Serviceplan tops our first-ever ACE 100 agency list … but this remarkable independent network out of Germany wasn’t always a creative titan. We interview the long-time CCO Alex Schill on the growth of the company, its burgeoning creativity, and why, despite other, more pressing passions, he is best suited to advertising.

L[A] How did you get into advertising?

AS I never wanted to be in advertising. I wanted to be a doctor. I had a place to study medicine in the city of Giessen in Germany and I was already looking for an apartment there. Then, I also got accepted at the High School of Fine Arts in Berlin. It was in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and it was 1990 when I started my studies. So I went to Berlin for the reason that I thought it was really cool to be there at that time and at the High School of Fine Arts.

Berlin was then perhaps the hottest place to be on Earth, I would say. My four years of studying in Berlin was the most crazy time because everything was … changing. You had the east side of Berlin, you had the west of Berlin. We opened a nightclub with friends in an abandoned slaughterhouse. The crazy places became the crazy nightclubs. And besides that, I was studying at the High School of Fine Arts. And then after my studies, I got my first job at Springer & Jacoby, which was in Hamburg and the most creative agency in those days.

L[A] Why did you think to go into advertising rather than, say, paint pictures?

AS I more or less ran into it without planning. People from Springer & Jacoby came to the school, they gave lessons and they asked students to do campaigns or whatever as an exercise. I had an offer from them half a year before I ended my studies. I thought: ‘OK, that sounds interesting. I have friends in Hamburg, it is a nice city. It’s a cool agency … why not?’

L[A] And the aspiration to be a doctor … ?

AS I still wanted to be a doctor. I never wanted to be in advertising. But I have a good relationship with advertising because I enjoy life more than advertising. I do advertising but I do not live for it. I have to be honest. And maybe it’s good to have a little distance, to be able to step outside and look at what we’re doing because this is a crazy business. One should not lose yourself in something too much. It helps to have a broader horizon for looking at things in life. So I started with Springer & Jacoby as a junior copywriter.

L[A] You were working with the words rather than as an art director …

AS Well, I checked out everything. Besides medicine, I wanted to be a designer as well. I was unclear where I should go. But I came down to copywriting because I enjoy the power of words. How you put the letters into words and how you put the words together into sentences … and then you can write a poem. Or you can do propaganda like in the terrible times of wars … and what’s going on today. You can put them together to make people cry. You can put them together to make people live. This was fascinating for me. You can do it in very short sentences or you can write books.

It was not so much about doing the best advertising, it was more about how to put the words together to make them really work. If we write a script for a TV spot or whatever, how do we put the words that people love? Or: how can I write long-form copy? Sometimes I still can quote the first copy that I wrote for Mercedes Benz … the copy was about the wings. The Mercedes …

L[A] Gullwing Mercedes [Mercedes 300 SL]?

AS Yes. It was first produced in 1954 and that year was what the copy was all about. Putting words together to pull people into the story … that fascinated me.

L[A] So in 1994 you joined Springer. How did that develop?

AS I was not so much interested in selling the things but had a fascination with putting the words together so that people are really attracted. But then pretty fast I became creative director, and then CCO of Springer & Jacoby [2003]. And then I got kicked out after 12 years because Springer & Jacoby were sold. Even though we were quite successful at the time.

L[A] And then Serviceplan?

AS I met Florian [CEO of Serviceplan since 2002, son of the founder Dr. Peter Haller]. And from 2006 until today, I’m here.

Obviously, I talked to many agencies and almost by chance, I met Florian. In the beginning, we were not much interested in each other. For about 35 years Serviceplan, since starting, had never had a creative head. They were very successful … very reliable, very German, very consistent in what they did. When I started there were around 600 people in one office in Munich. They were not interested in awards. I don’t think they won an award in the first 35 years, more or less.

I was not much interested in Serviceplan because it was totally uncreative and Florian was not interested in me because it was not in the genes of the agency to be creative. But we met, we liked each other and we said, ‘Well, what would happen if … ?’ In those days it was more like either you had a big network or you had a hotshot creative agency. We said, ‘What would happen if we bring the two together?’

Maybe one plus one is three. Then we would have an offer where clients can buy crazy stuff and yet can be sure that it really works. I was fascinated by the idea and Florian said, ‘There’s no need for me to do it but I would love to do it.’ I said, ‘Well, there is no need for me either but I would love to do it, so let’s try.’ But I didn’t want to move to Munich. And because the people that were around me and my crew were all in Hamburg, we decided to open an office in Hamburg. The first office outside of Munich, which still exists.

