Career in large format
Whether at APG, in the choir or at the stove: Ivan Schultheiss makes sure that nothing gets out of hand.
Whether at APG, in the choir or at the stove: Ivan Schultheiss makes sure that nothing gets out of hand Whether at APG, in the choir or at the stove: Ivan Schultheiss makes sure that nothing gets out of hand.
A turbulent time awaits Ivan Schultheiss. Outside his office window on Giesshübelstrasse in Zurich, construction work will soon begin on a new business and cultural center on the site of the former Sihl paper mill. And in his own office, too, the tradesmen will soon be busy. The Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG) wants to rebuild. The offices, which are spread over different floors, are to be modernized and better connected architecturally.
You could say it was a symbolic act, as APG also implemented the personnel consequences of the reorganization in the sales area at the beginning of April. The changes had already been announced in August 2003. At that time, Ivan Schultheiss took up his position as Head of Key Account Management at APG.
As planned, he is now taking over as national sales manager. Under this leadership, seven new branch locations and a good dozen offices for the various regions of Switzerland have been structured. According to APG, this marks a generational change. Ivan Schultheiss replaces Rolf Chiarini on the Executive Board, who retired at the end of
Hollenstein will retire on June 2004. Key Account Management and Sales in the Zurich region will also be headed by Beat Hollenstein.
Competition in the poster business has become "extremely fierce", according to Schultheiss. A new competitor has emerged in the form of US multinational Clear Channel Plakanda. The only way to win over customers is to see them as partners. This customer proximity will be increasingly sought in the future.
Anyone who talks to APG's new sales manager quickly senses that planning and goal-oriented work are central to Schultheiss. "Setting milestones" is part of his working style. After training as an advertising assistant, he gave himself exactly until the age of 28 to complete his federal diploma in advertising management.
One challenge after another
When Ivan Schultheiss was faced with his career choice, he had to decide between teacher training or a commercial apprenticeship. At the time, "jobs in banks were all the hype," he recalls. However, Schultheiss sensed that the advertising industry might interest him more. So he did his commercial apprenticeship at Publicitas in St. Gallen. He was then able to take a further step towards advertising as an advertising assistant at the headquarters of electronics and appliance retailer Fust in Oberuzwil. "Because my boss became a mother and was only in the store on Monday afternoons, I was allowed to manage the store independently at a very young age," he recalls. At that time, Fust had quite a large budget to manage in the print sector. Schultheiss matured on the job for four years, then he wanted to improve his English in London.
Back in Switzerland, he became a junior consultant at Sulzer Sutter. Then came the P. He worked in a competence center for management contracts at the general management in Zurich. This later brought him to the Basler Zeitung and finally to Jean Frey in 1999. Here, Schultheiss was in charge of advertising for Weltwoche for four years. "It was a difficult time. But with the relaunch under Roger Köppel, the job became very exciting and the new product soon took off again."
The challenge is different at APG. "In this company, which is accustomed to success, you know that you have to make things happen." The challenge in a healthy company is therefore just as great as in a business where you have to fight for survival.
In no other European country is as much money spent on posters as in Switzerland compared to other media. According to Schultheiss, this requires intelligent and convincing overall concepts, not uncontrolled growth.
As a rule, expiring city contracts lead to public tenders and new poster concepts. Although the authorities are now also aware that CCP will appeal against a negative decision, APG has won all major city concessions in recent years. "Apparently it is still the case that neutrally composed commissions rate APG's bids as better," says Schultheiss.
However, at the beginning of his work in the new industry, the new sales manager lacked content when selling posters. At a newspaper like Weltwoche, it was an argument as to which articles he was allowed to specify as the environment for the advertisements. Now it's all about space and size. "Now you sit there and wonder what you should say to customers," muses Schultheiss.
The goal is constant innovation
Large sums are invested in posters, so as a consultant you have to show flexibility. With the exception of the prism turners, all innovations in the poster medium come from APG. "Rollingstars" is the name of the new illuminated posters in the largest stations. Another new feature is the option of variable display duration. Schultheiss is "convinced that the poster as a medium is far from exhausted". People are becoming increasingly mobile. Contacts can be generated where others cannot. "You can't avoid the poster," he knows.
Schultheiss wants to generate the kind of sales again that were achieved in the big years. Although he knows that there will no longer be an automatic boom year when national and multinational brands fight each other in public on billboards. The rules of the RTVA will also become a challenge if local television and radio stations are opened up to other sectors.
To ensure that there is no possibility of conflicts of interest in such
questions, Schultheiss has since given up his previous teaching position. It would be too disreputable for him if an APG sales manager were to teach young people media strategy. However, he remains committed to the board of the IAA Young Chapter. He finds this international network of advertising agencies very valuable for bringing together new ideas and interesting people and also getting to know them himself.
Getting people talking to each other is also the intention when Schultheiss cooks an elaborate five-course meal to relax and invites a wide variety of guests. Sometimes he even speaks Finnish. "After two years of lessons, I can at least just about understand the gist of a discussion," reveals Schultheiss, who lives with a Finnish fashion designer. The language from the far north has 16 different cases. Of course, the annual hitchhiking trip through the Finnish forests is one of his fixed rituals. What is more unusual, however, is that Schultheiss also actively sings in a Finnish choir. "That actually exists in Zurich," he replies to the astonished question. However, they don't just sing folk songs, but also classical music.
