The agency supports the company in mastering the balancing act between tradition and innovation. "Especially with a product like coffee, which wins its lovers through its aromatic smell and delicious taste, it takes a lot of creativity to make the associated attitude to life tangible on social platforms," explains Kontx Managing Director Bettina Gebhardt.
Kontx had the two celebrity chefs Rolf Caviezel and Tobias Funke speak for Turm Kaffee. Since both chefs address different target groups, separate social media strategies were developed - each under the motto "Behind the Beans".
While Rolf Caviezel prepares recipes with coffee for B2C, giving simple tips, Tobias Funke educates B2B about the coffee craft. For example, in a video shoot that took place at the Barista Academy, Caviezel developed short recipe reels and simple tutorials in which he shows how versatile and creatively coffee can be used as a basic ingredient.
In order to teach restaurateurs and private individuals the barista craft and introduce them to the art of coffee preparation, Turm Kaffee opened its first Barista Academy at its headquarters in St. Gallen in 2019. With its detailed range of courses, the traditional roastery appeals to coffee aficionados.
True to the motto "Behind the Beans," the traditional company opens its doors, trains home baristas, tells stories from the past, and builds bridges to the future with innovative recipes and videos. In the clips, Turm Kaffee's baristi share their enthusiasm for coffee as accomplished experts and approachable brand ambassadors. Due to the positive reception, a second academy has now been opened in Schlieren near Zurich.
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- Agency name: Kontx Communication
- Establishment date: 2015
- Founder: Bettina Gebhardt
- Current partners:Bettina Gebhardt
- Number of employees: 8
- Current clientele: Merx, Aargau Services, Energieberatung Aargau, Eldico Scientific, Philips, Turm Kaffee, Alver, Dr. Muggenthaler, eurammon, Fitbit, Swiss Combi, VitalAire, Blumenhaus Frei, J+P Gruppe, Kreston
- Agency address: Schaffhauserstrasse 18, 8006 Zurich
Which campaign from the past twelve months are you particularly proud of?
Two top chefs and tower coffee - a dream combination: We used Tobias Funke, star and points chef at the restaurant "Gasthaus zur Fernsicht" in Heiden AR, and Rolf Caviezel, molecular chef from Grenchen, as brand ambassadors for Switzerland's oldest coffee roasting company as part of a broad social media campaign around the topic of quality around sustainability. We developed a story and marketed it via a broad-based social media campaign, including chef reels, video statements on how and by what you can recognize high-quality coffee, to show that coffee is more than just a pick-me-up. It was a lot of fun and we're continuing the campaign in 2023.
The most important campaign in agency history to date - and why?
For Philips Switzerland, we designed and successfully ran the "WG Challenge" twice in a row, in which we cast student or professional WGs. Two flatmates then competed against each other and had to test Philips products - shavers, epilators, kitchen appliances, household appliances, toothbrushes, etc. - for more than five weeks and integrate them into their daily lives as flatmates. Both WGs staged this via their WG social media channels - through cool actions, pictures, reels, posts. Involved each time was the media partner Watson, which supported the entire five weeks with native ads, reporting and competitions, as well as Swiss influencers who coached the WGs and accompanied and pushed them via their channels. We are really proud of this, because the idea was a bit crazy, but the implementation went extremely well and made a measurable contribution to the awareness of several product groups at the same time.
The most unusual place where your creatives retreat to be creative?
Zurich is full of good places to get creative. Recently we were at Kraftwerk to get our heads fei.
What do you do when you have thought blocks?
times working from St. Moritz, Rome or Munich.
What is your agency philosophy?
Advise, effect, enable! We not only want to make an impact, but also always ensure that the customer becomes smarter together with us.
Why should talented people definitely come to work for you?
Because the pace is fast here and you learn a lot, everyone is given responsibility very quickly and can contribute - and direct customer contact is the norm for every level.
How long do employees stay with you on average?
As long as they have the feeling of growing as a personality. Sometimes very long.
How old is your youngest employee, and how old is your oldest?
There is a generation between the two; but in our minds we are all still children.
How high are the wages you pay compared to the industry average?
As far as fixed salaries are concerned, probably just above average. Our training program should stand out. And with the exception of a single year, the agency has paid all employees a bonus since it was founded.
What is the ratio between the best and the worst paid employee?
Both get along very well.
Pay transparency: Do employees know among themselves who earns how much?
Bettina Gebhardt: I bet.
How much overtime do you work on average per week?
Almost none. Unless there's a pitch or a big customer event coming up. With us, everyone pulls together.
What benefits do you offer to compensate your employees for this overtime?
Not just for overtime, but on principle: to be able to work from Rome or Munich from time to time.
How long do you get maternity leave and how long paternity leave?
If the case occurs: certainly everyone! How long will be discussed with each other. Because we attach great importance to the compatibility of family and career.
Is home office allowed - and if so, how often?
It has been practiced in our country since before Corona and it has become indispensable ever since.
What is the current quota of women?
Not quite 100%.
Do you employ interns?
Yes, and with great pleasure. Preferably from three months. Gladly longer.
Do you organize team events?
Regularly. Just a week ago, we had our summer party at the "Terrace" near Bellevue. Before that, we held a full-day retreat to reflect together on the agency values and discuss how we can live them in everyday life.
Do you have an agency dog or other mascot?
Rumor has it we have a squirrel.
Where do you drink your after-work beer?
On the balcony of the agency.
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A Kontx team specializing in digital consulting and storytelling is responsible for all marketing and communications activities of the traditional Swiss company. The focus of the mandate is on the involvement and direct approach of target groups relevant to Turm Kaffee. Storytelling, influencer marketing and content development play a key role, according to the statement. The communication is intended to pay tribute to Turm Kaffee's B2C orientation and position the traditional roasting company with its heritage and know-how as a relevant player in the B2C coffee market.
Kontx also supports Turm Kaffee in setting up professional influencer marketing and implementing a corporate blog. In addition, Kontx has launched a new social media format with which Turm Kaffee wants to address the people behind the roastery, know-how, stories and insights to people interested in coffee in an unusual and interactive way.
The aim is to give clients and their brands relevance despite the increasingly fragmented communication channels that are often no longer perceived by the target group. The approach is based on the scientific model of context-based communication. Kontx Kommunikation starts with a three-person team in Zurich. In addition, a Frankfurt branch ensures that clients and media professionals also have a local point of contact in Germany. Founder Bettina Gebhardt has 16 years of consulting experience from leading communications consultancies in Germany and Switzerland. From 2010 to 2015, she managed the Swiss branch of the international communications network Grayling (formerly Trimedia) in Zurich.
Context-based corporate and brand communication
Whether and how people perceive an advertising communication message depends on three elementary contextual factors: Brand or brand image, the specific circumstances at the time of reception, and finally the reality of the addressee's life. While advertising investments in the brand are currently on the rise, the factors "reception situation" and "individual living environment" are only inadequately taken into account in most communication strategies. This is where context-based corporate and brand communication comes in. Kontx Kommunikation uses the results of current scientific research and empirically based planning concepts from communication science to open up new ways for companies and brands to enter into dialog with their target groups. Be it through increased information, entertainment, interaction and/or monetary value, always depending on what is momentarily important to the recipients in the interaction context. Sounds simple, but requires a move away from the instrumental perspective often still encountered at present to a context-oriented view.
Context factors determine the success of communication
Bettina Gebhardt and the team at Kontx Kommunikation are committed to systematically opening up this new field of action in communications practice for their clients. "In numerous of my discussions with communication managers in Switzerland and Germany, it became clear that communication has maneuvered itself into a dead end. Increasing the advertising pressure further does not lead anywhere. By constantly introducing new tools that are technically good, but increasingly fragmented and less and less sustainable, you confuse the consumer," explains Bettina Gebhardt. She used this to develop a new way of looking at things, she says. "We strive to align our clients' communication messages with all relevant contextual factors of the target groups. These are brand, reception situation and lifeworld," says the founder. This is first and foremost a strategic task that has to be solved together with those responsible on the corporate side, she adds.
Support offer for large companies and SMEs
Kontx Kommunikation is entering the market with a focused service portfolio. The company wants to be successful with strategic consulting as well as with the implementation of innovative concepts for large international companies and for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a national focus. The company also offers communications coaching and training for management. "Communication concepts are being scrutinized more and more critically by those responsible on the corporate side. In particular it showed up that these strategies did not want to order simply, but compile together, in order to ensure the coherence in the entire appearance and the conformity with the enterprise strategy," say Bettina Gebhardt. We want to do justice to this. The motto is therefore "Consult - Achieve - Enable. Behind this is a cooperative working method that enables those responsible for communications on the corporate side to find the right answers to the current challenges of increasingly competitive sales markets.