Fund scholarship," he says. "That was a great time. Being able to live it up abroad in my early 30s was something special." Nevertheless, after this year, Kästli is certain that scientific work suits him even less than the job as an advocate: "I like to think things through, but something has to happen afterwards, otherwise I get nervous." At 33, Kästli is faced with the question: What are you going to do now? The answer comes quickly. He gets married and starts a family, so he is forced to earn money. As a newcomer with a legal background, he took over the management of the Higher College of Management HFU in Bern, a profit center of the former Feusi Bildungszentrum AG, which is now called PHW Hochschule Wirtschaft Bern. While working, he trained as a marketing manager and supported his wife with family work. After three years at Feusi, Kästli decides: "I don't want a boss anymore. I lived well without a boss before, and I want it to be like that again in the future." So in February 1997, "out of a desire to build something up myself", he founded the KPM agency. Kästli started with marketing positioning and strategy consulting, with company and market situation analyses. He quickly built up a client base that not only wanted a new strategy and positioning from KPM, but also the subsequent communication. "That's how I slipped into the communications sector," reports Kästli. "My customers argued that I now knew the company and they would trust me. So I tried to develop communication that matched the strategy. That worked well. Over the years, the communication tasks eventually developed into an ever-increasing proportion of the agency's turnover."

Communication needs eye contact

For a long time, Kästli worked as a lone wolf. He took over the project management and called in the right people from his network for the implementation. In 2006, KPM began to grow gently: Kästli hired his first permanent employee. "That was a big step for me," he says modestly. "When you're on your own, one more is already a doubling. " Over the next two years, the cautious expansion continued and two employees were added. In 2009, Kästli found his current deputy as well as a concept developer and a marketer. KPM is still working in this constellation today. And Kästli swears by his team: "My people are on top of the projects. They finish on schedule and the result is just right. That's what sets us apart. "

On such a basis, an agency expansion is a calculable risk. This is why Kästli is planning to bring graphic design expertise under his roof this year: "So far, we have outsourced almost everything visual to external network partners. But now I want to build up the relevant expertise in-house," he says. "In the next month or two, I will also be hiring a Managing Director to take care of the further development of KPM, especially the development and expansion of the online area, which is becoming increasingly important. I know a bit about it now, but I need a digital native for a job like this."

Rolf Kästli inherited his entrepreneurial spirit and his desire to get stuck in and deliver tangible results from his father. The building contractor has strongly influenced his second eldest son, right down to the way Kästli treats his customers: "Communication is 'personal business'," he says. "As with construction, you have to be a professional craftsman. Beyond that, it's all about trust, about understanding the customer and being able to implement what they need. This has a lot to do with the people who come together. We are the right agency for clients who want to implement a strategy in a down-to-earth, tangible and timely manner. We're not the right partner if it's just a matter of communicating something quickly and with a lot of flourish. Visuals and creation are important aspects of communication, but I think the client often achieves more effective results with a solid, good 'Büez' than with quick, highly creative work that everyone thinks is great but whose impact is dubious. The most effective communication is still vis-à-vis, clear and open." For Kästli, solid work also means defining parameters in the run-up to a project that can be used to measure and adjust what the client and agency have achieved with a communication measure. "I often find that clients state that their goal is to communicate," reports Kästli. "When I then ask them what content they want, they are unclear. At this point, you have to take the time to clarify why the company wants to communicate, what it wants to achieve and what is necessary to do so. That's what 'down-to-earth' means to me."

Kästli has found a catchy slogan to describe his services: "Simple. Exactly. Like this." He explains: "When you deal with KPM, you get a clear, simple result, without any unnecessary fuss. It's professionally created, focused on the essentials and exactly how our customer imagined it - even if they had no or only a vague idea at the start of the collaboration. That is our claim." Kästli already learned how to work without any pushback during his studies. The agency manager still remembers his law professor's verdict on one of Kästli's reports: "I think, Mr. Kästli, you didn't have enough time to be brief."

Running for inner peace

Those who always work with precision and focus on the essentials need an outlet for their brain. Kästli gets this from exhibitions, a small theater performance, a fascinating dance performance - or from sport. He played handball close to the top level until he was 26. Today, he still keeps his eye on the ball, albeit on the tennis court. In winter, Kästli seeks balance on the slopes, and he also clears his head by jogging. Next to his desk hangs the poem "how to work better" by artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Kästli has added the line "be calm" for himself: "if not, go running!". How many KPM projects received the finishing touches during the race remains his secret, however. Anne-Friederike Heinrich