Head of the week: "Clients have noticed: It doesn't always have to be Zurich".
Peter Frey has been the majority shareholder of cR DDB, Basel, since July 1
Peter Frey has been majority owner of cR DDB, Basel, since July 1Head of the week "Clients have noticed: It doesn't always have to be Zurich "Since July, cR DDB, Basel, has been 80 percent owned by its long-time managing director Peter Frey. He has taken over the shares from his business partner Jürg Schaub, who at 67 is slowly thinking of retiring. The remaining 20 percent of the shares are held by the American network DDB.
Peter Frey soon refrained from selling the agency, which had also been discussed. It would have meant that the agency would probably have been moved to Zurich. The majority owner came to this conclusion after initial talks with interested parties "who drove up to us in cars with Zurich license plates.
Frey, who is now 53 years old, feels committed to Basel as a location. The city needs good agencies to continue the tradition that has grown, for example, through the Basel School of Applied Arts and the founding of the former GGK. "Besides, clients based in other larger Swiss cities have long since noticed that it doesn't always have to be Zurich," says Frey.
Born and raised in Therwil near Basel, Frey felt an early desire to work in advertising. He joined creative Realisation (cR), founded by Jürg Schaub and Horst Kepka in 1968, in 1972. before that, following his commercial training, he had worked as an archivist at the Maeght gallery in Paris until the outbreak of the student riots in 1968, after which he was employed in the advertising department of L'Oréal, Geneva.
"Hardly much will change in the spirit of the agency," says Managing Director Frey. He wants to offer existing and "new clients who fit in with us" the same as in the past 30 years: namely, strong creation and a "relationship culture" that strives for tolerant interaction at all levels. To continue the continuity, he has brought Hans Tanner on board as CD and Daniel Bürgi as Head of Customer Consulting and Strategy and into the management team.
Incidentally, one example of how the "relationship culture" works is the business partnership between Peter Frey and Jürg Schaub. "We haven't fought each other once in all these years and have made the transition without consultants or lawyers," says Frey. He is convinced that this corporate culture has not remained without influence on the employees, some of whom have been with the company for many years.
Peter Frey also likes to keep the reins in his hands in his spare time. He owns two horses with which he participates in military competitions. A second hobby is jazz, which he not only listens to but also actively supports: The agency designs the monthly programs of the Basel live club "The Bird's Eye".
Ernst Weber
Peter Frey soon refrained from selling the agency, which had also been discussed. It would have meant that the agency would probably have been moved to Zurich. The majority owner came to this conclusion after initial talks with interested parties "who drove up to us in cars with Zurich license plates.
Frey, who is now 53 years old, feels committed to Basel as a location. The city needs good agencies to continue the tradition that has grown, for example, through the Basel School of Applied Arts and the founding of the former GGK. "Besides, clients based in other larger Swiss cities have long since noticed that it doesn't always have to be Zurich," says Frey.
Born and raised in Therwil near Basel, Frey felt an early desire to work in advertising. He joined creative Realisation (cR), founded by Jürg Schaub and Horst Kepka in 1968, in 1972. before that, following his commercial training, he had worked as an archivist at the Maeght gallery in Paris until the outbreak of the student riots in 1968, after which he was employed in the advertising department of L'Oréal, Geneva.
"Hardly much will change in the spirit of the agency," says Managing Director Frey. He wants to offer existing and "new clients who fit in with us" the same as in the past 30 years: namely, strong creation and a "relationship culture" that strives for tolerant interaction at all levels. To continue the continuity, he has brought Hans Tanner on board as CD and Daniel Bürgi as Head of Customer Consulting and Strategy and into the management team.
Incidentally, one example of how the "relationship culture" works is the business partnership between Peter Frey and Jürg Schaub. "We haven't fought each other once in all these years and have made the transition without consultants or lawyers," says Frey. He is convinced that this corporate culture has not remained without influence on the employees, some of whom have been with the company for many years.
Peter Frey also likes to keep the reins in his hands in his spare time. He owns two horses with which he participates in military competitions. A second hobby is jazz, which he not only listens to but also actively supports: The agency designs the monthly programs of the Basel live club "The Bird's Eye".
Ernst Weber