Ivan Schultheiss, APG's new Head of Sales Switzerland, has ambitious plans, but his style is "setting milestones".
Andreas Panzeri
A turbulent time awaits Ivan Schultheiss. Outside his office window on Giesshübelstrasse in Zurich, construction work will soon begin on a new business and cultural center on the site of the former Sihl paper mill. And in his own office, too, the tradesmen will soon be busy. The Allgemeine Plakatgesellschaft (APG) wants to rebuild. The offices, which are spread over different floors, are to be modernized and better connected architecturally.
You could say it was a symbolic act, as APG also implemented the personnel consequences of the reorganization in the sales area at the beginning of April. The changes had already been announced in August 2003. At that time, Ivan Schultheiss took up his position as Head of Key Account Management at APG.
As planned, he is now taking over as national sales manager. Under this leadership, seven new branch locations and a good dozen offices for the various regions of Switzerland have been structured. According to APG, this marks a generational change. Ivan Schultheiss replaces Rolf Chiarini on the Executive Board, who retired at the end of
Hollenstein will retire on June 2004. Key Account Management and Sales in the Zurich region will also be headed by Beat Hollenstein.
Competition in the poster business has become "extremely fierce", according to Schultheiss. A new competitor has emerged in the form of US multinational Clear Channel Plakanda. The only way to win over customers is to see them as partners. This customer proximity will be increasingly sought in the future.
Anyone who talks to APG's new sales manager quickly senses that planning and goal-oriented work are central to Schultheiss. "Setting milestones" is part of his working style. After training as an advertising assistant, he gave himself exactly until the age of 28 to complete his federal diploma in advertising management.
One challenge after another
When Ivan Schultheiss was faced with his career choice, he had to decide between teacher training or a commercial apprenticeship. At the time, "jobs in banks were all the hype," he recalls. However, Schultheiss sensed that the advertising industry might interest him more. So he did his commercial apprenticeship at Publicitas in St. Gallen. He was then able to take a further step towards advertising as an advertising assistant at the headquarters of electronics and appliance retailer Fust in Oberuzwil. "Because my boss became a mother and was only in the store on Monday afternoons, I was allowed to manage the store independently at a very young age," he recalls. At that time, Fust had quite a large budget to manage in the print sector. Schultheiss matured on the job for four years, then he wanted to improve his English in London.
Back in Switzerland, he became a junior consultant at Sulzer Sutter. Then came the P. He worked in a competence center for management contracts at the general management in Zurich. This later brought him to the Basler Zeitung and finally to Jean Frey in 1999. Here, Schultheiss was in charge of advertising for Weltwoche for four years. "It was a difficult time. But with the relaunch under Roger Köppel, the job became very exciting and the new product soon took off again."
The challenge is different at APG. "In this company, which is accustomed to success, you know that you have to make things happen." The challenge in a healthy company is therefore just as great as in a business where you have to fight for survival.
In no other European country is as much money spent on posters as in Switzerland compared to other media. According to Schultheiss, this requires intelligent and convincing overall concepts, not uncontrolled growth.
As a rule, expiring city contracts lead to public tenders and new poster concepts. Although the authorities are now also aware that CCP will appeal against a negative decision, APG has won all major city concessions in recent years. "Apparently it is still the case that neutrally composed commissions rate APG's bids as better," says Schultheiss.
However, at the beginning of his work in the new industry, the new sales manager lacked content when selling posters. At a newspaper like Weltwoche, it was an argument as to which articles he was allowed to specify as the environment for the advertisements. Now it's all about space and size. "Now you sit there and wonder what you should say to customers," muses Schultheiss.
The goal is constant innovation
Large sums are invested in posters, so as a consultant you have to show flexibility. With the exception of the prism turners, all innovations in the poster medium come from APG. "Rollingstars" is the name of the new illuminated posters in the largest stations. Another new feature is the option of variable display duration. Schultheiss is "convinced that the poster as a medium is far from exhausted". People are becoming increasingly mobile. Contacts can be generated where others cannot. "You can't avoid the poster," he knows.
Schultheiss wants to generate the kind of sales again that were achieved in the big years. Although he knows that there will no longer be an automatic boom year when national and multinational brands fight each other in public on billboards. The rules of the RTVA will also become a challenge if local television and radio stations are opened up to other sectors.
To ensure that there is no possibility of conflicts of interest in such
questions, Schultheiss has since given up his previous teaching position. It would be too disreputable for him if an APG sales manager were to teach young people media strategy. However, he remains committed to the board of the IAA Young Chapter. He finds this international network of advertising agencies very valuable for bringing together new ideas and interesting people and also getting to know them himself.
Getting people talking to each other is also the intention when Schultheiss cooks an elaborate five-course meal to relax and invites a wide variety of guests. Sometimes he even speaks Finnish. "After two years of lessons, I can at least just about understand the gist of a discussion," reveals Schultheiss, who lives with a Finnish fashion designer. The language from the far north has 16 different cases. Of course, the annual hitchhiking trip through the Finnish forests is one of his fixed rituals. What is more unusual, however, is that Schultheiss also actively sings in a Finnish choir. "That actually exists in Zurich," he replies to the astonished question. However, they don't just sing folk songs, but also classical music.
Ivan Schultheiss, APG's new Head of Sales Switzerland, has ambitious plans, but his style is "setting milestones".
Andreas Panzeri