Westhive opens corporate innovation and growth marketing consulting firm

According to the announcement, the first substantial customers have already been signed up, with more to follow in the coming months.

Consulting instead of agency

So are they now competing with their former employer? "Yes and no," says Andreas Widmer, who formerly served as Y&R CEO. "Westhive Consulting focuses quite clearly on innovation and growth topics." And therefore deliberately does not call itself an agency, but - as the name Westhive Consulting says - a consulting firm for corporate innovation and growth marketing. "From the very beginning, the goal was to also move in the direction of marketing services with Westhive. At the same time, we were convinced that you don't find new success on old paths. That's why we deliberately focused on the coworking space at first." With success: the next expansion step of the coworking space to over 350 workstations has already been initiated.

Customer Centricity as a central starting point

Now a consulting firm for corporate innovation and growth marketing is being added. "Our big topic is customer centricity," Widmer continues. "Many companies are still very product-focused - and too busy with internal issues." They often lack a vision and an outside perspective. "Marketing is seen as a mere service and cost center. Yet successful innovation is impossible without marketing. We bring the customer perspective to innovation." Communication is also shifting toward customer centricity. The multitude of channels makes it increasingly difficult to reach new customers. At the same time, the increased use of ad space auctions is making it more and more expensive. This makes it all the more important to find out what really works - and to keep the customers once they have been won over and to inspire them again and again. Digital services and a perfect customer experience are critical success factors.

Structured process

Westhive Consulting has developed a structured process specifically for innovation topics. "There are typical reflexes in companies when it comes to innovation. We have often experienced these reflexes in our work" tells Claus Bornholt, Co-Founder of Westhive and former Y&R COO. "Our process starts right there. Because these reflexes are to be avoided at all costs. They prevent innovation and slow down the company. So, unfortunately, the status quo is often cemented with the best of intentions."

Perfect infrastructure in the Westhive Innovation Ecosystem

The Westhive Innovation Ecosystem offers the perfect infrastructure to work on innovation topics. After all, innovation is always the result of exchange - and that is part of the program at Westhive. "Our customers can work with us side by side on their problems, using the entire coworking space. We have thus further developed and perfected the co-creation that we introduced at Y&R back in the day" emphasizes Bornholt. "We bring our customers together with innovative startups or even organize a hackathon for tricky tasks - no other service provider in Switzerland can offer that in this form."

Consulting and implementation

Does the name Westhive Consulting also mean that the company only provides consulting services and no longer offers implementation? "On the contrary," says Bruno Rambaldi, who is responsible for the technological aspects of the offering. "We develop, test and implement entirely new business models and services with our clients. And with our local and out-of-town partners in the Westhive Ecosystem, we guarantee a successful and cost-effective implementation."

About Westhive Consulting

Westhive Consulting was founded as an independent public limited company by Westhive operators Andreas Widmer, Bruno Rambaldi and Claus Bornholt. Today, the company already employs ten people and is growing rapidly.

About Westhive Coworking

Westhive Coworking opened its first coworking location at Hardturmstrasse 161 in April 2018. The space comprises 180 workstations, a restaurant, an event location for over 100 people, and a versatile infrastructure for productive and creative work. Since June 2018, there has been a second location under the name "Westhive Library" at Brandschenkestrasse 90 in Zurich's Hürlimann Areal.

Further locations in Switzerland and abroad are being planned. Westhive differs from other coworking offerings in two main respects: on the one hand, Westhive focuses strongly on the innovation ecosystem and collaboration between startups, established companies and professionals. Secondly, Westhive has a thematic focus on marketing, technology and "customer centricity" - customer-oriented products, services and business models.

About the founders

Andreas Widmer founded Futurecom Interactive in 1996 after studying sociology. In the following years, he also assumed responsibility for the sister companies Wunderman and Y&R, which he successfully led as CEO under the joint umbrella of Y&R Group Switzerland for the past 10 years. Widmer is President of the Swiss Chapter of the International Advertising Association IAA and serves on the Board of Directors of the MCH Group and Walde & Partner Immobilien.

After holding various management positions in Swiss industrial companies, Bruno Rambaldi was most recently CTO of Y&R Group Switzerland. Rambaldi graduated in engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH and holds an MBA from the renowned business school INSEAD in Fontainebleau.

Claus Bornholt studied economics at the Université de Fribourg and, after holding various positions in international consumer goods marketing, moved into digital marketing and communications consulting. Together with Widmer and Rambaldi, he led Y&R Group Switzerland as COO until the end of 2017. Bornholt is a member of the Communications Council of ks/cs Kommunikation Switzerland and Vice President of the Internet Advertising Bureau IAB.