Summit strikers with a grip on the ground

They don't want to strain the cliché. But it's just the way it is, they say: "We hung on the rope together a lot as climbers. We both have an idea of how the other thinks." Adrian Schaffner and Christian Sutter met at the Basel School of Design. Later, they both honed their skills at Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux. Since 2007, they have jointly run their own agency, Evoq Communications. "However, it has always been a concern that we don't want to go down any well-trodden paths with our know-how," explain the two owners.

In a strategic analysis, they first developed the concept for their agency. They want to work primarily for clients who have diverse needs in terms of size and category. In other words, clients for whom the tasks of branding, corporate design and advertising overlap, but whose focus is clearly on the brand.

Evoq thus offers its services in four areas. In brand consulting, analyses, positioning and structures are developed. In the design area, corporate design programs are created with logos, business stationery and manuals. In the area of communication, Evoq offers a wide range of implementation services - from annual reports and websites to entire campaigns. A fourth specialty is information design. Here, for example, SBB is served in the area of customer information and signal ethics. For two weeks now, Schaffner and Sutter have been working with an expanded team in larger offices in Zurich's Ottikerstrasse. With the move into an entire building, has the agency now also reached the point where it has reached its ideal size with 15 people? "We've thought that several times. We do plan, but as opportunists we are also always open to new tasks. Currently, we have expanded the consulting team, but still have space in the new house," Schaffner and Sutter are full of optimism.

In managing their agency, the two see themselves as "generalists who have a wide range of experience. We can't do everything, but we have specifically hired people with whom we could build up the competencies in the team," they explain their strategy. Susanne Pfäffli as a consultant comes from classical advertising, the recently hired CD Christoph Stalder stands for the high design standards of the agency.

Founding member Adrian Schaffner first completed a technical apprenticeship in the construction industry, but never worked in that profession. "I realized early on that I was interested in everything that somehow had relevance to the public." So in 1986, he joined local radio as a journalist and was able to experience the pioneering days of the medium at Radio Raurach and Basilisk. "It was an El Dorado, you could try everything. There were no limits and hardly any broadcasting schedules. " Later, he wrote satirical texts for Nebelspalter. He was also very interested in photography. "Out of Gwunder" Schaffner attended the preliminary course at the Basel School of Design and then also got hold of one of the coveted places in the specialist class for graphics. "That made it a moot point for me to decide whether to stay in journalism, where I had good offers, or go more into visual communications."

Evoq Communications is an owner-managed, independent agency based in Zurich. The company was founded in 2007 and evolved from the previous sole proprietorship Sutter Design
Identity emerged. The two founders, Christian Sutter and Adrian Schaffner, each have over 15 years of experience in online, print and 3-D brand management as well as in offer communication. Evoq employs 15 people.