The door opener
Simon Hubacher has a wealth of expertise. He hopes to put as much of it to use as possible at the PR agency Peter Bütikofer Company.
Simon Hubacher has a rucksack full of know-how. He hopes to be able to use as much of it as possible at the PR agency Peter Bütikofer Company.quite a few people were surprised when the long-standing journalist and employee of Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey joined a PR agency on September 1. For Simon Hubacher, joining Peter Bütikofer and his company in Zurich is a logical development: "The combination of experience as a journalist and in administration in the Federal Palace is an ideal prerequisite for working in public affairs. I'm looking for a good mix of everything I've done so far. I can bring that to bear here and try to let clients benefit from it." Exercising power is not a goal
The new Head of Public Affairs at Bütikofer can contribute a good network and has in-depth knowledge of political mechanisms. "Let's see what comes of it," he says. However, he is not interested in exercising political power in the background or having great influence in the economy. "Even as a journalist, that wasn't my intention," he says - although Hubacher has repeatedly written trenchant commentaries in the SonntagsZeitung and Blick newspapers. It was also not his goal as a PR consultant to do something for which he should actually have become a politician himself. However, this has never been an option for the son of political veteran Helmut Hubacher. "I don't have the patience it takes. I can also fly off the handle."
Hubacher's move to Bütikofer is already his second entry into the PR industry. He started his own business in 2002. At the time, he felt he was at a crossroads with the newspapers. "I had exhausted it and wanted a change." However, it was to be a change in which the family man with two school-age children would not have to go back to school himself for years, but could "start something new with existing skills".
As the journalist had already been asked for PR advice from time to time during his time at SonntagsBlick, Blick, Facts and SonntagsZeitung, but was never able to take on these jobs as an employee, his move into communications consulting finally forced itself upon him. Ironically, his goal of one day having an office with three partners was thwarted by his success with one of his first clients.
Two months before her election to the Federal Council, Micheline Calmy-Rey hired Simon Hubacher as a media consultant. "The aim was to make her name better known in German-speaking Switzerland." The politician needed someone who "knew the market and the scenes and could act as a door opener". The future Federal Councillor knew exactly what she wanted. Hubacher's idea was to present the media with a mix of political statements and private matters. The advisor knew: "If she only comes across as a rational figure, then it will be difficult." And he is a little proud that this mix "still makes up Calmy-Rey's strong personality today".
As a thank you, Simon Hubacher was appointed as a personal assistant to the Head of the Information Service at the FDFA after the election. His own PR office was closed again, although he knew that he only wanted to spend a certain amount of time commuting between his family in Bonstetten and Bern.
Cab driver in Basel, chef at the alternative Engel Kulturbeiz in Ottenbach and finally trainee at the now defunct Basler AZ were the "important years of searching instead of apprenticeship" before Simon Hubacher passed the entrance exam to the Ringier journalism school at the young age of 21. "Then I realized: this was my path."
Halifax book as a milestone
Hubacher first completed the Ringier carousel and then moved to Tamedia. He considers the Halifax report, where his department at Facts "took the lead" in the critical analysis of the causes of the accident, to be one of his journalistic milestones. Together with Tim van Beveren, Hubacher also wrote a book on these sensitive issues, which was "not only met with joy" at Swissair. However, the investigation report ultimately proved the journalists right.
With this kind of experience, Hubacher will also be deployed in disciplines such as crisis communication in his new role. "I'm open to everything," he says, although he naturally "brings more to the table in public affairs than in other areas".
What makes Hubacher excited about all this work is that the Peter Bütikofer Company is "in an exciting phase". Interesting mandates, lots of orders, number three in the ranking and "a good drive with lots of young talent".
An expert on political mechanisms: Simon Hubacher, the new Head of Public Affairs at the Peter Bütikofer Company.
Andreas Panzeri
The new Head of Public Affairs at Bütikofer can contribute a good network and has in-depth knowledge of political mechanisms. "Let's see what comes of it," he says. However, he is not interested in exercising political power in the background or having great influence in the economy. "Even as a journalist, that wasn't my intention," he says - although Hubacher has repeatedly written trenchant commentaries in the SonntagsZeitung and Blick newspapers. It was also not his goal as a PR consultant to do something for which he should actually have become a politician himself. However, this has never been an option for the son of political veteran Helmut Hubacher. "I don't have the patience it takes. I can also fly off the handle."
Hubacher's move to Bütikofer is already his second entry into the PR industry. He started his own business in 2002. At the time, he felt he was at a crossroads with the newspapers. "I had exhausted it and wanted a change." However, it was to be a change in which the family man with two school-age children would not have to go back to school himself for years, but could "start something new with existing skills".
As the journalist had already been asked for PR advice from time to time during his time at SonntagsBlick, Blick, Facts and SonntagsZeitung, but was never able to take on these jobs as an employee, his move into communications consulting finally forced itself upon him. Ironically, his goal of one day having an office with three partners was thwarted by his success with one of his first clients.
Two months before her election to the Federal Council, Micheline Calmy-Rey hired Simon Hubacher as a media consultant. "The aim was to make her name better known in German-speaking Switzerland." The politician needed someone who "knew the market and the scenes and could act as a door opener". The future Federal Councillor knew exactly what she wanted. Hubacher's idea was to present the media with a mix of political statements and private matters. The advisor knew: "If she only comes across as a rational figure, then it will be difficult." And he is a little proud that this mix "still makes up Calmy-Rey's strong personality today".
As a thank you, Simon Hubacher was appointed as a personal assistant to the Head of the Information Service at the FDFA after the election. His own PR office was closed again, although he knew that he only wanted to spend a certain amount of time commuting between his family in Bonstetten and Bern.
Cab driver in Basel, chef at the alternative Engel Kulturbeiz in Ottenbach and finally trainee at the now defunct Basler AZ were the "important years of searching instead of apprenticeship" before Simon Hubacher passed the entrance exam to the Ringier journalism school at the young age of 21. "Then I realized: this was my path."
Halifax book as a milestone
Hubacher first completed the Ringier carousel and then moved to Tamedia. He considers the Halifax report, where his department at Facts "took the lead" in the critical analysis of the causes of the accident, to be one of his journalistic milestones. Together with Tim van Beveren, Hubacher also wrote a book on these sensitive issues, which was "not only met with joy" at Swissair. However, the investigation report ultimately proved the journalists right.
With this kind of experience, Hubacher will also be deployed in disciplines such as crisis communication in his new role. "I'm open to everything," he says, although he naturally "brings more to the table in public affairs than in other areas".
What makes Hubacher excited about all this work is that the Peter Bütikofer Company is "in an exciting phase". Interesting mandates, lots of orders, number three in the ranking and "a good drive with lots of young talent".
An expert on political mechanisms: Simon Hubacher, the new Head of Public Affairs at the Peter Bütikofer Company.
Andreas Panzeri
