Allianz Swissness International

Agencies Kurt Schmid and Peter Leutenegger have united Lowe Switzerland and FCB Leutenegger Krüll under the umbrella of DRAFTFCB.WW: The last few months had to bring new perspectives for Lowe Switzerland. Why did the management buyout not happen? Kurt Schmid: The opportunity was there. But I came to the conclusion that it was a better idea to enter into this alliance with Peter Leutenegger. With the MBO, we would have remained a traditional agency. But my aim was to become more diverse. What's more, Peter and I get on very well. We realized this when he was president of BSW before me and I was vice president at the same time. WW: What does this alliance mean? Schmid: You have to imagine it like an airline. You share certain services. The important thing for us is that everyone can continue to maintain their strengths. It is also important for customers that they have the same contacts. I am responsible for strategy in the Services division. Peter Leutenegger is responsible for overarching management tasks and finances. Leutenegger: Advertising will change even more drastically. It is moving more and more from traditional advertising to other areas. You need a certain size and resources within an agency to be able to keep up. If we do this together with Lowe, we have more opportunities.WW: The Leutenegger name has disappeared. Leutenegger: That wasn't a difficult decision. With your own name, you are seen as a very local agency, you "go to Leutenegger". If you remove private names, you are no longer dependent on individuals, but become a team. That was right for me.WW: Lowe, on the other hand, is staying. Schmid: I still have very close ties with Lowe. We have a very large client that we will soon be able to announce, where there is close cooperation between Lowe New York, London and Zurich. This networking is a given, and it is still the condition that I can keep the name. Lowe has achieved the turnaround, internationally - and clearly intends to retain the Lowe brand as a top creative agency in this IPG network.Leutenegger: I am also very happy that Keith Loell, Lowe's CD, is involved. He and Lowe bring an international component to our Swiss agency.WW: Lowe is moving to Wallisellen. Is there enough space there? Leutenegger: We have room for 100 people at the Mühle. We already have Initiative Media there, which also belongs to the same group. Personally, I would have liked to come to the city. But that would have been more expensive. WW: DRAFTFCB brings two alpha animals as equal partners. Is that possible? Schmid: There's the phrase "Leave the ego at the door". It's about the cause. We both see the point of this alliance and want it to work. We have different interests and strengths that we can use to our advantage. Leutenegger: Alliances in IT or art buying have been around for a long time. Our alliance now goes even further with shared finances and a shared location. We want to be a new generation of agencies. The form of the alliance is completely new. Airlines can no longer do without it. This could also be groundbreaking in terms of how agencies work together in the future.WW: Will there also be a joint CD? Leutenegger: At the moment that is the case, due to the departure of Mike Krüll. But we also have Patrick Lienert and will now see who exactly does what. The plan is to have a partially joint creation, and there will be separate heads representing the agencies.WW: Why has Mike Krüll left? Leutenegger: The agency, which was previously local, will come more under the influence of the network. Mike didn't want that. But we've worked together for 15 fantastic years and we're not going to part on bad terms. But sometimes there are developments: Andreas Panzeri