The online evangelists

 
Internet Cyrill Treptow and Christoph Lüscher found the Swiss branch of the Japan-based agency Information Architects in Adliswil. 
Newsnetz, the ambitious online merger of the Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung and Baslerzeitung titles, can be interpreted as the first major online offensive by quality titles in Switzerland. Tamedia has high hopes for the project. In addition to the high-caliber editorial team, the Swiss media group has also hired proven web professionals from Japan. The agency behind the basic concept is iA, short for Information Architects. The Tokyo-based agency is managed by the Swiss Oliver Reichenstein and is no unknown quantity. Last year, the web agency realized the magazine's new Internet presence for Tamedia and has created a second-generation Internet news portal from the news magazine Facts, which was thought to be dead (see:
"Even the dead live on the internet"
). 
With its third and therefore most prominent acquisition, the mandate for Tamedia's news network, the agency is setting up a branch in Switzerland. As iA founder Oliver Reichenstein says, the situation required a local presence with an office. What is surprising is that two Tamedia Internet specialists are joining the team. Christoph Lüscher, Managing Director of the dating platform Partnerwinner.ch, and Cyrill Treptow, Head of Online Magazines, are opening a branch in Adliswil together on July 1. Both have worked with Reichenstein on Internet projects for the Zurich publishing house. With the establishment of a Swiss office, the professional plans of the two Internet men are changing fundamentally. However, the change is a logical consequence of what they have built up with Oliver Reichenstein over the last few months. As those involved tell Werbewoche, they are delighted with the collaboration to date.
It all started last year when the two Tamedia employees discovered Reichenstein's "Web Trend Map" purely by chance while surfing online. "Someone knows something about the Internet," was their first thought. This chance encounter was not the end of the story. What happened in the following months is rather atypical for the Swiss Internet landscape. Within a short space of time, Reichenstein gave Tamedia the image of an online-competent publishing house. While other Swiss media companies are struggling with the Internet, the Internet experiments, in particular Facts 2.0, show an avant-garde pioneering character. Publishers near and far keep a watchful eye on Switzerland and follow Internet developments with keen interest.
The fact that Christoph Lüscher and Cyrill Treptow will probably be leaving their jobs at Tamedia at the end of the year and are currently taking a professional risk by founding the iA office can be attributed to Reichenstein's working style. In an interview with Werbewoche, Lüscher and Treptow were impressed by Reichenstein's tenacity. When they first came into contact with the Basel native, who lives in Japan, they had observed an irrepressible doer quality in him that had acted like a pull on them. The focus was always on the project and its development, not the money. "Reichenstein didn't come, collected the money and then left again," Lüscher recalls. He stayed, continued to develop the platforms and drove the projects forward, despite a few setbacks within the publishing house. "Reichenstein is a figure of integration. He managed to get established and unconventional editorial teams to get involved in experiments," says Cyrill Treptow.
 
That was revolutionary, as the media manager notes in passing. Especially because Reichenstein organized everything via the Internet. The result has not left the industry cold today: on the Internet, for example, user comments on Dasmagazin.ch now account for 50 percent of all content. The high quality of the content speaks for itself and has led to a paradigm shift in the editorial offices. Editors are now much more involved with the Internet, which they use as a valuable communication platform. Although the projects have long since been completed, Reichenstein continues to tinker and optimize for Tamedia. "For us clients, projects always have an end. Not for Reichenstein," says Treptow. That's why the Internet crack has taken on the role of "perpetual beta guy" for his new partner, the tireless developer.
Christoph Lüscher and Cyrill Treptow were ultimately inspired by Reichenstein's inexhaustible creative energy. "Ultimately, he showed us that a job in the service industry can be very interesting after all. Even though I once swore I would never switch to this industry," says Lüscher. Despite the solid job situation at Tamedia, Lüscher and Treptow now want to take the plunge into self-employment and live Reichenstein's drive in Switzerland themselves. As Christoph Lüscher emphasizes, the decision is not a crazy idea. Thanks to his work as Managing Director of Partnerwinner and his many years of Internet experience, he sees great potential for an agency like iA. "There is a lucrative gap in the market for iA," says Lüscher. This refers to strategically thinking agencies, a middle ground between a full-service web specialist and an agency that focuses on small and simple projects. Treptow: "Companies today often spend too much money on things that only work to a limited extent. Today, there have to be agencies that work in an agile way. Our way is through consulting. Online evangelists like us are needed to present new ideas and provide inspiration."
Lüscher and Treptow underline the fact that such statements are not just empty phrases with their experiences on the client side in recent years. In their opinion, most agencies make a sluggish impression that is characterized by stagnation. "And people always think that the Internet is in a second generation. No, it's not. Many media products reveal no understanding of media. The Internet needs more cleverly conceived projects. We are not aiming for super budgets. The market is too small for that and the Internet is too young. We want to revamp existing brands. The potential for this has clearly not been exhausted," says Lüscher.
Both Lüscher and Treptow have the confidence to take the step into the agency business. They see the fact that they are coming from the client side and switching to the supplier side as a decisive advantage. "We have already seen hundreds of jobs as clients and we think that we can compete with other agencies and provide an adequate service. We've been in the business for a long time," says Treptow. As the two fresh agency founders write on the iA weblog, "simplicity, performance orientation and an evolutionary approach to website development should characterize the work". The focus is on the brand, which in their opinion develops more and more in an interactive process with the audience. Lüscher and Treptow want to consistently pursue Reichenstein's philosophy in Switzerland. "We don't follow the "hit and run" principle, but are still there when it comes to earning money with the website," says Treptow.
Christian Lüscher