Hostettler on the road again

 
Agency management Andy Hostettler wants to work with a trolley instead of in a fixed office as CEO of TBWA/Switzerland. As one of many other innovations, the agency is also to leave BSW. 
WW: Andy Hostettler, you show an appetite for change. Why did you actually switch from JWT+H+F to TBWA/Switzerland? Andy Hostettler: Many people are still waiting for Remy and I to go public with the big reckoning. The fact is that we really parted on friendly terms. We've had our arguments over the 17 years, as every couple does. I realized that the Hostettler Fabrikant model no longer works in this sense. JWT is an international agency that is focusing more and more on London, Paris and New York when it comes to global clients. Even if they are based in Switzerland. The countries were given too little weight. We were often simply not taken seriously, and there were no alternatives - we had been talking about this development for years. We put a lot of money aside and were operationally successful. We would have had a war chest to invest. Not just in volume, but also in skills. That could have resulted in a new agency structure. But we were blocked by JWT international. I wanted to change that.
 
You have now been the new CEO of TBWA/Switzerland for eight weeks. How did this come about? As chance would have it, an old friend and colleague of mine, Christian Lainer, also became responsible for TBWA/Switzerland as Regional Manager. At first, Lainer just wanted me to help him better understand the Swiss market. This turned into something more and he made me an offer that I almost couldn't refuse.
What attracted you? TBWA is the most creative company internationally when it comes to communication. I'm not just saying that as the newly appointed CEO, it's also proven by the Gunn Report and various Network of the Year awards. With the "disruption" philosophy developed in Paris, it simply works. Added to this is the market success. TBWA is growing internationally. Most other networks are stagnating or declining.
Nevertheless, there were problems in Zurich. What do you need to change? I spent the first three weeks talking to every single employee. Over 50 interviews that clearly showed me the state of the agency. And I have to say: TBWA is probably the most underestimated agency in Switzerland. Huge potential, big, wonderful brands such as McDonald's, Masterfoods, SBB and now a very important client from the functional food sector. Nevertheless, we had a high fluctuation and a diffuse image.
Despite the disruption philosophy, TBWA Switzerland has always been a conventional agency. Creation and consulting were separate. We are now developing new working models that are disruptive in themselves. We will no longer be an advertising agency in the usual sense. In future, we will be much more of a business partner that solves tasks unconventionally.
What does "new model" mean in concrete terms? Separating creation from the rest of the agency is conventional. I want to take a disruptive approach. We have to say goodbye to garden-variety thinking. Consulting, creation, producing and online now work in the same room and at the same table. A creative must be able to listen to how the consultant tries to save the client's really good idea and not come back later with sentences like "the consultant messed it up again". The future lies in small, powerful units. To this end, we are forming two equally strong units in the agency, both of which function as independent business partners. These teams will each have around 18 people from all our departments, including Tequila and TBWA Health.
Two teams: will they also compete against each other in pitches? I have already launched an internal pitch on how and in what style our agency should be set up in the future. We are also rebuilding the exterior. We want to design an eye-catching façade and, most importantly, we will have a lower floor where everyone works physically. On the upper floor, there will be lounges, retreats for thinkers and developers as well as spacious discussion rooms or experience spaces. I myself will no longer have my own office. It is also the norm for a CEO to have their own large office. I have converted an old Swissair trolley into a mobile office. I take it on the road and can be found with my laptop and cell phone wherever the action is. By the way, wandering is exactly the right term. I don't want to stand still. My role models are the TBWA agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, Berlin and South Africa. The most attractive places to work.
In the market, money is moving in the direction of crossover. What's it like at TBWA? Working in an integrated way is a task that can only be solved really well on an interpersonal level. It's not enough for people to simply be in the same house. The disciplines belong in the same team. We will be the only agency among the top 5 that offers consulting, creation, producing and online in one business unit. Vera Süssli will also be joining us in December. She is a young e-marketing specialist who has already completed major crossover projects for Swisscom and Switzerland Tourism.
Other personnel changes?In addition to Armin Korf, we have hired a CD lyricist who comes from the world of culture. Bernd Schulze, musician from Chur, radio man, theater man and former CD copywriter at Publicis. So why shouldn't we also do TBWA Culture? Museums have a commercial mission and also have to advertise to their audiences.
That sounds exciting, but not very disruptive. Other new people? Advertisers doing advertising is conventional. Advertisers inviting non-advertisers to advertise, on the other hand, is unconventional. We bring in disruptors who have proven that they have done unconventional things. People from all kinds of professions. One of Switzerland's most successful artists, two completely unconventional entrepreneurs, a restaurateur and a young, hot journalist are also interested. Depending on the nature of the task, these lateral thinkers will be brought in alone or even in pairs. They should help us to constantly question and renew ourselves. The fact that we also give lateral entrants a chance is disruptive. Our youngest copywriter, Simon Smit, is a trained chef. He got into the media with his unconventional application and was hired by us within an hour, even though he is not yet a copywriter.
This interview is taking place because you want to leave the BSW with TBWA. Why is it conventional to be a major agency in the BSW? The fact that we are leaving the BSW is disruptive. There is currently no association that represents our strategy and our way of working with clients. The BSW sets rules. But rules are for those who don't know how to help themselves and therefore stick to conventions.
One of these conventions is the annual contribution, which we will donate in future to more meaningful projects that are more capable of development. For example, the ADC's Young Talents or the Room 13 talent search project. We can also use the former BSW pot to generate money for the School of Design or to support any unconventional projects.
Aren't you afraid that a few competitors will dismiss this as a PR stunt? some will rightly say that not everything is completely new for us either. But no one is doing it today in the same way as we do now and want to communicate it to the outside world.
How do you assess the development at other agencies? What Y&R recently announced with the integration of Wundermann/Futurecom is quite right, but it is by no means new. Nor is it progressive. Interestingly, Markus Gut already had the same constellation with all disciplines under one roof at Publicis - and he changed anyway.
And smaller agencies? in general, I think that models such as Ruf Lanz or Walker, which I personally find very creative, also have a chance in the market. However, such hot stores have no future potential and only limited growth. As soon as they grow, they become conventional because the bosses can't clone themselves.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri