The name says it all. In ping pong, the ball is hit back and forth between two players with ever-changing variations, the fastest possible reaction times, and precise power. This is the dynamic between Daniel Comte and consultant and strategist Jan Maurer on this axis of the CD as they play together as sparring partners to secure the victory of their best ideas. A second axis also features a game of ping pong with their clients. Here, a briefing is served up; a strategy is then returned as the initial response; and later, «click» follows «click» with increasingly precise shots, until the decisive idea lands in the net here as well. In a third interpretation, ping pong can also represent the relationship between the client’s advertising expenditure and the most successful possible return on investment. «We hit the ball out into the market, and then hopefully it comes back to the client in the form of increased brand awareness and market share,» say Daniel Comte and Jan Maurer, explaining the «rules of the game» for their ping-pong.
The two were a little surprised that this symbolic name was still available as a website on the internet, just waiting for them. «The domain had been reserved, but we were able to buy the address at a price that was affordable even for a startup.»
The idea for Ping Pong was first discussed this summer and has now been realized on November 1 with the founding of a corporation. Jan Maurer and Daniel Comte each hold a 50 percent stake. The two have found office space on Zurich’s Weinbergstrasse in the «Kreativhaus» run by Reini Weber and Peter Lesch. They’re starting out as a two-person team. However, a consultant and an art director have already come on board, and to implement their planned 360-degree communication strategy, Maurer and Comte can rely on «a very high-quality network» of interested freelancers.
In the medium term, the goal is «eight to twelve employees.» That’s an «ideal size,» says Jan Maurer, who has already gained experience managing an agency of this kind while working alongside Daniel Meier at Unikat. After all, it’s not size that matters, but the dedication and passion of every team member. In his previous roles, Daniel Comte has always developed his ideas within larger organizations with up to 80 employees. However, the creative professional is pleased that, as part of a smaller team at Ping Pong, he now has a select group of people who are all pulling in the same direction with him.
«Is now a good time to start a new business?» That’s the question Jan Maurer and Daniel Comte have been asked by many well-meaning friends and even some more critical colleagues. «Of course, we considered whether we should postpone the launch a bit until a better future. But who knows when that will actually begin?» Besides, the timing was ideal—at least from a personal perspective.
Daniel Comte «called it quits» at the Draftfcb/Lowe Group this summer. Since 1994, the Executive Creative Director had served on the executive boards of various agencies. «That’s where I saw how it works.» Especially within the networks, he noted, this international background wasn’t always in the best interest of creativity. That’s why Comte now wanted to take the helm himself for the first time. «Otherwise, I probably would never have done it.»
Jan Maurer has already gone through the experience of founding an agency. «That certainly helped us with all the administrative tasks,» he says. The former managing director of Unikat was poached «from the other side» by client Ikea in 2010 to serve as head of marketing for Switzerland. Ikea’s country manager at the time wanted him to spearhead a revitalization of the brand. «That project is now well on its way, and Wirz Werbung has built on that success to launch a strong umbrella campaign.» However, Maurer was unable to muster much enthusiasm for continuing his work at IKEA after a newly appointed country manager began assigning «lower priority to marketing.» His former boss, who had served as Ikea’s global head of marketing before taking on his role in Switzerland, was more in line with the approach of creating advertising that was as distinctive as possible. Furthermore: «I’ve come to realize that I’m simply better suited to the creative side. But the experience I gained on the client side will help me immensely in understanding our own customers as well as possible,» Maurer is convinced.
Ping Pong already has its first two clients in its portfolio. In addition, two pitches were waiting for the moment when Comte and Maurer could start brainstorming new ideas not only at night but also during the day, starting in November. For all these projects, the concept of «owner-managed» is set to become a key selling point for collaborating with Ping Pong. The plan includes an «in-depth review» as well as early-stage workshops with the client.
Comte and Maurer are convinced that many companies have a genuine need for a closer relationship with their agencies. «Clients want a creative director and chief strategist who don’t just show up for the initial briefing and then send their assistants to handle the rest of the project.» Especially in «times of crisis,» many clients want to «reorient themselves.» This is where the two «young entrepreneurs in their prime» see a major opportunity for their agency, Ping Pong. It goes without saying that they work together seamlessly as a team. Daniel Comte and Jan Maurer have already worked together three times at different agencies over the course of their careers.
Daniel Comte entered the advertising industry after attending the Bern School of Applied Arts and completing an apprenticeship as a graphic designer. He gained his first professional experience in his hometown at Atelier Jaquet as a graphic designer and art director. In 1990, he moved to GGK Basel as an art director; later, he followed Reini Weber to WHS. He made his debut in the advertising mecca of Zurich in 1994 as a creative director and member of the executive board at Matter Leo Burnett. He went on to serve as Executive Creative Director and a member of the executive board at McCann Erickson, Advico Young & Rubicam, and, from 2008 until this summer, at the Draftfcb/Lowe Group. Prior to that, in 2007, Comte returned to Basel for a year as Creative Director and member of the Executive Board at Favo, until that agency was acquired by Scholz & Friends. Daniel Comte is a member of the ADC and has won over 300 national and international awards to date.
Jan Maurer grew up in Biel and, after attending business school in La Neuveville, began working as a junior consultant at Gschwind Promotion Biel. In 1988, he met Daniel Comte for the first time at Atelier Jaquet in Bern. In addition to consulting, Jan Maurer also worked there as a copywriter. In 1991, he took the plunge and moved abroad, becoming a consultant at GGK in Vienna. He went on to work at several agencies in Zurich starting in 1993, including Matter Leo Burnett, Bosch & Butz, WHS, Benker Steiner Matter, Metzger Lehner Briccola, and By Heart, where he became managing director and a member of the executive board for the first time in 2000. In 2002, Jan Maurer founded his first agency, Unikat, in Küsnacht together with Daniel Meier. In 2010, he moved to one of the agency’s clients, IKEA, as Head of Marketing for Switzerland. Over the course of his career, Jan Maurer also earned a Swiss Federal Diploma in Communications Management from Sawi, pursued further education in strategic marketing management at the University of St. Gallen, and last year completed his MBA in Marketing at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Andreas Panzeri
Daniel Comte.
