The dragon catcher

"You solve problems when they're there. Not before." So far, this motto has kept Melanie Schneider from thinking barriers. In her free time, the PR expert likes to travel, because that also broadens one's horizons. Her destinations don't necessarily have to be far away: For several years, Schneider has been discovering Switzerland on ever new tours through all the cantons. Water has a special attraction for her: "If there's a stream, a river or a lake somewhere, I can spend hours there and just enjoy it."

Melanie Schneider (39) actually wanted to become a dragon catcher. She was inspired to pursue this career by her father, a geologist who had discovered dinosaur tracks. But that's the way life goes: There is no job available in the dragon catching industry at the moment. That's why Schneider decides to go to business school first - the start of an impressively straightforward and diverse communications career. "I was eager to get a hands-on education, to dive right into the job," Schneider says. "That's why I decided against going to college." She finds her first job in 1990 at AWI Aussenwerbung Intensiv in Zurich. There she gains insight into marketing, advertising and the human resources department and eventually becomes assistant to the managing director. During this time, Schneider devotes herself to advertising in a particularly hands-on way: "I accompanied the billposters for a while and tried to stick posters myself," she says. "But unfortunately, I failed completely. The posters stuck everywhere but on the billboard. Nevertheless, it was exciting not only to look behind the commercial scenes of the company, but also to work 'outside'. I just like to grab and go."

In 1992, after two and a half years at AWI, Schneider felt the urge to go abroad. She spent a year in Paris learning "the most beautiful language in the world," as she put it. After her return, she joined the Zurich-based Telekurs, now Six Group, in the "Services and Personnel" department. The company handled financial information and payment transactions for the banking and finance industry in Switzerland. There, Schneider gained experience in human resources. She is fascinated by contact with people and their stories. "At the beginning, I thought: Hmmm, finance and IT, no idea," she recalls. "But then I got to know very different personalities who didn't fit the classic image of a banker or programmer at all and couldn't be pigeonholed. It was very exciting to find out from each individual what their vision of life was and to accompany them on their journey.

In 1994, the lure of foreign countries returned: together with a friend, Schneider went on a world tour. The two spent two years touring India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and the USA. Schneider gains insight into different cultures and ways of life, repeatedly pushes herself to her limits and practices making decisions in every situation. This world trip is one of Schneider's most valuable experiences - and she dreams of repeating the tour again before she turns 70: "I have the desire, 40, 50 years later, to see what the places I've been to look like. That's my dream, maybe even a plan, I don't really know yet."

Do a campaign

After her trip around the world, Schneider is welcomed back to Telekurs with open arms. For a short time, she works on an international IT project, until the head of HR approaches her and suggests she switch completely to communications. "I've known you for some time now: communications is your thing," he says. "PR was still a foreign word to me at that time," Schneider says. "Only with advertising had I had a little contact. But learning what exactly was behind the term interested me, so I joined Telekurs' PR department." Schneider produces giveaways and annual reports, organizes employee events, annual press conferences and press appointments, and gets to know PR in all its facets. While working, she completed her PR assistant and PR consultant degrees and added a coaching course on top. "When I did the coaching training, I didn't have it in mind to earn a living," Schneider explains. "Rather, I wanted to learn tools that would enable me to listen even more specifically and focus on the solution. Because listening is very important in our profession and as inspiration for developing a communication solution."

After a good two years in the Telekurs PR department, Schneider is looking for a new challenge. A friend tells her about the Internet start-up The Blue Window, which will become Bluewin in 2002. It's the time when the Internet is very gradually making a name for itself, and Schneider wants to know what's behind it. Is the Internet really the window to the world? She joins the advertising department of the small company and initially takes care of PR. But after a short time, advertising and marketing are also among her responsibilities. "Suddenly, the CEO said to me, 'Do a campaign, Melanie,'" Schneider recounts. "Above all, the CEO wanted to know how much the campaign would cost. And it should be ready yesterday if possible. I didn't think that was the right approach and wanted to know what the goal of the campaign was. Finally, within three weeks, together with the advertising agency at the time, I created a campaign that represented the simplicity of the Internet. Our symbol for it was water that just flows. But until we got there - that was hard work." Schneider has found success with her first advertising effort and can savor the beautiful feeling that her campaign's message was understood. Still, she feels more at home in PR than in advertising: "The foray into advertising was very exciting and educational for me, but PR suits me more. Compared to mass communication, PR is closer to the content and, even if it sounds hackneyed by now, content is king. In addition, the dialog with the target group and with the media that report on a company, a product or a service is closer in PR than in advertising. That makes targeting easier."

