The text experts

Many a person has spent hours poring over a press release, a slogan, a business letter or a translation with the firm intention of formulating a super text. The result: an imposition for the reader. In such troubles Supertext, the first text agency in the Internet, helps. For five years the agency with its network of about 300 copywriters, authors, editors, proofreaders and translators texts web, newsletters, mailings, brochures, press releases, slogans and annual reports in German, French, English and Italian. And it works like this: Anyone who needs a text can go to www.supertext.ch and choose whether they want to have an existing text revised, have a new text created, or need a translation. Once the order has been placed, Supertext searches its freelancer pool for the right editor for the job. In the case of new clients, the writing professionals whose profile best matches the client's requirements are identified; orders from existing clients are always handled by the same professionals, because they are already familiar with the client's wording and specific requirements. The client sets out in a short written briefing what service he expects and what is to be paid particular attention to in the text production.

The freelancers who are part of Supertext's pool have proven qualifications and experience as authors, journalists, copywriters, editors or translators. "At the beginning, we received great support from the Swiss copywriters' association Script, where I am now also on the board," explains Supertext CEO Rinaldo Dieziger (36). "We work exclusively with professionals. Hobby authors and nightstand poets have no place with us." These professionals are either well-known heads of the industry, whom the agency specifically addresses, or text specialists who apply to Supertext - about two to three dossiers are received per day. The three founders have therefore hired their own "pool keeper" to process the applications and expand the freelancer pool.

Software at the heart

The complete processing of text and translation orders, including status documentation, runs via web-based software that the Supertext founders designed and developed themselves. "Our system is flexible. We can integrate texts directly into the client's content management system after editing, for example into the finished layout of an annual report or into the blog on the company website," explains IT professional Rémy Blättler (35). A workflow without interruptions and additional intermediate steps for the client - it couldn't be more convenient. "Our software simplifies quite a few steps involved in text production or translation, because we wanted a solution that was as simple as possible for us and our customers," says Blättler. "Our system can be connected to any of our clients' CMSs without difficulty. This also puts us ahead of many larger competitors." In 2009, Supertext was even nominated as a finalist for the Red Herring 100 Europe, one of the most important awards for technology start-ups.

Wolf Schneider, the linguistic pundit, coined the bon mot: "When it comes to text, someone has to agonize - the sender or the recipient. It's better if the sender agonizes." This is also the argument that Supertext uses to lure its customers. The agency's client base already includes over 1,500 customers, among them the marketing and communications departments of medium-sized and large companies, agencies such as Wirz, Unic and Burson-Marsteller, as well as brands such as Ovomaltine, Swissmilk, Toshiba, Digicomp, Ochsner-Sport, OBI, Amag Retail and Ebay. Text purchasing pays off: "We're not a low-cost provider and don't cut any corners when it comes to text quality. But thanks to the automated processes, we are more efficient and can offer a first-class price," says Fabian Dieziger (34), who is responsible for commercial matters at Supertext. "We sell solutions: For example, we deliver ten slogans within 24 hours for just under 1,000 francs." Anyone who has ever had to create a slogan under deadline pressure knows that this is not expensive.

Supertext does not charge for the editing or creation of texts by the hour, but according to the complexity of the text, the number of characters and the number of copywriters involved: a text for an advertisement, for example, is cheaper than a press release; if the customer wants suggestions from three copywriters instead of one, he has to dig deeper into his pocket. Express deliveries also cost extra; clients can choose between five tempo and price levels: 6 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, three days or one week. For the client, it is clear from the outset what the torture of the super copywriters will cost him.

Supertext ensures the quality of the delivered texts with a net and double bottom: Every German text is proofread by a proofreader before delivery, translations are only carried out by native speakers and then edited again by a native speaker. Because a good translation is only one that is not recognizable as a translation. In addition, all translations go through a software tool that ensures that company-specific wording and terms are not translated differently in each text. This ensures that the wording remains consistent even in the foreign language. And if a client should still not be satisfied: Reworking is included in the price of every order.

Versatile trio

Rinaldo and Fabian Dieziger and Rémy Blättler were born and raised in Eschenbach SG. Rinaldo is one and a half years older than his brother, Fabian and Rémy go to the same school class. The two become friends and Rinaldo also gets along well with his brother's childhood friend. Nevertheless, the paths of the three diverge after graduation: Rinaldo, who as a boy actually wanted to become a sports reporter, astronaut, archaeologist or mayor like his father, goes to the St. Gallen advertising agency Tomcat as a junior copywriter for three years after graduating from high school. He then moved to Zurich to work for Publicis and finally wrote copy for Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett. After a trip around the world, at the invitation of a friend, he assists the St. Gallen Institute for Young Enterprises with a trade fair presentation and writes the institute's website texts as a freelancer. From then on, Rinaldo only wants one thing: to become an entrepreneur. "When everyone in the room has their own business but you," he says, "you start to wonder."