I started in 2006 with Serviceplan and two years later became the CCO for all offices, which were then very little. I became the partner of Florian on what was effectively the board level.

L[A] Creativity got in …

AS It was an amazing journey we took. We didn’t change many of the people. It was more like being the lighthouse for creativity and sparking the idea that creativity is an amazing thing to do, that it’s more fun to do things with creativity. You can sell stuff without being creative but it’s more fun to sell it with creativity. Then we started an amazing journey … and now we have become number one! Sometimes in Germany, sometimes in Europe, sometimes in the world, sometimes in different award shows. Today we have around 6,000 employees. So, that’s an amazing story from one office in Munich to let’s say 35 offices around the world. And still being 100% independent, which is very important for us.

L[A] The ownership is … ?

AS The ownership is with the partners, I’d say. From being a family-owned business, today we call it a partner-owned company because in all offices, the managing directors – whether suits, creative, strategists, whatever – they own substantial shares of their own company. Majority is with the Serviceplan Group but the office management owns substantial shares.

This is a crucial difference between Serviceplan Group and other agencies in that we give substantial shares to our partners. We are really partners. We are not looking for managers … we look for partners. So I think we have no hierarchies because we are working as partners.

L[A] In the US you are getting more of a presence, with minority stakes in Pereira O’Dell and L&C, Lanfranco & Cordova.

AS It’s like we have two ways of growing. In the US, it’s very difficult, I have to say, because for German or European agencies jumping to the US, most of them fail. Our first attempt, we failed as well. And so there are two ways. Either we hire or we find partners, and we start from scratch with them as an agency. This is the thing that we prefer, to be honest. On the other side, there are examples where we buy into agencies. Either we buy the minority or we buy the majority. Generally, we prefer to buy the majority. But in the US, we found perfect partners with Andrew [O’Dell and PJ [Pereira].

So, we said, ‘OK, we go in with a minority share.’ And then we build around Pereira O’Dell. We then build the House of Communication, which is what we do in every country. House of Communication means that we have mainly the three columns that we strongly believe in, which is Serviceplan for creative and content, Plan.net, which is tech and platform business, and Mediaplus, which is media and data. So, these are the three columns that we combine mainly in every House of Communication around the world.

L[A] How long has that model been operating?

AS Well, the House of Communication is the basic idea of the older Mr. Haller, when he started the agency in 1970. By the beginning of the 90s, or even the end of the 80s, there were already the three columns. If we put together these three things, at least these three things, we can come up with a very good result for the client.

L[A] So, that model you take to working with your new partners as you bring them in, like Pereira O’Dell?

AS Yes … obviously, at the same time, it’s a little expensive because we have to fund three companies. We have Pereira O’Dell, which is a creative agency. We have Mediaplus, and we have Plan.net also in the House of Communication in the US. Now Andrew and PJ are running Serviceplan Americas, which is the House of Communication in New York. And this is basically the structure everywhere where we go. We go to create a House of Communication. We still have a company which is called Serviceplan, but the basic creative agency is Pereira O’Dell. And we just recently bought a minority share in L&C as well, to cover a little of the Hispanic market. They are in the same building.

L[A] And why do they want to work with you? Is it because you’re bringing that more robust structure for them?

AS I think what makes us attractive to Pereira O’Dell, L&C, or others, is that we are truly independent. They can talk to the owners of the whole thing. They talk to a partner and not to a network manager who is driven by numbers or, even worse, by a stock exchange.

Being this size, around 6,000 people and 100% independent still, we are still making our own decisions. That’s unusual. We can decide matters by sitting together in a small group. This makes us very fast. This can make us brave. Sometimes because we just want it, because we just believe even if the numbers say no but our stomachs say yes, then we can decide to go like that.

We give stakes of the real business and we expect people to work like an entrepreneur. We expect people to drive the business. It’s a little bit like being independent but with a huge backbone that’s also independent and that helps, as it is there if something goes wrong. You do not sell your soul to a network or to whatever, some people sitting somewhere around the world making decisions solely based on numbers. You can build your own business and yet you’re not alone.

Even if we have different names, sometimes with Plan.net and Serviceplan, we are one company. So, you talk to your partner. And you know the partner because in every house we have cafeterias, we have terraces. It’s important that we all sit together, that you know the people. You go in, get your coffee and while you’re doing that you meet someone who is maybe working in media or is working in tech. So, it’s not like calling someone you do not know, but someone to who you may ask ‘Can you help me?’

L[A] Why not just call it all Serviceplan?

AS Heavily discussed! No, we have clients that only ask for media. And they feel more comfortable with a media agency than with something that is all in. And, also, historically, it’s grown like that. I think we were the first integrated agency before someone invented the word integrated. Let me show you the first plan now.

