"We only have chiefs with us".
Anton Glanzmann on PR and the uncelebrated 50th anniversary of PRW
Anton Glanzmann on PR and the uncelebrated anniversary 50 years of PRWhis office is considered very discreet. Because actually PRW, Public Relations + Werbe AG, would be the oldest PR agency in Switzerland. Nevertheless, there were no so-called distinguished reasons why Anton Glanzmann did not celebrate the 50th anniversary of his agency in 1998. Now the doyen of the Swiss PR industry has revealed a few historical facts to us after the fact.A few weeks ago, you invited the media to a talk on "35 years of PRW". Why this noble understatement, since your agency is actually well over 50 years old?
Anton Glanzmann: That's right. As early as 1948, i.e. before Rudolf Farner in 1951, the former FDP party secretary and "Trumpf Buur" editor Robert Eibel founded his "Büro für wirtschaftliche und publizistische Beratung. But out of sheer work overload, I missed the 50th anniversary. Then it was suddenly too late - and so we recently celebrated the 35th year, because in 1965 National Councilor Eibel, together with Markus Gröber, renamed his company PRW, Public Relations + Werbe AG. I myself joined in 1970. Since 1980, I have been the head and chairman of the board of directors of what is officially Switzerland's oldest PR agency.
In 2000, you achieved a fee income of 1.4 million Swiss francs with five people including the secretariat. Small but mighty: Has growth never been your strategy?
Glanzmann: No, my goal has always been to remain a consultant myself. As soon as PRW becomes a larger agency, I'll have a completely different task. I have to devote myself to agency development, personnel management and client acquisition. That absorbs too much time from my actual know-how, which I prefer to use for my clients. Secondly, I believe that medium-sized agencies are better able to maintain their quality. The danger is that in larger agencies, the actual work is mainly done by the mid-level staff. We, on the other hand, have practically only chiefs with us.
You have just won a major mandate from the Winterthur Insurance Loss Prevention Foundation in a competition. You are also handling the PR work for the introduction of casino gambling in Switzerland. What is it that brings such clients to PRW?
Glanzmann: Certainly our know-how in communication. With campaigns such as "Glatt für alli," "Mehr Freiheit, weniger Staat" ("More freedom, less state") or "Denken beim Lenken" ("Thinking while steering"), we have gained a lot of experience with political-social communication and have a large network of contacts in the economic sector and in the media. I am an honorary member of the Club of Cooking Journalists.
That's putting it modestly. In the meantime, in addition to a Swissmed Ltd. for the worldwide marketing of medical products from Switzerland, they have also been operating the first company for the placement of board members since 1987. The co-founders were Pierre Arnold, then president of Migros, and Hans R. Schwarzenbach, president of Vorort. What are the services of this agency today?
Glanzmann: Our VR Academy takes care of the training of board members at university level as well as the placement and consulting of board members.
PRW, as the name suggests, has offered advertising and PR within the same agency since the beginning. Intention or lack of differentiation?
Glanzmann: What is increasingly being rediscovered recently - namely communications agencies with integrated communications - was actually realized by PRW as early as 1965. That came about through our regular work for a wide variety of voting campaigns. With such political mandates, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish: Is this PR, or is it advertising? The only important thing is that the communication goal can be achieved. Since my management in 1980, the agency, which was initially politically active, has increasingly opened up to economic and social mandates as well. However, our experience with political mechanisms has continued to help us a lot, for example with campaigns like "Glatt für alli". At the time, the Glattzentrum as the largest shopping center aroused the most diverse fears. In terms of image, this had to be positioned and communicated accordingly. With the Nova Park Hotel, too, the simultaneous tasks for advertising and PR were similarly interwoven and complex.
For years, PRW has consistently resisted integration into a larger network. What is behind this strategy?
Glanzmann: I am 100 percent convinced that a PR agency is strongest where it has its roots. It's quite clear that in chains, people and heads are changed, whether as a result of fluctuations or because it's determined in the career planning. And so it can happen that in such chains people end up at the top who do not have the necessary roots at all. "All business is local" - and especially the PR business is local, because that's where relationships come into play first. That's why I'm an advocate of "Europe On Line". This is a network of agencies, each with the same background, all of which are owner-managed. For me, this form is the guarantee that the relationships play out optimally due to the local roots and that the continuity of personnel management is also guaranteed.
However, as part of your work as a representative of the Government of Mauritius for tourism development from Switzerland and Austria, you will soon open an office in Vienna?
Glanzmann: No, we're just expanding a base there with our network agencies. We do the same with correspondents in the eastern states. If I had a PRW in Vienna with a Zurich-based head, I would have exactly the same problem: Where are his roots? So I would have to have a Viennese, but he might not stay with me, another one would come, and the clients would always have to go along with these changes. With an owner-managed agency, a client always has the same contact person.
You were already president of the PR Professionals of Switzerland in 1976
and since then also once president
of the Federation of PR Agencies (BPRA) as well as the European Federation "Europe On Line". This has allowed you to follow the history of PR at close quarters. What is the most striking change?
