Communications industry in transition
In August, Philipp Skrabal starts as the new CCO at Farner Consulting. There, the high-profile creative wants to bring a promising combination of advertising, PR and digital strategies to play.
The entire communications industry talks about content. Such content is undergoing an exciting transformation in the age of digital channels. The classic separation between PR and advertising is becoming less and less important. "Cross-media " in this development no longer refers only to different media, but also across different disciplines. "At Farner, content and multidisciplinary thinking is deeply rooted in the DNA ", says Philipp Skrabal. "Farner's model of generating insights, developing an overarching idea from them, and then making it tangible across all touchpoints is the future and very much aligns with how I see it." As the new Chief Creative Officer, the former Wirz creative director now wants to "bring creativity as an impact multiplier to the PR flagship" Farner starting in August. As Switzerland's leading communications brand, Farner wants to play an active role in shaping the change in communications. "Moving campaigns and communication solutions need not only strategy, good content and complete implementation, but also a lot of creativity," says Roman Geiser, CEO and Managing Partner of Farner Consulting. "Advertising and PR can and must cross-fertilize each other," Skrabal is convinced. "Earned media" will be a topic here. Likewise, Farner's great digital expertise is to play a key role in Skrabal's new work. "I will be able to work closely with Daniel Jörg, our digital strategist." At Farner, Philipp Skrabal will take on a dual role. On the one hand, he will manage the Farner Advertising market unit from August, and on the other hand, he will further develop the agency's creative signature in all communication disciplines as CCO.
In his last positions, Philipp Skrabal was Managing Director Creation and co-owner at Wirz Werbung as well as Executive Creative Director at Advico Young & Rubicam/Y&R Group and Creative Director at Publicis. He is a board member of ADC Switzerland and is one of the most awarded advertisers in the country. Just recently, his most recent work was honored with four Silver EFFIEs and the Crossmedia Award in Gold. Skrabal got his start in the industry by taking a preliminary course at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich. It soon became clear to him, however, that a more practice-oriented education could bring more benefits. He found an apprenticeship with Seiler DDB. After the apprenticeship and another year at Seiler DDB came an offer to join Euro RSCG as a junior AD. The following five years also brought a detour to Lintas, where Skrabal worked in a team at the time with Pierre C. Meier, now editor-in-chief of Werbewoche.
"Very enriching" was six months in Australia, where Skrabal got the chance to work in Sydney within the Euro Group. "That gave me a completely new professional image. In the mid-90s, as an AD in Switzerland, you mainly spent a lot of time implementing, typography and design, and relatively little time looking for ideas. In Australia, I did nothing but look for ideas all day. Then the traffic management team came, took our suggestions and went to the studio to implement them," he says, describing the somewhat different distribution of the creative processes. This is in contrast to a process "where a headline was often first written by the copywriter and then the AD looked for a suitable image to go with it. After returning to Switzerland, Skrabal also began to manage his time as effectively as possible here. "I also learned to prepare better and delegate differently. I consistently distributed work and took as much time as I could myself to come up with ideas." Philipp Skrabal was able to experience another turning point in his professional life with Daniel Matter. At the agency, which shortly before had merged with Benker Steiner, he was allowed "for the very first time to do what I myself found good. Before, I always had to fight internal battles," Skrabal muses. "In many agencies, they weren't so much after good ideas as they were interested in a smooth process with an unagitated customer. But sometimes the best solution isn't one where everything just flows through."
At the time, the passionate creatives had done a lot of work for Migros at Matter & Partner and won other important budgets. "Matter was in its heyday. We made it to number five in the rankings with 15 people." Skrabal was appointed CD and also to the executive team during this period. "That was a very formative time because they let me do it and gave me room to grow. I saw: the limits are my own. And not those set by my environment." After six years, however, Skrabal wanted to leave "this comfort zone" behind and try his luck in a "big store." "Markus Gut, with whom I did my training, asked me in 2004 if I wanted to join Publicis as a CD. I had a nice time at Matter. Nevertheless, I made a conscious decision: I now want to know what I can also bring to an organization like Publicis from my knowledge." The thing to learn was that it's a completely different mechanic to lead people when you yourself are one of the movers and shakers in a team of 8 creatives - or are allowed to and have to work with 40 others. "There, it's just a challenge until you know all the employees with their strengths and weaknesses a little better and learn how to motivate each one. That's another area where I've learned a lot. And I've been able to look after some great budgets."
