Agency check: Trade Marketing Intelligence
Agency dog? Maternity leave? Overtime? Home office? In our "Agency Check" column, we put Swiss agencies through their paces. This time, the focus is on Trade Marketing Intelligence.
- Agency Name: TMI Trade Marketing Intelligence
- Establishment date: 2018
- Founder: Markus Wanner
- Current agency heads: Markus Wanner, Nicolas Schibler, Patrick Glauser, Marcial Constant, Michael Gassler
- Number of employees: 20
- Current customers: Lidl, Coca-Cola, Swisscom, Zweifel, Migros Fachmarkt, Hotelplan, Lactalis/Baer, Migros, Vision Group, Feldschlösschen, Localfish, Café Royal, Bigler Fleischwaren, Misenso, FFF Fresh & Frozen Food, Herba-Collection, ...
- Agency address: Josefstrasse 216, 8005 Zurich
Which campaign from the past twelve months are you particularly proud of?
On the "Swisscom Summer Hunt" - our first NFT campaign. With its attractive game mechanism, the hunt for virtual ice creams had a remarkable impact during the summer: 70,000 players, over 33,000 digital ice creams caught, greatly increased traffic in Swisscom stores and 30 lucky winners of the main prizes.
The most important campaign in agency history to date - and why?
The 100th anniversary campaign for the traditional Swiss brand Baer, because it brought our three areas of expertise "Shopper Activation", "Transforming Retail" and "Inspiring Brands" to bear in an integrated way. Under the motto "Happy BAERsday", "100 Years of Swiss Indulgence" was celebrated throughout Switzerland (Werbewoche.ch reported)Live and hands-on with the Baer Food Truck at many street food festivals and public festivals, and for all retail customers with a big Onpack anniversary competition.
The most unusual place where your creatives retreat to be creative?
If it doesn't have to be an individually chosen location, we have a 200-square-meter, well-developed lab space that is available to employees for creative sessions at any time.
What do you do when you have thought blocks?
Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often. We work in an interdisciplinary way, with agile methods and have various techniques that help us come up with good ideas. But when your brain needs a fresh impulse, you can take a walk on the nearby Josefwiese to clear your head. Or you can get new, exciting input while chatting with colleagues in our beautiful kitchen.
What is your agency philosophy?
We see ourselves as the "No Bullshit Agency". No complicated, opaque fee models and no "hidden fees". Absolute cost transparency. And above all, an inspiring, permeable "togetherness culture". This means that we very often work co-creatively with our clients in short, agile sprints. With the attitude: The better idea wins. No matter who has it.
In addition, we have formulated eight TMI principles that manifest our attitude and philosophy internally and externally quite well:
- It's all about the people.
- Life is short, we do stuff that matters.
- If it's not right, we don't do it. If it's not true, we don't say it.
- No games. No bullshit.
- Passion never fails.
- We celebrate success.
- We are better together.
- Get shit done.
Why should talented people definitely come to work for you?
We live a modern agency culture. Many years of experience and fresh university knowledge complement each other perfectly. With our positioning as a retail agency, we are unique and combine client needs with customer experience. We promote and live flexible working. It is important to us that our employees have the choice to decide for themselves when it makes sense to work in the office. We also handle vacations in the same way. Employees have the option of extending their vacation planning beyond the five weeks with unpaid leave. And they can adjust their personal workload. We feel very comfortable in Kreis 5. Our office is easily accessible by public transport, and we also have a large bicycle parking lot.
How long do employees stay with you on average?
We are a young company and therefore have no long-term experience. But we have some employees who are motivated since the foundation.
How old is your youngest employee, and how old is your oldest?
Our youngest employee is 9 years old and her name is Lia. She is the daughter of a managing partner, and she trains our other employees in Roblox and Co. She is paid in chewing gum. The youngest wage earner is called Luke. He is 17 years old and is just getting his first work experience after graduating from high school. At the other end of the age scale, we have two very experienced employees who are 59 years old.
How high are the wages you pay compared to the industry average?
We are a small but fine agency undergoing an exciting transformation. We don't pay fantasy salaries. But if you join us, you can make a difference and play a key role in shaping the future development of the agency. We offer an attractive overall package. What it says on the outside is what it says on the inside. We want to be an attractive employer, offer a motivating culture of togetherness and a modern working model with home office, flat hierarchies and a lot of personal responsibility.
What is the ratio between the best and the lowest paid employee?
There's the natural wage gap that exists everywhere. The salary of an intern is lower than that of a managing partner. We apply the "no-bullshit rule": equal pay for equal work and responsibility. Regardless of gender.
Pay transparency: Do employees know among themselves who earns how much?
No, we are not (yet) living this transparency. But we also act in accordance with our values in this area. We pay fair wages according to tasks and responsibilities. When employees talk to each other about their salaries - which they do - there are no big surprises.
How much overtime do you work on average per week?
Even with us, overtime is sometimes necessary when there are tight deadlines to meet. But the employees have flexitime and the possibility to compensate for the more hours worked.
What benefits do you provide to compensate your employees for said overtime?
As mentioned, our employees have the opportunity to compensate for these hours. Thanks to the "flexible working" model, it is also possible to spontaneously take a few hours off to go to the lake, play sports or have a long lunch. This is fully accepted and practiced here.
How long do you get maternity leave and how long paternity leave?
We have 16 weeks of one hundred percent maternity leave, which is fully paid. Fathers get four weeks of paternity leave with us. Of this, two weeks are paid and two weeks are flexible and unpaid.
Is home office allowed - and if so, how often?
Always! We have no rules.
What is the current quota of women?
Office: 50 percent (20 total, of which 10 women)
Promotor:in: 80 percent (236 employees in the pool, 190 of them women)
Office quota including promoters: 78 percent (256 total, 200 of them women)
Do you employ interns?
Yes, we promote career entry for young people and are always pleased to see the breath of fresh air that the interns bring in. We are always happy to employ school leavers who would like to do an intermediate year before going on to study, and our experience has been positive. Normally, we offer three interns per year such a career entry.
Do you organize team events?
Yes, and we'd rather have more than less. The classic is our legendary summer party in the garden of our Managing Director Markus Wanner. We even held it during the pandemic. And then there's the big Christmas event, which is organized by the divisions in turn. And soon we will be holding our second Casino Night. So when it comes to celebrating, we're way out in front.
Do you have an agency dog or other mascot?
We have two Chief Cuddle Officers (CCO 1 and 2): Simba and Sky, two golden retrievers. They move freely around the office, know their do's and don'ts, and like to be actively involved when we have creative sessions.
Where do you drink your after-work beer?
Somewhere in district 5. The most popular places are "Frau Gerolds Garten", the "Josefwiese" or our office. We have a big fridge, filled to the brim with beer that needs to be drunk.