Glanzmann: Through the training of PR professionals and the good work of PR agencies, a better understanding of the meaning and benefits of PR has emerged in Switzerland. In this spirit, I was also involved early on in the development of the professional organizations, and in 1971 I helped to write the code of conduct while still on vacation. In the meantime, I can state with satisfaction that companies are aware of the tasks and purpose of public relations. Communication is seen as an obligation. No longer just as a freestyle. People have also become aware: Those who do not take it seriously will have to pay an expensive bill. People now know the value of an open communication strategy within the corporate strategy. This welcome development works not only in favor of the PR people, but also in favor of society. What is new is the speed. Today, you are permanently involved in communication and available. This will bring upheavals in the entire consumer behavior. It will no longer be the bigger and more powerful or financially stronger who win the race, but the faster.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
Anton Glanzmann: That's right. As early as 1948, i.e. before Rudolf Farner in 1951, the former FDP party secretary and "Trumpf Buur" editor Robert Eibel founded his "Büro für wirtschaftliche und publizistische Beratung. But out of sheer work overload, I missed the 50th anniversary. Then it was suddenly too late - and so we recently celebrated the 35th year, because in 1965 National Councilor Eibel, together with Markus Gröber, renamed his company PRW, Public Relations + Werbe AG. I myself joined in 1970. Since 1980, I have been the head and chairman of the board of directors of what is officially Switzerland's oldest PR agency.
In 2000, you achieved a fee income of 1.4 million Swiss francs with five people including the secretariat. Small but mighty: Has growth never been your strategy?
Glanzmann: No, my goal has always been to remain a consultant myself. As soon as PRW becomes a larger agency, I'll have a completely different task. I have to devote myself to agency development, personnel management and client acquisition. That absorbs too much time from my actual know-how, which I prefer to use for my clients. Secondly, I believe that medium-sized agencies are better able to maintain their quality. The danger is that in larger agencies, the actual work is mainly done by the mid-level staff. We, on the other hand, have practically only chiefs with us.
You have just won a major mandate from the Winterthur Insurance Loss Prevention Foundation in a competition. You are also handling the PR work for the introduction of casino gambling in Switzerland. What is it that brings such clients to PRW?
Glanzmann: Certainly our know-how in communication. With campaigns such as "Glatt für alli," "Mehr Freiheit, weniger Staat" ("More freedom, less state") or "Denken beim Lenken" ("Thinking while steering"), we have gained a lot of experience with political-social communication and have a large network of contacts in the economic sector and in the media. I am an honorary member of the Club of Cooking Journalists.
That's putting it modestly. In the meantime, in addition to a Swissmed Ltd. for the worldwide marketing of medical products from Switzerland, they have also been operating the first company for the placement of board members since 1987. The co-founders were Pierre Arnold, then president of Migros, and Hans R. Schwarzenbach, president of Vorort. What are the services of this agency today?
Glanzmann: Our VR Academy takes care of the training of board members at university level as well as the placement and consulting of board members.
PRW, as the name suggests, has offered advertising and PR within the same agency since the beginning. Intention or lack of differentiation?
Glanzmann: What is increasingly being rediscovered recently - namely communications agencies with integrated communications - was actually realized by PRW as early as 1965. That came about through our regular work for a wide variety of voting campaigns. With such political mandates, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish: Is this PR, or is it advertising? The only important thing is that the communication goal can be achieved. Since my management in 1980, the agency, which was initially politically active, has increasingly opened up to economic and social mandates as well. However, our experience with political mechanisms has continued to help us a lot, for example with campaigns like "Glatt für alli". At the time, the Glattzentrum as the largest shopping center aroused the most diverse fears. In terms of image, this had to be positioned and communicated accordingly. With the Nova Park Hotel, too, the simultaneous tasks for advertising and PR were similarly interwoven and complex.
For years, PRW has consistently resisted integration into a larger network. What is behind this strategy?
Glanzmann: I am 100 percent convinced that a PR agency is strongest where it has its roots. It's quite clear that in chains, people and heads are changed, whether as a result of fluctuations or because it's determined in the career planning. And so it can happen that in such chains people end up at the top who do not have the necessary roots at all. "All business is local" - and especially the PR business is local, because that's where relationships come into play first. That's why I'm an advocate of "Europe On Line". This is a network of agencies, each with the same background, all of which are owner-managed. For me, this form is the guarantee that the relationships play out optimally due to the local roots and that the continuity of personnel management is also guaranteed.
However, as part of your work as a representative of the Government of Mauritius for tourism development from Switzerland and Austria, you will soon open an office in Vienna?
Glanzmann: No, we're just expanding a base there with our network agencies. We do the same with correspondents in the eastern states. If I had a PRW in Vienna with a Zurich-based head, I would have exactly the same problem: Where are his roots? So I would have to have a Viennese, but he might not stay with me, another one would come, and the clients would always have to go along with these changes. With an owner-managed agency, a client always has the same contact person.
You were already president of the PR Professionals of Switzerland in 1976
and since then also once president
of the Federation of PR Agencies (BPRA) as well as the European Federation "Europe On Line". This has allowed you to follow the history of PR at close quarters. What is the most striking change?
Glanzmann: Through the training of PR professionals and the good work of PR agencies, a better understanding of the meaning and benefits of PR has emerged in Switzerland. In this spirit, I was also involved early on in the development of the professional organizations, and in 1971 I helped to write the code of conduct while still on vacation. In the meantime, I can state with satisfaction that companies are aware of the tasks and purpose of public relations. Communication is seen as an obligation. No longer just as a freestyle. People have also become aware: Those who do not take it seriously will have to pay an expensive bill. People now know the value of an open communication strategy within the corporate strategy. This welcome development works not only in favor of the PR people, but also in favor of society. What is new is the speed. Today, you are permanently involved in communication and available. This will bring upheavals in the entire consumer behavior. It will no longer be the bigger and more powerful or financially stronger who win the race, but the faster.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