When Markus Gut joined the Y&R Group as Chief Creative Officer, it was quickly clear to Skrabal that he too wanted to accept the offer to join. "I didn't just get on very well and amicably with Markus Gut. Andi Widmer and his Futurecom, which had already dominated the digital sector for more than a decade at the time, were also behind the project. I knew: this is an essential part of the future. And I have to and want to be one of the first to come out of traditional advertising and know the digital possibilities, the playing field as well as the rules of the game and want to incorporate them into the new advertising." After just two weeks at Y&R, the new crew won a pitch for Sunrise in 2008 and got off to a pretty dynamic start with the "revolutionary story" around the slogan "Free Internet." "There were a lot of hungry people on the digital side at the time. Advico was top staffed and becoming more open. That was also a very good phase for me," Skrabal looks back.
When "one stage was completed" with the move into the Hardturmstrasse, the opportunity came just at the right time for the ECD to move up another level with Wirz. "Of course, already with the prospect of being a partner." Moreover, after the real estate bubble burst, Skrabal saw "what handicaps a large network can have when it comes to acting entrepreneurially." Headquarters dictates where to spend and save. "That was a decisive reason for me: the challenge of once again giving Wirz a creative touch. But above all, the entrepreneurial freedom to be able to decide for myself where to invest and where we need new people today, even if they won't be fully profitable tomorrow." For Markus Gut, the departure of his longtime companion was never a problem. "We were friends and he knew exactly what moved me. We still exchange ideas regularly today." Although the end at Wirz was then in November 2013 "an unpleasant one over which I had no influence," Skrabal looks back on four very successful years. The agency moved up from No. 6 in the rankings to No. 2 for the second year in a row in Werbewoche's rankings. "We won a lot of awards around the world, were doing well in content, I learned a lot from the work." Wirz also won four silver EFFIEs and the gold Crossmedia- Award this year under the creative leadership of Philipp Skrabal. "Wirz was again an agency that was talked about. It was trusted with a lot. That also showed a great influence on the people I was able to hire. I was very happy about that and it's also something that stays. We won great clients, Ikea as one example, which was also not insignificant for the creative success we were able to celebrate afterwards."
That's why he doesn't look back on that time with frustration or disappointment at all. "On the contrary. It has brought me an enormous amount. Mobiliar was also a very important customer for me. There is probably nothing more difficult than finding new ways in a concept that has been successful for a long time for a customer who is so demanding and professional. "Skrabal and his team succeeded, for example, with branded content for the young TV station Joiz and the claims quiz "Wer's glaubt". With Christoph Ott and his Mobiliar team, Skrabal's team "found new solutions that brought in a lot of fresh blood. The Mobiliar campaign has been transferred into a new era". Of course, Philipp Skrabal does not want to take all the credit for the success. He "only" had overall responsibility. "What I really creatively led, on the other hand, were Ikea and Mobiliar. Here I also had a great team around me. They grew into these successes together with me. That's why I'm not surprised that many of the top performers from my era are now gone."
The ousted Executive Creative Director and soon-to-be father of five had to "first recover from the shock. The decision was also incomprehensible to many colleagues in the market, he says. "I thought to myself: What does that mean for me now? This has already shaken certain value systems in me. I then thought: Is the large agency model, the way most of these agencies have functioned for the last 25 years, really the right model for the future? My very personal answer to this question is: No." Everyone can have their own opinion on that, he said. For Skrabal, however, the ejection triggered a thought process where he asked himself, "Where does the future lie? If it's not the big agency, how do you have to be positioned? Is it a matter of being a lone wolf in the service of others? Is it smaller agencies? Is it agencies that come more from the corporate space? Agencies from the PR space?" The media shift is forcing corporate and marketing communications closer together. "Digital channels are becoming the backbone for every brand. In the future, it will take a team of interdisciplinary architects and, of course, project management. Make money with ideas, not with realization." Parallel to these strategic considerations, contact was made with Roman Geiser. Skrabal remembered the CEO of Farner Consulting very well from his earlier days at Burson Marsteller and his job for "Free Internet". So one thing led to another. "I saw: On the other side, you think the same thoughts and come to the same conclusions. Then it also became clear relatively quickly: This is a very big opportunity."
Andreas Panzeri