In 2002, the Internet hype begins: "The Blue Window" becomes Bluewin, and Schneider accompanies the company's planned IPO - as Head of Corporate Communications and media spokesperson. In 2004, when the Internet service provider merged with Swisscom's fixed-network division, Swisscom Fixnet, she was also closely involved. She positio¬ns the brand and takes care of brand management. In addition, Schneider assumes responsibility for sponsoring and events. "A particularly nice moment for me was when Tom Lüthi became world champion in 2005, sponsored by Bluewin," she enthuses.

In 2008, after almost ten years in ever-changing positions at Bluewin and Swisscom, Schneider felt it was time for something new again. The only question is what - after all, she had already made it to Head of Communications at Swisscom Fixnet/Bluewin. And moving to an agency? Usually, you move from the agency side to the corporate side, not the other way around. "What do I care what people usually do?" Schneider thinks to herself, and takes over as head of the PR unit at Jung von Matt/Limmat. She and Dominique von Matt have known each other for some time through mandates Jung von Matt handles for Swisscom. "I had survived the pace of the Internet and trusted myself to also handle the speediness that is required in an agency well," says Schneider. "The five-person team I took over had already put together a lot of great stuff. I was able to bring two of my greatest strengths to the table in a complementary way: structured thinking and working, and a focus on the long-term impact of PR efforts." Combined with the speed and inventiveness of the Jung-von-Matt people, it's the perfect mix: the team is enjoying success with strategic corporate communications, cross-media campaigns and media relations for the service, consumer goods, healthcare, tourism and non-profit industries. Business is good. That's why Schneider didn't react immediately when she was asked at the end of 2010 whether she wanted to join Open up as a partner.

"I knew the agency, after all, I've been walking past it every day for ten years," says Schneider. "I found the client portfolio exciting, but saw no reason to change jobs." But the agency persists. A short time later, Schneider met the two owners of Open up, Kilian Borter and Urs Thaler, at an event. The chemistry is right, the goals of the three coincide, and their qualifications complement each other perfectly. "I felt very comfortable at Jung von Matt," says Schneider. "But Open up's impressive mandates, specialization in PR and the option to help shape the agency as a partner really appealed to me. Moreover, the agency has been in existence for ten years. A good sign." In short: Schneider informs her employer about her ambitions and holds talks with Borter and Thaler. In July, she becomes a partner at Open up.

Open for new things

Open up is committed to strategic communications consulting, media relations, corporate publishing and internal communications for the IT/telecommunications, health, education, finance, transport/tourism and lifestyle sectors. For example, the eleven-strong agency has been serving Orange for eight years, as well as Health Promotion Switzerland, Fernfachhochschule Schweiz, Votobel, the Gotthard Railway and the Glacier Express, and 20 Century Fox. Schneider will bring her experience from the financial, lifestyle and telecommunications industries to bear on existing mandates, and she also plans to win new clients and expand the portfolio. She plans to focus on brand positioning, media relations in the digital age and internal communications. "What's special about my work at Open up is that, as an equal partner of Borter and Thaler, I can bring my own signature to the table," says Schneider. "I'm really looking forward to that." Her plans coincide with those of Borter, who expects "many new impulses" from Schneider's involvement in the agency.

Anyone who knows Schneider a little, however, knows that this does not mean that she immediately turns everything upside down, that she does everything new and different. For as full of ideas as she is, she also takes a considered approach when it comes to fitting into existing structures: "At Open up, there is enough room to dare to do something new," she says. But I first observe before I develop a strategy and change something. I do the same with clients. Because every client is different, and I have to get a feel for them before I get started. After that, it's crucial for good consulting to ask the right questions. Because that's the only way I can find out the issues that really concern my client and his target group."

Communication in the blood

When talking to Schneider, it's clear that she doesn't just think as far as her client, but already takes a decisive step further: When it comes to a magazine for a construction company, she doesn't focus primarily on the company in terms of content and design, but rather on its target group, the home builders. A product for an educational company is tailored to people who are hungry for education and does not court the institution. After all, the communication measure is not aimed at the agency's client, but at its target group - a simple truth that is all too often forgotten in practice. For Schneider, on the other hand, it is a credo: "When I work on a new communication content, I embark on a mental journey," she describes her working method. "I walk around the content at hand in my mind and look at it from all sides. Then I walk around my customer and finally around their target group. I do this three times, and each time a new dimension opens up for me." In this way, the PR expert manages not to lose sight of any facet that is important for communication. Only then does she develop her communications strategy.

Even in her spare time, the PR specialist knows how to communicate skillfully and purposefully: Schneider is a native of Zurich with citizenship in Zurich and Basel. She grew up on the right bank of Lake Zurich, later moved to Wollishofen "near the city" and fully identifies with her birthplace. Sometimes, however, she still tries to suppress her clear Züritüütsch: When she attends a soccer match in Basel. "I have noticed that the reactions are not necessarily pleasant when I speak Züritüütsch in Basel. That's why I try to speak with as little accent as possible in that context." A true communications professional always has his target group in mind.
Anne-Friederike Heinrich