Comeback with filled backpack
Maxomedia's management team is back in full force: Simon Muster has been serving as head of consulting since January. It's a comeback, as the IT and marketing specialist has previously worked for Bernhard Herzig's agency.
Simon Muster started his career in the online world as a programmer in the media house of the Berner Zeitung. To this end, he had the goal of studying at the ETH. However, as he correctly assessed at the time, at the beginning of the new millennium the potential of digital communication was not yet properly recognized by all market participants. Muster therefore decided to "turn it around" and first study business administration and marketing in St.Gallen. "With the ulterior motive that I then want to apply my knowledge in the digital field at the right time." His strategy was "to be double-tracked": to have a technical understanding of the Internet and at the same time understand the mechanisms of marketing. In order to also learn about the practical aspects of the industry, Simon Muster worked at a small Basel-based agency alongside his studies. At Swift Management AG, he designed websites and also managed the first web stores. "My job was to drive traffic." These experiences led him to Maxomedia for the first time in 2010. "At the forefront of online development, I was very happy as a consultant in this pioneering agency. " Then, however, came an offer from Nike that he just couldn't refuse.
In summer 2011, Simon Muster joined the Swiss branch of Nike Sportswear as brand manager. Based in Bassersdorf, he was responsible for brand management in Switzerland. Muster was responsible for marketing the lifestyle segment and the market launch of Action Sports. Nike had set out to conquer the snow and skateboard scene in Switzerland. Accordingly, marketing had to act cautiously. "The snobs are a very critical target group. On the one hand, we had to win over the opinion leaders. On the other hand, we also wanted to supply the masses. But the whole scene is not only very brand-savvy, but also brand-critical. It's easy to show opposition when a big brand comes from the U.S." Simon Muster built up a community and organized "Grass Roots" events for the grass roots. For his persuasion work, he was able to rely not only on legendary names with world championship titles. He also had access to "a great media budget with cinema spots and TV campaigns.
The brand manager has "learned a lot" in this responsibility. Also what a strong corporate culture means. "It certainly has a lot of positive aspects when everyone is pulling in the same direction and you know what you have to do." On the other hand, lateral thinkers are at a loss, he says. "In the large-scale operations of an international brand, all ideas are subject to corporate policy."
For a little more than a year, Muster enjoyed this "battle against windmills". With his activities, he was also able to show interesting figures in the area of sales. Nevertheless, he was finally lured back to a task where he could live out a bit more creative freedom. One such oasis was the Republica in Bern. In this "land of inspiration" (self-advertisement), Simon Muster worked as a strategic planner and member of the management team from the fall of 2012. Among his important clients was the Schlittschuh Club Bern. The SCB team had just won another championship title and, following this success, wanted to celebrate a little more "offensively " in the digital world as well.
The most successful ice hockey club in Europe in the winter of 2013 "had no problem filling its stadium. 97 percent capacity during the qualifying rounds and 99 percent during the playoffs. "But: In this environment, the sponsorship offer is exhausted at some point," Muster calculated. And when all the boards and places on the helmets are "sold", the only thing left to do is to expand into the net. Simon Muster was in charge of this project. His challenge: "We needed content that worked, and for the community to have the most exclusive access to the team possible." The solution was a digital strategy that delivers channel-specific content. For example, an app for mobile. This picked up fans at away games. Or digital TV with behind-the-scenes footage, in which sponsors could also be included. "Added value for the fans, instead of clumsy advertising".
Tried and tested rope teams
Such tasks and their results made Simon Muster "very happy" at Republica. It was therefore difficult for him when Bernhard Herzig made him another offer to work for Maxomedia. But at the same time, it was also a comeback to the agency that he had been reluctant to leave because of Nike. "Clients and employees were waiting who I still remembered very well." Simon Muster has now been working at Maxomedia since January 2014 as head of consulting and member of the management team. "When I first came here, as Swiss pioneers of online advertising, we were the only agency that wanted to become more classic. We have since succeeded in this, while most classic agencies are still trying to become more digital," says Muster, summarizing the development. For the two-track experienced, this set-up forms the ideal environment in which he can develop further cross-media in the future with full strength and in the truest sense of the word. His goal: "To continue to be smiled at because we're sometimes a little ahead of the times, as we were when Maxomedia was founded.
Andreas Panzeri
WW: In 1996, you founded Maxomedia together with Roman Hirsbrunner. Since then, the two-man garage business has grown into a full-service agency with over 50 people. What was the biggest driver for this success?
Bernhard Herzig: We founded the agency with the conviction that classic and digital communication would unite. This influenced the development of the agency, not only in terms of the creative process, but also in terms of organization and culture. Over the past 17 years, the changes in the media landscape and in society have played into our hands. The team spirit was also important: Roman and I were already good friends back then, complemented each other and still shared a vision.
Bernhard Herzig on his digital past: "The idea has to be good. The fact that it also has to work in the digital world is a requirement of the times, not of me personally."
Was there any significant resistance for Maxomedia in the course of development?
Yes, especially at the beginning. We first had to assert ourselves in the industry. After all, we weren't classic advertisers and didn't have broad agency experience. We also didn't have access to a helpful network of contacts at the beginning. It wasn't always easy to gain the trust of customers in this situation.
Why can Maxomedia rightly be called a pioneering Swiss online agency?
For us, as early as 1996, the communications perspective was more important than the technology perspective when dealing with the digital world. It is true that one of our goals was to master communicative challenges by using innovative technologies - but not as an IT company, but as a communications agency.
How and where did you acquire your online communication skills?
Most important are the countless experiences, large and small, that I have been able to make in the course of the projects over the years. But external inputs were also an important source, for example studies, seminars, congresses or blogs. Over time, the opportunities to expand one's knowledge increased enormously here. Today, the big challenge is to make a meaningful selection.
What do you personally see as your most important professional successes?
From a business perspective, that Maxomedia exists in its current form and that the agency holds its own in the market. For me, professional success is when I see that we continue to develop in our projects - in outstanding peaks, but also in small things, in everyday life. Last year, winning the Lion in Cannes was a personal milestone that we had long dreamed of achieving.
When did you realize that Maxomedia could one day become the agency it is today?
In this regard, I remember, among other things, the atmosphere and the conversations with our customers and employees on the occasion of our 10th anniversary chilbi in 2006. This spirit and energy inspired us at that time and helped us to achieve the boost that we experienced in the following years.
What has changed since you took over as sole director last October?
The goal of the change in management was not to fundamentally change the agency. And of course it's not the case that I run the agency on my own, but together with the other members of the GL. Nevertheless, not everything has remained completely the same, since the groove and the climate are shaped by the characters in the GL. We have also taken the personnel changes as an opportunity to update our work processes a bit, for example.
You were "Head of Digital" in the earlier days. Now your responsibilities as Managing Director have become more comprehensive, at least in title. What has changed for you?
My tasks have effectively changed. As Head of Digital, I was more deeply involved in more projects, and my day-to-day contribution was very operational. Today, that has shifted somewhat: The focus has become more holistic on a day-to-day basis. And of course I represent the agency more often externally. But I am still involved in our projects. And I want to keep it that way.
