Head of the week: "Diving deep into the matter to stand above it hands-free"
Esther Weber is the managing director of MRG Communications' new Zurich office
Esther Weber is Managing Director at the new Zurich branch of MRG CommunicationsHead of the week "Diving deep into the subject matter to stand above it hands-free"
What worked in Basel should also work in Zurich. MRG Communications only started in 1999 with five employees. Today, the Basel agency for integrated communications already employs twenty people. MRG sees this as "the momentum needed to get started in Zurich". Esther Weber is the managing director of this branch at Forchstrasse 40.
After graduating from high school and training as an advertising assistant, the Rheintal native began her new life in Zurich and in advertising
at Zogg Kettiger Gasser and Ogilvy & Mather. At Bosch & Butz, she was responsible for the first time as a consultant and managed mandates for Philip Morris and SwissOnline. During this time, she also trained as an advertising manager. After three and a half years at Lowe, Weber worked for Sunrise, then at Guye & Partner - where her budgets included UBS, Campari and Swisscom.
She gained experience on the client side at the Tages-Anzeiger, including managing sponsorship projects such as the Theater Spektakel and the Jazz-no-Jazz festival. "A relaxed job. But in this large company, I lacked independence and a certain freedom to make decisions," she sums up, adding: "At MRG, I have the personal responsibility I'm looking for - if something goes wrong, I have to take myself to task."
Of course, "like everyone in advertising, she occasionally had doubts about the industry", but always finds it "stimulating and inspiring". Weber does not consider it unusual that she is still relatively young as managing director: "A young agency needs a young managing director."
In her work, she wants to "dive deep into the subject matter and then be able to stand freehand above it again".
MRG Basel works for clients such as Coop, Max Havelaar, Webland and Basel City Marketing. The aim of MRG is
to be perceived as a national player for integrated communication. However, the address in Zurich is now not simply to become a supplier of clients from the advertising mecca of Zurich to Basel, but an independent agency. The medium-term goal is to have five employees on the Limmat.
"Our advantage is that we can acquire clients in Zurich with the services of a medium-sized agency without having to finance a water head," says Weber. Three clients have already been acquired for Zurich in this way. She also believes that the new culture of young agencies is certainly a trend: "In times of economic change, the industry is being shaken up. And that is our opportunity." Andreas Panzeri
What worked in Basel should also work in Zurich. MRG Communications only started in 1999 with five employees. Today, the Basel agency for integrated communications already employs twenty people. MRG sees this as "the momentum needed to get started in Zurich". Esther Weber is the managing director of this branch at Forchstrasse 40.
After graduating from high school and training as an advertising assistant, the Rheintal native began her new life in Zurich and in advertising
at Zogg Kettiger Gasser and Ogilvy & Mather. At Bosch & Butz, she was responsible for the first time as a consultant and managed mandates for Philip Morris and SwissOnline. During this time, she also trained as an advertising manager. After three and a half years at Lowe, Weber worked for Sunrise, then at Guye & Partner - where her budgets included UBS, Campari and Swisscom.
She gained experience on the client side at the Tages-Anzeiger, including managing sponsorship projects such as the Theater Spektakel and the Jazz-no-Jazz festival. "A relaxed job. But in this large company, I lacked independence and a certain freedom to make decisions," she sums up, adding: "At MRG, I have the personal responsibility I'm looking for - if something goes wrong, I have to take myself to task."
Of course, "like everyone in advertising, she occasionally had doubts about the industry", but always finds it "stimulating and inspiring". Weber does not consider it unusual that she is still relatively young as managing director: "A young agency needs a young managing director."
In her work, she wants to "dive deep into the subject matter and then be able to stand freehand above it again".
MRG Basel works for clients such as Coop, Max Havelaar, Webland and Basel City Marketing. The aim of MRG is
to be perceived as a national player for integrated communication. However, the address in Zurich is now not simply to become a supplier of clients from the advertising mecca of Zurich to Basel, but an independent agency. The medium-term goal is to have five employees on the Limmat.
"Our advantage is that we can acquire clients in Zurich with the services of a medium-sized agency without having to finance a water head," says Weber. Three clients have already been acquired for Zurich in this way. She also believes that the new culture of young agencies is certainly a trend: "In times of economic change, the industry is being shaken up. And that is our opportunity." Andreas Panzeri
