Maturity
Bettina Schaefer recognized a new trend early on and, through her agency Scout, is increasingly casting older models for advertising, film, and fashion.
Advertising is changing. Not only are new media constantly vying for our attention. A new level of trust is also required. Where stimulus overload is increasing daily, only credible messages can count on a real chance of being perceived. Added to this is the new sociographic structure of our society. The target group of 40-50 year-olds forms the most active consumers with very good purchasing power. However, these people in their prime can no longer be convinced by advertising that presents them with 15-year-old identification figures. "I've noticed this myself with myself. When you're 40, you no longer find it funny when a bloody young teenager presents your favorite label to you. It no longer turns you on," says Bettina Schaefer. Not everyone in advertising has realized this yet. But the trend is unmistakable. "Today, 80 percent of orders call for more mature models," says Bettina Schaefer. She can substantiate this trend with the demand in her agency. Scout 1 and the recent expansion with Scout 2 in Zurich specialize in "real people." Scout 1 presents professional models in its portfolio. They are also offered internationally and work regularly in Paris, London and New York. Together with the "New Faces", who are still at the beginning of their careers, there are around 350 faces in the file. Unlike most agencies, however, many of these professionals are already "of a more mature age". Indeed, more and more campaigns or presentations are being photographed with real people between the ages of 25 and 40. "True, the creatives on the computer may remove a few wrinkles. But a mature look is in demand," Bettina Schaefer knows. To meet this growing demand for authentic models, she also founded Scout 2 last year. This people agency also has around 350 people and the number of models on offer is constantly increasing. However, these diverse characters do not model professionally. Here you find from the successful lawyer over the genuine craftsman or from the attractive teacher up to the child-loving grandmother all, which would like to stand gladly times on the other side of the camera. With the now combinable offers of Scout 1 and 2 Bettina Schaefer is convinced to be able to meet "the currently large change" in the model industry with exactly the correct concept. The success has already allowed the agency to grow to ten permanent employees. In addition to the boss, a second scout helps to discover new talent and scan the 40 or so new applications per day. Three graphic designers maintain the set cards and the portfolios on the Internet. Then there are the consultants at the booking table and two people for administration.
Bettina Schaefer, who started out as a model herself, joined her mother in Switzerland after school. In her home country, she took her A-levels in art and sport. That's why she couldn't tackle her planned medical studies in Zurich without taking additional exams. While Bettina was cramming for the required subjects, the attractive blonde was approached several times on the street to pose as a model. "At 19, of course, that was fun." And so eventually medicine gave way to fashion. In the following four years as a model, Bettina Schaefer has worked for Vogue, Harper's Bazar and many international campaigns such as Nivea, in addition to local assignments. "On average, I was in front of a camera four days a week," she recalls of those times. She enjoyed being out and about regularly in Paris, London, Milan and also New York. "You get to meet interesting people, you get to use your languages, and you also realize over time which contacts you need to continue to cultivate." Unlike some top models who don't like to be reminded of their past, Bettina Schaefer would do it again anytime. "Modeling is a very valuable school of life. You can also bring a lot of experience into your next projects, where you develop again." The ex-model can therefore only recommend the job to a young talent. "It's a highly serious business." Those who want to make it to the top, however, have to apply a lot of discipline. "Today perhaps even more than in the past."
Despite many offers, posing was then exhausted for Bettina Schaefer after the sense of achievement from the first cover became more and more repetitive. However, the world of photography continued to fascinate her. So she founded her first own agency in 1986. Option is still internationally successful from Zurich today, but is continued by other partners. Bettina Schaefer left in 1991 because she wanted to do more photography herself in the meantime. Since her father was already a passionate hobby photographer, he motivated his daughter to take this step with a professional Nikon. Already with the option, Schaefer increasingly photographed the portfolios for her models herself, because she had a precise idea of the desired quality. As a freelance photographer, she now wanted to specialize in children and celebrities. Soon came regular orders from catalogs,advertising or beauty campaigns. Later came private requests from artists such as Maximilian Schell and his family, Otto Walkes or Mario Simmel. A deeply felt experience for Bettina Schaefer was when she was allowed to accompany the Dalai Lama on a tour as a "private photographer" for three weeks.
When she met the photographer Daniel Gerber on another job in Egypt - "He was responsible for the stills on this production, I for the men's print subjects" - the direction of the profession was to change once again. "I took pictures until the day before our daughter was born and was already on the road again four days later," recalls Bettina Schaefer. Nevertheless, the working mother wanted to bring a little more peace into life for the future. "We were looking for a solution with more stability for our young family." The solution was found in Scout. With the agency founded in 2004, Bettina Schaefer initially wanted to primarily "scout" new models and then "build them up internationally." Soon, however, the business model developed into something much more exciting. "I had the right nose that more and more everyday faces and especially older models would be in demand."
Andreas Panzeri
Bettina Schaefer, who started out as a model herself, joined her mother in Switzerland after school. In her home country, she took her A-levels in art and sport. That's why she couldn't tackle her planned medical studies in Zurich without taking additional exams. While Bettina was cramming for the required subjects, the attractive blonde was approached several times on the street to pose as a model. "At 19, of course, that was fun." And so eventually medicine gave way to fashion. In the following four years as a model, Bettina Schaefer has worked for Vogue, Harper's Bazar and many international campaigns such as Nivea, in addition to local assignments. "On average, I was in front of a camera four days a week," she recalls of those times. She enjoyed being out and about regularly in Paris, London, Milan and also New York. "You get to meet interesting people, you get to use your languages, and you also realize over time which contacts you need to continue to cultivate." Unlike some top models who don't like to be reminded of their past, Bettina Schaefer would do it again anytime. "Modeling is a very valuable school of life. You can also bring a lot of experience into your next projects, where you develop again." The ex-model can therefore only recommend the job to a young talent. "It's a highly serious business." Those who want to make it to the top, however, have to apply a lot of discipline. "Today perhaps even more than in the past."
Despite many offers, posing was then exhausted for Bettina Schaefer after the sense of achievement from the first cover became more and more repetitive. However, the world of photography continued to fascinate her. So she founded her first own agency in 1986. Option is still internationally successful from Zurich today, but is continued by other partners. Bettina Schaefer left in 1991 because she wanted to do more photography herself in the meantime. Since her father was already a passionate hobby photographer, he motivated his daughter to take this step with a professional Nikon. Already with the option, Schaefer increasingly photographed the portfolios for her models herself, because she had a precise idea of the desired quality. As a freelance photographer, she now wanted to specialize in children and celebrities. Soon came regular orders from catalogs,advertising or beauty campaigns. Later came private requests from artists such as Maximilian Schell and his family, Otto Walkes or Mario Simmel. A deeply felt experience for Bettina Schaefer was when she was allowed to accompany the Dalai Lama on a tour as a "private photographer" for three weeks.
When she met the photographer Daniel Gerber on another job in Egypt - "He was responsible for the stills on this production, I for the men's print subjects" - the direction of the profession was to change once again. "I took pictures until the day before our daughter was born and was already on the road again four days later," recalls Bettina Schaefer. Nevertheless, the working mother wanted to bring a little more peace into life for the future. "We were looking for a solution with more stability for our young family." The solution was found in Scout. With the agency founded in 2004, Bettina Schaefer initially wanted to primarily "scout" new models and then "build them up internationally." Soon, however, the business model developed into something much more exciting. "I had the right nose that more and more everyday faces and especially older models would be in demand."
Andreas Panzeri
