Dennis Lück founds an agency in Switzerland

"Mister Kreativranking" goes his own way: Dennis Lück leaves Jung von Matt/Limmat and starts his own business. But his Kreativranking tattoo will continue to remind him of his time at FCB Zurich and Jung von Matt/Limmat. The fact that there is no further "1" on the arm could probably have been interpreted as a premonition that Lück would soon be taking up a new, non-award-oriented activity.

With the "Advertiser of the Year" 2017, the Swiss agency, which recently won the creative ranking three times in a row under Lück's creative leadership, loses its most prominent figurehead. At the end of the year, as Jung von Matt/Limmat confirmed to Werbewoche.ch. That Lück is leaving his current employer was first unconfirmed by the German portal Horizon announced. Asked about the news by Werbewoche.ch, the German, who lives in Wohlen AG, revealed not only that his departure is a done deal, but also what he is really up to: He is founding an agency in Switzerland together with Raphael Brinkert. For the time being, nothing more can be elicited from him. "Of course, I can't and shouldn't really chat at this point."

Dennis Lück and Raphael Brinkert (from left) team up in Switzerland.

Brinkert - his "partner in crime," as Lück calls him - is Germany's most awarded sports marketer, founder of RaphaelBrinkert Social Campaigning & Sports Hamburg and Jung von Matt/sports. From 2011 to 2013, he was responsible for Jung von Matt/Fleet as Managing Director. From 2000 to 2010, he worked for Scholz & Friends, most recently as founding CF of Scholz & Friends NRW.

He has been friends with Lück for over 20 years, Brinkert told Werbewoche.ch. At Scholz & Friends Hamburg, the two got to know and appreciate each other at the beginning of their careers. Brinkert has nothing but praise for his future agency partner. He, too, does not want to reveal any details at this point in time.

Brinkert and Switzerland

Switzerland is not new territory for him, he says. In 2009, he already worked for Scholz & Friends Zurich, where he took over as Managing Director ad interim for six months. In general, he has been to Switzerland "very, very often" for private reasons. "I love and appreciate the country, the landscape and everything that makes it tick," Brinkert enthuses. In 2016, as an important partner of Jung von Matt, he helped transfer Lück from FCB Zurich to the agency's Limmat branch.

Cheers: In 2017, Dennis Lück was named "Advertiser of the Year" by Werbewoche.

The gap according to Lück

What consequences the departure will have for Jung von Matt/Limmat remains to be seen - as does whether Lück's successor at the agency, which has dominated Switzerland in terms of awards and accolades in recent years, is already known. It is quite possible that the man from Wahllaargau, with his creative ambition and tireless enthusiasm, will leave a painful gap.

Jung von Matt/Limmat already lost a top creative to the competition in Lorenz Clormann in the middle of the year - he replaced Fernando Perez, who was taking time out, as Executive Creative Director at Wirz. (Werbewoche.ch reported). Clormann was prominently replaced with Annette Häcki, who previously served at Rod and Wunderman Thompson.

At Jung von Matt/Limmat, they don't want to know about a creative gap anyway, but are still keeping a low profile. "We've been looking at how we can become even better as a creative agency for several years. What we can already reveal now: As an agency, we will invest even more in excellent creativity," says Communication Manager Nina Bieli when asked whether Lück's successor has already been found. "Of course we are losing a great personality with Dennis. But at the same time, we're also taking the opportunity to give creativity at Jung von Matt an even broader base in the future."