When I entered the company I said, ‘Let’s change the name. I can’t go to creative pitches with the stupid name of Serviceplan.’ But there is a plan, from 1970, all set down, written and drawn.

This is the original Serviceplan [holds large framed diagrammatic plan]. This is a service plan, and it says …

L[A] It’s in German: please translate.

AS It sets out everything for an integrated agency here. It talks about brand and brand experience. It talks about CRM. It talks about … activations. It goes on about media. It even talks about distribution. It covers everything that you have to do to be successful. This is the service plan.

L[A] It was a big vision from the off.

AS It says in the future, the ‘holistic’ concept will be relevant. And this is from 1970. This was before any of the networks came to the idea and said, ‘Let’s offer an integrated approach.’ This was in 1970, and that was when the founders came up with it. This is the plan for how to service a client to be successful.

This is still the DNA and the basis. Clients, if they come to us, they know that they can get highly creative products, but they also know that we can make it work. So, we don’t sell it because we think it’s funny. We sell it only if we know that it will work. And even if we are not asked to, we bring media experts to the pitch, and we bring tech experts to the pitch. Even if we are just asked for a campaign, we might bring someone from Plan.net, from the tech as well. ‘If this is the campaign, if this is the insight that we are following, you have to adjust your website as well. Even if we are not the agency, you have to do this, and this, and this.’ Then we bring someone from the media who can say: ‘We are sure that it will work because we checked. If we do it like this then it will work. Please feel free to hand this to your media agency or hand the business to us.’

L[A] It’s great that that vision has sort of come true because that vision was there from the … But of course, things have continued to change, and the nature of what advertising is today is so different to what it was 20 years ago and then 50 years ago. How does that sort of live in Serviceplan today when you’re thinking about the pillars, the columns, or you’re thinking about which agencies you should acquire or partner and work with?

I’m sort of asking where it is going? How do you stay on top of things and expand? Creativity seems to be very different today from what it was then and the nature of the media that advertising is in. You produce these amazing projects with innovative products and with the kind of experiential things that are so far from what advertising has been.

AS The basis of everything is that we are our own partner. You mentioned our spatial offering now. So we just hire the right people who are interested in developing that. We are not built like a pyramid, so it’s not everything going through my table. We deeply trust the partners that join our company. And if they are experts in spatial … they lead that. For example, see the iii Museum that we did for an Iranian art collector.

Above: museum ii case study.

It’s an amazing project driven by people who joined our group. It’s not driven by me. We find the right partners to cover that area. And the thing is there will always be TV spots. In the 80s, there were only TV spots. Maybe in the future, there are still TV spots but this will probably not be the only major thing that we do in a campaign. Perhaps we are doing a museum, or a special experience, or we are inventing products. We are also inventing products for O2 Telefonica, for example.

We are thinking about what would be a good virtual product to sell there. Things like that. So, we do not concentrate solely on producing campaigns or whatever, but we want to cover the whole thing. Which, again, is something that I especially like a lot – just to cover everything and to look around everything.

L[A] So, what do you describe yourself as? Because it’s not solely advertising, is it?

AS We do advertising but we’re doing more than advertising.

With O2 Telefonica now we are building music studios to produce music and content, and to do cultural marketing. We are covering artists and we are producing young artists. We take the young artist and believe in the young artists and might put their songs on a TV spot, or we do a podcast with them … whatever. We start from a different angle to the business. We do not call ourselves an advertising agency solidly because we are doing a broader communication role.

L[A] ‘Communication’ is the link?

AS Communication is probably the thing. But it’s about finding the right insights. For example, with the cultural marketing agency, I think it’s a very good example where we have to step down from the stage of communication down to the audience. We are becoming part of the audience in order to really understand it. We have specialists go into the subcultures to understand how we could get our brands to be properly in that culture.

If we don’t reach a specific community anymore through advertising, then we must do something else. We have to produce an artist and put concerts out there and stuff like that. We tackle the problems from different angles. We can also come in with product ideas and with designs. This is crucially important.

For example, what we did with the Dot Corporation. We have a very long-term relationship with the company Dot, developing products. The first product was the watch. Then we came in with tech innovations from our side. So, the braille translator was a technology that we invented, and then they put it on their brand, on the Dot. We do some design on that. It’s a true partnership. We took shares in what was a startup and we still own shares in the company.

