Wunderman Thompson with new dual leadership, Schipper becomes chairman

It is not only in terms of space that the agencies are to come closer together. The goal is to create a diverse working environment in order to respond even better to customer and consumer needs, according to a joint statement.

From now on, creative lateral thinkers, tech virtuosos, healthcare specialists, PR, brand and social strategists will all be working in the same building. This should not only offer customers, but also employees new opportunities for daily collaboration.

New management team at Wunderman Thompson

At the same time, the management of Wunderman Thompson will be restructured. Giselle Vaugne and Swen Morath will lead the agency together as Co-CEOs with immediate effect; Jonathan Schipper will become Chairman.

Giselle Vaugne has been leading consulting at Wunderman Thompson as Chief Operating Officer since the beginning of 2019. Prior to joining Wunderman Thompson, she was Head of Marketing at VW Switzerland and worked for international corporations such as Ford and Microsoft. She has extensive knowledge of the automotive and technology industries as well as a great understanding of customers. "I am extremely excited to work closely with Swen in a co-CEO role. We have opposing perspectives on things and often argue with each other with a lot of joy and enthusiasm (laughs). We've become really good at that. And that's a big advantage, because this friction results in very good solutions, for the problems of our customers as well as our agency."

Swen Morath joined Wunderman Thompson - formerly Advico Y&R, Futurecom, Wunderman - as creative director in 2015 and has led creative as chief creative officer since 2017. "Wunderman Thompson's DNA is equal parts creativity, technology and strategy. These competencies are consistently integrated at WT to create impactful solutions - across the entire customer journey. Experts from the respective areas are not just under one roof with us, but sit at the same table. We call this "Collison", a unique collaboration developed by us within the agency and with the client, which leads to innovative and effective communication solutions," Morath is quoted as saying in the release.

Jonathan Schipper, CEO of Ogilvy Switzerland since mid-2018, will also become Chairman at Wunderman Thompson and support the new Co-CEOs Vaugne and Morath in further anchoring the Wunderman Thompson brand and the excellent service offering in the market and driving collaboration between the agencies: "The agencies will retain their legal entities, their teams, their infra and server structure, their identity, their culture, their specialization and their relationships with clients and their networks. On the other hand, the exchange of know-how and the exploitation of synergies will be encouraged. This is going to be a real powerhouse and I'm really looking forward to co-developing it and seeing its potential unfold," said Schipper. "I'm also really looking forward to the new place of work, or rather the return to the old workplace, because I already worked at Hardturmstrasse - at Y&R Group Switzerland - between 2010 and 2013 and have only the very best memories of it."

Expansion of cooperations

According to the press release, the cooperation with Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), which has already moved into Hardturmstrasse in 2020, will be further strengthened so that all communication and marketing disciplines can now be offered from a single source. In addition, the focus will be on expanding international cooperation.