Anniversary: 10 Years of Monami – Then and Now

m&k How has your agency changed over the past 10 years, and how has the social media industry changed in general?

Tim Schärer It’s hard to believe, but we’ve actually grown up (laughs). While we used to be a wild bunch with even wilder ideas, today we try to strike the ideal balance between that craziness and the professionalism required these days. We’re always saying how lucky we are to be able to evolve alongside the social business movement. Our greatest advantage is knowing where everything we have today comes from. Manuela: Especially in the last few years, we’ve invested a tremendous amount in our processes, our organizational structure, our strategic planning, and our production quality. And alongside our ideas, it’s precisely these investments that help us win our pitches today. Fortunately, we really enjoy change—we need trends to breathe—so the ongoing transformation doesn’t hurt at all. On the contrary, we’re almost glad when something new comes along every now and then, and we can dive right into it together with our clients. Everyone who works with us is fundamentally curious—then as now.

What can you expect in the future? How will Monami continue to evolve, and how will the market develop?

Manuela Brunner AI is, of course, changing a lot of things, especially in our business. But we don’t want to let that drive us crazy; instead, we’ve been taking advantage of the benefits it offers us from day one. We want to focus more on real thinking, a high degree of creativity, problem-solving, and guidance—and less on what AI is replacing. Of course, we think it’s great that AI helps us continue to refine our processes, but we never even want to consider, for example, eliminating jobs because of it. Common sense is and will always be at the center—for us, our clients, and our employees. Tim: That’s a super important point! Our employees. We’ve always been lucky to have great people on our team—people who want to shape the agency and our business. And so, almost every week, initiatives emerge—including from our employees—that help our agency evolve. As an agency, we want to increasingly foster entrepreneurial thinking and, along with that, the way we collaborate with our clients. It’s no longer just about having the best idea for a cool TikTok video; it’s about putting together the holistic solution—the ideal strategy, the right tools, KPIs, and information—that drives the markets and communities of the brands we serve.

How do you generally approach the topic of innovation?

Come to our Monami Lab and see for yourself! Since we’ve noticed that the social business landscape undergoes significant disruption every year, we’ve created a space that puts innovation at the center. Want to know how AI is transforming your processes or content? Let’s take a look! Want to take social commerce to the next level in Switzerland, too? Let’s try a few things out! We want to take action. Because action makes a difference. Tim: Whether you want to challenge your content with AI, automate data for reporting, streamline information processes in general, or replace overpriced tools. Or if you want to challenge your team structure: We’ll examine the strategy behind it and develop new solutions together with our clients. We’re not an agency that claims to be able to do everything. But we do claim that, together, we’ll figure it all out.

You're part of the MYTY universe—how do you collaborate with individual agencies?

TS We’ve been part of MYTY for over 3 years now. We’d be lying if we said everything stayed the same. We now have “siblings”! Sometimes we benefit from them more, sometimes less. We’re closer to certain agencies for business reasons—for example, Sesamy, Sir Mary, or CRK—and less so to others. But even with agencies whose areas of expertise are somewhat outside our own, we work together to figure out how to come up with better solutions for our clients. Manuela: Because an outside perspective or different kinds of experience sometimes lead to the best and most innovative solutions. For example, with Norisk and their e-commerce expertise. Or SHAPE, with their exceptionally strong technology and AI know-how. And when it comes to brand-related questions—which aren’t quite so far removed from our business anymore—we enjoy exchanging ideas with Strichpunkt. Because we love to think big. Even if, stereotypically speaking, you might think our business, with all its content pieces, is primarily made up of small, detailed elements (laughs).

How do you approach the topic of strategy and social media?

MB These days, you can’t have one without the other. Social media has largely become a consultative and data-driven business: What should I do with my community, and on which channels? Which trends will help me achieve organic growth, and which ones should I avoid? How do I generate leads? Where do I offer real added value? What is my brand’s voice? Tim: And those are by no means all the questions we encounter. We enjoy working with our clients over the long term, evolving alongside them. We go through the ups and downs together. Data and a smart strategy help us maintain a clear overview and keep finding new paths forward.

How do you approach creativity?

TS Monami has always been known for its crazy ideas. We’re incredibly curious, and our ambition is always to know more about our clients’ businesses than they do themselves. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s an important goal. Manuela: Here, too—especially in the age of AI—we have to actively fight against the homogenization of ideas and implementations. That way, we can use the time we free up to find the best ideas. We do this with passion. Targeted rituals help us, and once again: processes. Tim: And then we can also avoid letting AI clutter our minds.

People say that social media agencies are the new lead generation agencies. Is that true? And if so, how do you plan to address that?

MB Having worked for many years at influential advertising agencies, I can absolutely confirm this. We do have to be a little careful not to get too cerebral in the social media space and end up producing strategy white papers that are simply no longer relevant. Also, the agency-client dynamic is more similar to what it used to be in traditional agencies. Back then, our social media clients trusted us much more and simply “let us do our thing,” which fostered unique and crazy ideas and encouraged “trial and error.” Today, we have to be careful to maintain a healthy balance between reason and creativity. Our clients also need to work on not trying to control everything—or, rather, to consider which parts of our work their budget should really be allocated to. Tim: We’re noticing that our clients—like us—are becoming more and more professional. That also means we have to strengthen our consulting skills. We need to make our case more thoroughly, because social media has generally become more important in the marketing mix. But we’re also happy that we get to think more and more in 360°. Does Monami do posters, TV ads, and events? Absolutely—we’ve actually always done the latter, and with great passion. Here, too, our biggest advantage is that we haven’t done everything before. When you do something new, you simply think more creatively. And our clients can then reconnect with us. I think it’s easier to slow down than to push forward!

What industries do your customers come from?

TS We serve a diverse mix of clients from a wide range of industries: telecommunications, banking, pharmaceuticals, beauty, tourism, higher education, transportation, politics, food and beverages, insurance, security… We’re not afraid of complex topics. And so there are also some B2B projects or topics where, at first glance, you wouldn’t make the connection to us. But that’s exactly where the beauty of it all lies. Manuela: Exactly! We’ve really been able to build an incredible client portfolio over the past few years. Both in Switzerland and in Germany. And we still don’t talk about it nearly enough! Because, honestly, we’re so proud. We absolutely have to change that. So stay tuned to see what stories we’ll be writing with our clients soon. Because even after 10 years, we still think: we’re just getting started.