Fabian set his sights on logistics: after completing his apprenticeship as a forwarding merchant at Welti-Furrer, he joined Mettler-Toledo as a distribution logistics specialist, completed further training in business administration at the Zurich Business School, moved to Ascom Telematic in Dübendorf in 1998 as a sales logistics specialist, and finally took over as deputy manager of the International Removals division at Welti-Furrer. In 2002, as a member of the management team, he assumed responsibility for the art transport and storage division.

Rémy, who as a boy had dreamed of becoming a car designer or architect, did an electronics apprenticeship at the Siemens subsidiary Cerberus, completed a bachelor's degree in computer science at HSR Rapperswil and then went to Northwestern University Chicago on a Siemens scholarship. There he completed his master's degree in computer engineering. Blättler then starts working in the IT department of the UBS branch in New York. Two years later, he moved to Sungard, a high-tech company specializing in financial software. In 2005, he received an inquiry from his old home country: the two Dieziger brothers wanted to know whether he could imagine founding a text company with them.

Plan with a future

During his time at the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs, Rinaldo Dieziger is surrounded by quite a few young entrepreneurs. This inspires him. He develops various business plans, including one for an Internet text agency, which he plans to breathe life into in 2005. His brother Fabian is immediately enthusiastic about the business idea and decides to support Rinaldo in founding the company - even if self-employment means a "return to modesty" for him. After all, Fabian Dieziger has now reached the management level, with responsibility for twelve employees and a corresponding salary. Nevertheless, he is swapping his boss's desk for the Ikea chair: "I was attracted by the idea of helping to build up my own company, to set something in motion and to learn something completely new," he says. "Until March 2007, I was permanently employed by Welti-Furrer, and I couldn't wait to finally hit the ground running at Supertext."

Rémy Blättler feels very much at home in New York. Nevertheless, he leaves the city with a heavy heart, because the challenge of programming his own system for the business idea of his two schoolmates tempts him all too much. He spent long nights in New York working on a first software prototype and even turned down a lucrative job at a major bank for Supertext at the end of 2006. At the beginning of 2007, the IT expert finally joins Super¬text for good. "Actually, I had assumed that the Supertext IT project would be completed after about two weeks," Blättler recalls and laughs. "That's why I spent two years shuttling between Zurich and New York before pulling up stakes in the U.S. in 2009. In the meantime, I've been with Supertext for five years and I'm enjoying it immensely. It's a great feeling to build something from absolutely nothing. Besides, I never have to do anything because someone tells me I have to - I always know why I'm doing it." Rinaldo Dieziger looks back proudly on the past five years, "When I first got into advertising as a junior copywriter in 1997, I liked Tom Monahan's saying, 'Advertising is the rock 'n' roll of the business world.' Recently, one of our biggest competitors said of Supertext, 'These are the Rock 'n' Roll Guys of the Industry.'" What a compliment.

Three in a row

The three Supertext owners could not be more different. The copywriter, the businessman and the IT specialist not only have very different training and skills, but also very different characters. But that is precisely what makes them so successful: They complement each other perfectly and cover all central areas of responsibility in the company, from creation to administration to IT. At the same time, they are united in wanting "their baby" to grow and prosper. Rinaldo Dieziger: "We had ambitious goals right from the start; after all, we discovered a gap in the market with Supertext."

Obviously: In the past five years, the agency has grown from an ambitious three-man business to a well-run text agency with nine permanent employees, a pool of copywriters with over 300 experts and more than 1,500 customers. "Until 2007, we put all our energy into the concept and development and handled the orders on the side," Fabian Dieziger recounts. "Then we launched a telephone sales offensive that gave Supertext the decisive kick. At the urging of our customers, we also launched the translation service in 2007. Since then, we are no longer just a text agency, but a language service provider."

The three Supertexters have other big plans: they want to open agency branches abroad in the next year or two, initially in Germany and France, and later in the USA and South America. Blättler and his IT team are already in the process of setting up the Supertext software in multiple languages.

Rare film tear

Of course, there have also been black days in the development of Supertext. For example, the futile visit of a television crew from SF, which the three company founders can fortunately laugh about today: "In our company history, there was exactly one day when no one was in the office," says Fabian Dieziger. "Of all things, when an SF television crew stopped by to film a report on startups for the 'Tagesschau' and conduct an interview with us, all three of us were in New York. Almost a million Swiss people watch the Tagesschau and would have heard about us - and we're not in the office!"

This breakdown proves it: For Rinaldo and Fabian Dieziger and Rémy Blättler, despite all their dedication to their agency, there is a life besides Supertext. At the moment, Rinaldo Dieziger is mainly busy with his seven-month-old daughter Estella, who inspires and drives him. He also dreams of one day writing something that will still be read in 100 years, and tries not to forget how to play the piano. His brother Fabian is also a family man: as the father of a twelve-year-old daughter and godfather of three, he is constantly on the road with young people. In quieter hours, he likes to read, bake and cook, and finds inspiration on his travels. Rémy Blättler needs travel and motorcycling as a balance to his programming work and secretly harbors the dream of one day opening a boutique hotel with a fantastic view. Who will then write the snappy advertising slogans for the hotel should already be clear today.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich