Greetings from the home office - Episode 30: David Cappellini, Monami

David Cappellini - here on his Monami bike - is the founder of the digital content agency Monami, which now employs 15 people. He also lectures at the ZHAW and is an avid fan of FC Winterthur. 

Werbewoche.ch: How long have you been in the home office?

David Cappellini: Since March 12. However, it should be noted that because the premises have been completely empty since then, I took the liberty of continuing to be the only one in the office. But now I'm finally allowed to listen to Backstreet Boys out loud.

Is your entire agency located in a home office?

Yes.

Did you or your agency experience any technical issues during setup?

Fortunately for me, I'm in a familiar working environment. I switch back and forth between the Zurich office and our branch in Chur. However, thanks to a good server solution and regular team calls, the employees have not experienced any significant technical problems so far. The transition has been virtually seamless.

Cappellini also currently often works alone in this neat little house in the old town of Chur.

Where in the empty agency rooms did you set up?

The nice thing about the empty rooms is that I use the different rooms in the office more than ever. Calls in the meeting room, lunch under no circumstances at the workplace - presidents sometimes kill on the rocking horse or in the garden.

What all do you need to maintain operations during Corona?

Felt-tip pens for creative doodling, cell phone, laptop, coconut water - and my glasses on hay fever days.

The Monami office in Zurich-Wollishofen. Yawning emptiness, one employee, sometimes too loud music.

An omnipresent topic at the moment is the demanding demarcation between family and professional life - an issue for you?

I'm going to be a dad for the first time soon and - apart from the anticipation - I'm very excited to see what it's going to be like.

Have you had home office experience in the past?

I had a little experience, as I had already been allowed to work in all sorts of places as part of a one-year trip around the world before Monami.

What processes are proving difficult compared to the normal day-to-day running of an agency at the moment?

After a month and a half, I can see that these are only small things. More important than the processes is the lack of exchange in real life, which can often lead to fruitful things. That is clearly missing. Shooting is also not easy in social distancing times. We have set up an entire home studio for some employees.

A home studio was installed at home for certain employees. This allows them to master certain shoots on their own - despite social distancing.

Which jobs go smoothly?

Thanks to efficient planning, clear customer assignments and a lot of team flexibility, actually all of them.

Is there anything that currently works even easier or more productively?

I myself am actually almost more productive because I am less distracted. But that doesn't apply across the board; in a team it's a little different for everyone.

What do they do about the ceiling falling on your head?

I regularly jog through the woods or ride the Monami bike - see picture above - across town. In addition, I started early on to host a so-called home office Monday painting live every noon on the Monami Instagram channel. That's a lot of fun.

Keep things interesting: Every noon, there's a home office Monday painting on Monami's Instagram channel. 

Have you experienced anything like a Corona collapse?

In between, yes. But daddy's anticipation quickly displaces the tantrum.

What do you miss most about the normal day-to-day life at an agency?

Quite clearly: the people.

Are you confident that your agency will come through the crisis unscathed?

Of course, a little damage is noticeable - some campaigns simply cannot be carried out at the moment and have been put on hold. In addition, no one really knows what the impact of the recession will be. Nevertheless, I not only believe that we will come out of the crisis almost unscathed, but also that we will take a lot with us from it. And: Good content is more important than ever.

As we all know, everything has its positive sides. What is it in your current situation?

Our flexible structures certainly stood us in good stead. We handled digital crisis communications from A to Z for many major clients, and developed completely new campaigns, guidelines and measures for others practically from scratch. We also used the time to strategically fiddle around with neat, exciting things internally as well, and finally to completely overhaul our website. And finally, the home office should also become established to a certain extent.

When and why did you last laugh in connection with Monami's home office situation?

That was at the last digital team meeting. At the beginning, someone spontaneously had the idea of holding the Zoom meeting in disguise. What was meant as a joke became a fact. Within two minutes, the whole team changed its appearance. And at the end, one of them played "Hakuna Matata" on the ukulele. Great cinema!

Even if you don't have a crystal ball: Do you expect the current situation to continue for a long time?

In my opinion, there is not just one current situation, but many of them. The acute one is probably over soon, but the consequences will accompany us in many ways for a long time to come - both negatively and positively.

What would you like to give your colleagues in the industry to take with them through the crisis?

Of course, I do not presume to give any tips. However, optimism and positivity always help me. In addition, I'm convinced, as I mentioned, that the crisis has created a lot of opportunities. But I don't think that applies to the industry, but ultimately to society as a whole.