Agency check: Tincan
Agency dog? Maternity leave? Overtime? Working from home? In our «Agency Check» section, we put Swiss agencies through their paces. This time, we’re focusing on Tincan.
- Agency Name: Tincan
- Legal form: Public limited company
- Establishment date: February 12, 2013
- Founder: Peter Niederberger, Raphael Willi
- Current partners: Baris Erdal, Marc Odermatt, Raphael Willi, Peter Niederberger
- Number of employees: 22
- Current clientele: over 200 Swiss brands
- Agency address: Field park 17, 6300 Zug
(as of September 12, 2023)
Which campaign from the past twelve months are you particularly proud of?
We pursue the goal of inspiring with every mission and are therefore proud of all our campaigns. In recent months, we have certainly been particularly challenged by the Zug Trade Fair 2022 - with marketing concept, planning and implementation, media relations, trade fair newspaper, website maintenance and the entire social media support. And this year, the Zug Fair is once again an absolute highlight in the calendar.
The most important campaign in agency history to date - and why?
Our own "never ending story". From our creative ideas and cheeky implementations, we also always draw many inspiring approaches for the campaigns of our clientele.
The most unusual place where your creatives retreat to be creative?
To keep our ideas flowing, we make almost anything possible for our employees. Some work from the mountains or on the beach in Mexico, others have the best ideas at the Töggelkasten in our Creative Cube, and still others are inspired by a three-month creative break on a trip around the world. And we also explore new places together where ideas bubble up: On the occasion of our Workation this summer in northern Italy, we were able to cool our creative heads in the lake and pool.
What do you do when you have thought blocks?
To solve creative problems, we rely on our swarm knowledge and efficient ideation. One of our favorite brainstorming variants is the Crazy 8. What also provides good food for thought is a look at other industries and countries: How do comparable companies there deal with this challenge, what works well and what not so well? Marketeers can benefit incredibly much from the knowledge of others, be inspired and learn from mistakes that have already been made. This is one of the reasons why our podcast Brand table was created: Every month, we sit down with two companies from a particular industry to talk about their marketing - and hope to reach many of our colleagues who will be inspired by this and be able to release their mental blocks.
What is your agency philosophy?
We never think and work one-dimensionally. With a lot of passion and combined forces, we stand for cross-media missions that inspire. It is important to us to be close to our customers and to advise them honestly and transparently.
Why should talented people definitely come to work for you?
With our locations in the heart of Central Switzerland and in the center of Zurich, we act as a flexible, dynamic and modern agency for clients from various industries, of different sizes and with a broad regional distribution. We don't rest on projects we've already won, we always want to stay on the ball and see challenges as opportunities. At our company, employees can help shape the agency, the business areas and the range of services - and thus have a great deal of room for maneuver not only in their projects, but also in our organization.
How long do employees stay with you on average?
There is also a certain fluctuation among us: Some leave us to complete their studies, others are looking for a new challenge or take time off to travel the world. However, we are very pleased that we can already count on many veterans in relation to our young company history.
How old is your youngest employee, and how old is your oldest?
As long as you're curious, age can't hurt you. And for those who want to know exactly: 21 & 44.
How high are the wages you pay compared to the industry average?
As an up-and-coming young company, we are not quite at the industry average yet, which we want to reach in the next one to two years. All our profits flow directly into the salaries and growth of our agency.
What is the ratio between the best and the worst paid employee?
2:3.
Do employees know among themselves who earns how much?
No. We do not disclose the exact individual salary information, but we rely on a transparent salary model with various fringe benefits.
How much overtime do you work on average per week?
Overtime is also part of our everyday working life. However, all employees record their working hours and can compensate the difference to the target value.
What benefits do you offer to compensate your employees for this overtime?
With us, work is not simply done so that one has worked. Instead, the focus is on personal interest and the pursuit of successful, creative and inspiring results. We therefore offer Tincanaut:innen a lot of room to bring in their own passion and the opportunity to work out a suitable offer. Thanks to the flat hierarchies, everyone can help shape the agency and organize themselves according to their needs thanks to Flexwork.
How long do you get maternity leave and how long paternity leave?
14 weeks for the mothers and two weeks for the fathers.
How does the agency handle home offices?
Our employees are free to decide where they want to work. However, we recommend 50 percent office presence to strengthen team spirit.
What is the current quota of women?
50 percent.
Do you employ interns?
Yes. We offer various internships and respond spontaneously to blind applications. Our goal is always to employ people permanently after the internship.
Do you organize team events?
Yes - and pick up every preference in the process: be it workouts, action excursions to theme and escape parks, office parties or educational brown-bag lunches over lunch.
Do you have an agency dog or other mascot?
Tincy - who we also launched as NFT! But also dogs of customers and employees are welcome and provide the woof effect in between.
Where do you drink your after-work beer?
With us in the Creative Cube, with customers after successful project completion and, since June 2023, also in our Creative Station right in the Zurich Enge.
(updated: September 12, 2023)
