Head of the week: Züri West of advertising

 
As CD at Cosmic Bern, Thom Pfister is now also involved as a partner and is looking forward to further expansion with the agency in French-speaking Switzerland. 
Things are happening on the Bernese scene. New agencies are being founded. Others are being expanded. One architecturally beautiful example is the expansion of Cosmic. The agency has converted an old carpenter's workshop on Uferweg into a loft. "We have found the outer shell that has suited us for a long time," says Thom Pfister about the inspiring design of his workplace. Cosmic was founded in Zurich in 1985 and employs 16 people there today. Because he "believed in the power of this agency", Marcel Durst opened a second, independent agency in Bern in 1999 under the name Cosmic together with Gabriela Fust. They started in the Swiss capital with 4 employees. There are now 16, and Thom Pfister has been part of the team for five years. The CD has now been accepted as co-owner and third partner, which Cosmic Bern celebrated with a "Big Bang!" party on February 14.
It was also announced at this event that Cosmic intends to expand into French-speaking Switzerland. The managing director of this branch is Suzanne Scherer. She is currently busy setting up the new unit from Bern. However, the plan is to move into its own office in Neuchâtel or Lausanne soon. "We are not overconfident, but realize that there is a need and huge potential," says Pfister about this expansion to the west.
All three Cosmic agencies function independently. However, they benefit from close cooperation and see each other "as different teams". Depending on the assignment, these are put together according to expertise. The most important clients in Zurich include Roche Diagnostics worldwide, Swiss Milk Producers (SMP) and AMS Agro-Marketing Suisse or Interio. CD Richard Rau has been looking after the furniture store for sixteen years. Bern and Zurich successfully pitched together for Smart in the past and recently for Steiner AG's Lagerhaus 62. Another joint client is Sika, for whom Cosmic handles editorial work worldwide - "one of our core competencies", as Pfister explains.
The rise of the young creatives began in Bern with their three-year engagement for Smart. "It's been a long time since a Bernese agency was allowed to look after a car brand." In the meantime, the most important Bernese clients include BLS, Strom Chronos Uhren, Berner Kantonalbank, Ypsomed and now the Zentrum Paul Klee - "a wonderful story on a cultural level".
The designs on display can make Pfister's anticipation understandable. The agency should communicate that the Zentrum Paul Klee is not just a museum. In addition to the large exhibition, there are also workshops, a children's museum and "a very good restaurant". Concerts, dance and theater take place in the auditorium. To communicate the ten different sections of the Paul Klee meeting place, CD Pfister works with elements from the painter's works of art in his advertisements and posters, which he combines with modern photos.
Art, design, advertising. At Cosmic, these are three elements that are always cross-fertilized in an ideal way. Art flows into design. And advertising inspires art. A mailing that Cosmic sent out to various museums and cultural institutes was greeted with positive responses. "The fine arts also have to actively market themselves today."
The expertise with which such creativity and visual worlds are processed at Cosmic in conjunction with marketing is also demonstrated by the fact that an AD from Cosmic Bern was awarded gold at the creative school both this year and last year. "The talent potential is there. The support we are providing for the future can take effect."
The creative head of this team showed an interest in this designed world very early on. "Even as a boy, I stole my mother's women's magazines and tore them apart," recalls Pfister. He used the torn-out pages to create folders on topics such as men's fashion, women, style, living and decor. Pfister experienced a backflash in his professional life. "In Beda Achermann's design studio, they collected all kinds of things from international magazines and filed them in folders. That's when I realized: Now I earn my money with this."
This design world became concrete for Pfister when he trained as a graphic designer at the Bern School of Applied Arts. He got to know people from the fashion industry and soon had "many commissions" from this scene. He was given the opportunity to work for Levi's Switzerland and considered for the first time whether he should set up his own business. However, he was even more attracted to Zurich because he saw "what was going on in advertising there".
Pfister developed at McCann-Erickson as an AD assistant under Edi Andrist and Eric Voser. When he finished creative school and heard that Beda Achermann was looking for new people for a smart book, Pfister moved to this specialized studio and stayed on Zurich's Langstrasse for four years. He also worked with Achermann on an annual report for Migros. This was awarded ADC Gold and Best of Europe in 2000.
Pfister had something to show, ventured out into the wide world and eventually found a job at the Tomato design studio in London. However, because long-term development in his familiar homeland promised more potential, Pfister returned to Bern in 2003 and worked as a freelancer for two years. "I had the mentality of Zurich and London in my head. Integrating them here was a great idea," he says today, happy with his path. Even though his London ideas may have initially offended some people in Bern, "people here have come to respect the spirit of the times," says Pfister. And from his office, he lets his gaze wander contentedly over the glittering Aare.
Andreas Panzeri