"Serviceplan is a homecoming for me".

Werbewoche.ch: Peter Schäfer, congratulations on your new job at Serviceplan. You are well known in the Swiss advertising industry, but would you tell those who don't yet know you about your career?

Peter Schäfer: I was born in South Africa and left home when I was seventeen - I have to be honest about that. Not only because of apartheid, but also because of the problems with my parents, with whom I get along very well today. I first went to London and started studying psychology there; then I received a research grant for Switzerland. At some point I had had enough of life as a scientist; I was worried that I would go crazy myself if I continued to deal with these topics. (laughs) ... and then I switched to the advertising industry.

You joined Advico, Young & Rubicam, Peter Felser became your planning mentor. Then Frank Bodin brought you to Havas, where you stayed for fourteen years. Finally, you spent two more years at Wunderman - and now you're moving to Serviceplan. No change at all for a long time, but this time it had to happen all the faster?

Some colleagues actually asked me if I was "crazy" - because I left Wunderman after only two years. But I really had a great time there! I was able to learn an incredible amount about technology in a very international setup, both in theory and in practical implementation. But Serviceplan is like a homecoming for me - not only have I known Pam Hügli and many other colleagues for ages; I also think the concept behind the agency group is fantastic.

One of your core topics is the use of empirical data for advertising. Is that where the trained psychologist comes in?

I think the data you collect about consumers today has a lot to do with psychology. Many people have no trouble articulating, "This is what I want, this is what I like, and this is my attitude. So I'm buying this way or that way." But then when you look at the data that those people generate ... it often paints a completely different picture. And that's what really interests me. You can go much deeper than the level that people themselves are aware of.

It's not for nothing that "data-based creativity" is also on everyone's lips, at least as a buzzword. Do you still see colleagues from creation resisting it at all?

Basically, once creatives have seen how to use data profitably in a project or campaign, they believe in it and will be happy to work with it. This is true for "classic" creatives as well as for newer, modern digital creatives. However, I don't think data or analytics replace intuition or gut feeling leading to an idea. I still believe: We will need creativity. And we will need ideas. The big platforms of this world with their sometimes ingenious technological innovations will never be able to achieve that. They come from a completely different world. We still need creativity, and we still need creative people who, in their genius, come up with unconventional ideas.

What is the best way to combine creativity and data?

Data leads to insights, which in turn become a springboard for creation. But they do not replace the springboard, and that is very important. As I said, I still believe in the sovereignty of creation. And that's why clients come to creative agencies. They don't come to collect data, because they can now do that themselves via CMS systems. But data is also enormously important for strategy, in addition to creation. Once we have an idea, we have to develop a channel strategy. To do this, we need to know where customers move via which touchpoints. In the past, that wasn't necessary - you went to the customer with an idea and then presented it on cardboard or later on a projector. And that's what customers liked. Today it's completely different. We have the insights, we have the idea, and now we have to implement it down to the last detail - that's what the clients expect.

What does this mean for the future of the agencies?

This means that forecasting the customer journey has become an essential part of our business. If we want to continue to position ourselves as full-service agencies in the market, then we must also be able to fulfill this part quite reliably and naturally. In my opinion, it is primarily the role of strategy to drive this forward.

So you and your colleagues are increasingly challenged when it comes to making an agency like Serviceplan fit for the future?

Absolutely. I'll try to explain this from a holistic perspective: On the one hand, in the area of customer insights, customer experience management, we are competing with the big management consultants these days. They try to poach people from us and sometimes succeed in doing so; above all, however, they force their way into pitches that our industry used to settle "among themselves". On the other hand we creativity. Consultants can't really do that; we can position ourselves there. It's about things like brand definition. It's about communication strategies, really good ones. It's about transformation topics that directly affect the customer experience. Creative competence alone is simply no longer enough to win comprehensive mandates. We have to do the part of the work that the consultants would otherwise do.

Another big concern for you, you told me in advance, is promoting diversity within the agency. Why is that important to you?

I am convinced that living diversity strengthens the openness of employees to one another and thus creates room for particularly high levels of creativity. Encouraging different opinions forces people to think beyond their own horizons, and that is precisely what often leads to great ideas. At Serviceplan Suisse, we have a female chairman of the board of directors, we have Pam Hügli as CEO, we have an executive board that is fifty percent female. In other words, we are already much further ahead than other companies when it comes to promoting women. And I think that's a very important signal in the market. But we haven't reached our goal yet! The entire LGBTQ+ issue is enormously important, equality is finally also welcomed by customers, yes: demanded ... the world is so far. In general: the world is becoming more female and the world is becoming younger. This will change the insights on which we base our campaigns.