"As a managing director, you have to have a vision".

WW: A Planner as Managing Director: What is the background to this strategy?
Pascal Schaub: Strategists as managing directors has a lot of potential. Last but not least, a highly regarded and successful colleague, Peter Felser, comes from Strategy and is also a member of the Account Planning Group, as is Christoph Bürge, for example. I think it makes sense for the Saatchi & Saatchi brand. But also - and I notice this very clearly - for our clients.
 
Why?
You have a direct contact person at eye level at the brand level. In addition, the client can talk to a strategist with someone for whom the target audience is the most important focus. This is crucial for our clients: reaching target groups and getting the investment mix right.
 
Did Pascal Schaub's appointment as Petar Dakovic's successor come as a surprise?
We planned this carefully internally and discussed how best to do it within the network. It's surprising for me, of course, because I really enjoy my job as a planner. I'm still leaving myself a window of time for this, but I'll be bringing in additional planning resources. I see the new role as a uniquely wonderful opportunity. Saatchi & Saatchi has placed its trust in me. That is courageous. I am happy to accept the challenge with courage.
 
How long-term is this interim solution planned?
We have mutually agreed that it will apply until December 31 of this year.
 
What appeals to Pascal Schaub about this job?
The vision of taking Saatchi & Saatchi another step forward in Switzerland. The Lovemarks philosophy has so much potential, I get goosebumps when I think about what is still possible for Swiss clients. I'm also getting to know completely new aspects of agency life. I'm not talking about the numbers, you can learn that, but rather the social, the emotional side. With my employees and my clients. That's something I'm extremely interested in. As a Planner, I was perhaps more of a lone fighter. As Managing Director, I am more of a team player.
 
They have to act as motivators and make personnel decisions.
I have to be an inspirer. For the extraordinary. In an increasingly interactive and participative world. I want our employees to be able to play to their strengths even more. That's what makes a great team. We have talents that you will see a lot more of. The Saatchi & Saatchi spirit is more multicultural, playful and across the kender than a beery classic agency. Saatchi & Saatchi is visionary, that's in the DNA of our agency brand.
 
Saatchi & Saatchi has moved into larger offices in Zurich Binz: Preparing for the future?
A year ago, we moved from Bäckerstrasse to Binz because we needed more space due to growth with existing customers, but also because of the acquisition of Swisscom. We think that there is an extremely innovative environment here in Binz. There are a lot of young people working in social media, digital and interactive design. It's life in the midst of Twitter, Google, Facebook and Pinterest.
 
How is the growth of the unit planned?
When I joined Bäckerstrasse in January 2008, we started with zero people. Now we're 20 and we're looking after beautiful and large Swiss blue-chip accounts such as Swisscom, Manor and SEAT, with whom we're continuing to grow together. That seems to me to be a very healthy development. Petar Dakovic has just done a great job. The consolidation phase is now over and we will now focus on qualitative, creative output. We have the unique advantage over our competitors that we are very flexible and agile for Swiss brands in Zurich and have a lot of capacity and expertise in Geneva, as well as being able to call on international specialists via our network. It's like a trident: agility, capacity and experts.
 
There are also setbacks: The departure of Swisscom?
A misunderstanding. There is no question of a setback, on the contrary. We were brought in as the lead agency for Swisscom, responsible for brand communication. The positive thing is that we are now also allowed to do product communication with the shadow campaign that started this week. We will be on air this week with an overall campaign for Swisscom TV. In this context, I can also say that the collaboration with the German agency Heimat - with whom, funnily enough, we speak a lot of English - is very good and very productive. This manifests itself in workshops that we hold with Heimat in Zurich and Berlin. It's a mutually beneficial collaboration.
 
Pascal Schaub used to be invited to Paris or London for workshops organized by the network. Will there still be time for this?
In the last four years at Saatchi & Saatchi, I have probably worked more internationally than any other planner in Switzerland. I have created strategies for Sara Lee's coffee brands for our office in Brussels, for fruit juice in Warsaw and for Nestlé Waters in Paris. I was also sent to Poland and Germany. I gained insights in Singapore, Orlando and Oslo for brands such as Union Bancaire Privée, Davidoff Cigars and Alcon contact lenses. This has given me experience that is absolutely invaluable. From now on, my focus will be entirely on Switzerland and our Zurich office, where I want to bring this experience to bear. That's what's special about Saatchi & Saatchi: we can bring in creative people from the network for a specific task. We can ask for strategic specialists or get support in the areas of interactive and social media. That's what makes the difference for me: I know these people, have already worked with them and can now use their potential for our clients in Switzerland. By the way, as a native and genuine Swiss, all Schaubs without exception come from Sissach near Basel, while my Francophile first name builds a bridge across the Röstigraben.
 
Goals with the Zurich location?
When I look back at the three pieces of work from our Zurich office that I am particularly proud of over the past six months, they are the ones that have moved people in Switzerland beyond advertising. Our idea for the fan bell app for Swisscom ski fans. Over 600 million enthusiastic people shook their hands back and forth and rang the bell for all it was worth. Then there was our SEAT summer campaign, called Handstanding, which generated over 100,000 views for consumer-generated content of people in Switzerland doing the handstand. For the joy of life and inspired by SEAT's brand motto Enjoyneering. Or the invention of the "Leopardino" by Swisscom, the first mobile film award for short cell phone films, officially supported by the Locarno Film Festival and presented there on the last evening. The launch of the new Manor fashion trends also has exactly the same three goals that I have for Saatchi & Saatchi in Zurich: To create things that I would like to see again, things that people would like to share, and also things that I and my target audience would like to play around with - to improve and restage. Creative ideas that allow co-creation. This is how successful brands interact today.
 
 Interview: Andreas Panzeri