This is not advertising. Sometimes people say, ‘What are you doing for Dot?’ I say, ‘It doesn’t matter because we are partners, we own shares on Dot. And sometimes we do packaging. Sometimes we do design. Sometimes we do technology. Sometimes we’re just advising.’ This is not what traditional agencies do. But if we see a chance and if we think it’s interesting, that leads me to a key point, I think: we have the power to do something good also in the world. We have enormous power.

L[A] How does this work?

AS People listen more to brands than to politicians these days, so brands have to take a stand. We are the advisors of brands so we can help brands to be lighthouses for people, and people need lighthouses to follow. They need some purpose and whatever. They need an opinion. I think this is what our mission is. It’s way more than to do some funny stuff, to put the right media behind it, or to come up with the latest tech. It’s to give guidance on the side of a brand to societies that are lost in our political systems these days.

L[A] So this is how we can do more in this industry, this is where we can go next?

AS We have to understand the amount of power that lies in creativity. Every change is driven by creativity or innovation. You have to innovate to change the world. We have these tools in our hands. We have this together with brands who need to understand that they have the power to be lighthouses and a guide to their customers, or to society … to people. And then they can gather people behind the brand because they understand what the brand stands for.

An agency cannot be the lighthouse because nobody follows an agency – people follow brands. In the combination of these two there is enormous power for preventing the world from bad and putting some good out there. I don’t mean finding some stupid purpose that a brand should cover but that a brand really must have something to say. And they must say it out loud. If they believe something is right or something is wrong, they should just say it, and people will appreciate it.

L[A] The industry needs the best talent to do that well. How does this industry better attract great young talents to work in it? One thing we have heard is that the industry is losing out to other seemingly sexier occupations, when once it was hot.

AS I think I see it turning again. In the last few years, it was hard to attract people to come into advertising because we had to work a lot, especially after Coronavirus times. You have to go to the office to work long hours and stuff like that. And for, in the beginning, not much money, to be honest. It was difficult. But I think now as the whole business is changing and people understand that advertising agencies are not only doing advertising.

In this industry, you do not have to be in business for five years or ten years until you get a break where you can reach people. In advertising, as a junior, you can write the social media posts that really hit everybody during the Super Bowl and you reach millions of people. You can do campaigns for good. You can find clients. With our skills, we can identify people who can change the world and we can help them become more successful.

L[A] And you didn’t even want to do this.

AS I never wanted to do work in advertising. But even if I never wanted to be in advertising, I have been doing it now for 30 years and I still love it because I see a little from the outside the power we have.

L[A] How do you get any space for yourself at the end of all this? Managing all this, and bringing all this together, working with however many people you are working with, it’s endless in some ways.

AS It’s a question that most creatives get sooner or later: where does the inspiration come from? I am happy I have a distance from advertising in a way and that I am fascinated by life. My problem is that if you put me somewhere, in a museum or whatever … I dive in. Just recently I got fascinated by Russian avant-garde, the art era in the 10s, and the 20s, and the 30s. I could spend days just focusing on this, because suddenly I got so fascinated by that. I could dive so deeply into that.

Just to be alive is the best inspiration, not to sit every day in an office or somewhere. The stories are told outside, so you have to go outside. You have to talk to people. People are fascinating. What frustrates me the most is that I have to sleep some days!

There are so many things to explore and to experience but I have to protect myself occasionally. Sometimes I do not go to the museum because I know if I go to the museum I’m, again, lost in something that I see there. Sometimes I need to get a little quiet and rest.

What I always teach my children is to see the things that are not immediately there. So, to find something that is not here. If you buy something, you have to see how it should be in the end. If you start with communication, you have to see what you want to achieve. And just follow that vision, and this is how I live my whole life. Advertising is part of my life, but not all. I do advertising the same as I do motorcycle races or whatever. I love old motorcycles.

L[A] Yes, you are a fan of these. Do you do the mechanics on the bike as well as the racing?

AS I’m not very good at doing the engines but I have the vision. I can see what the bike will stand for in the end. I really go into that. Life is so beautiful. There are so many things out there to explore. Do not close your eyes to the things that are out there. If you really can, light the fire in yourself to be interested in things.

L[A] What AI development do you have at Serviceplan?

AS At Serviceplan now we have an AI studio, and we built up a House of AI, as we call it, working across countries to connect those working with AI and the knowledge. I’m not so frightened about whether we can do text or copies faster with AI. This will happen. But the fascinating thing is to understand data and media, to understand how through media, AI can put the asset out there.

AI understands dramatically faster and better if something works or not. If an asset is not working, it can be replaced automatically. So it will be. There are completely different ways of using AI that are way more important and way more fascinating than whether AI can do a better picture than a human for less money. Yes, this will happen, and we all have to deal with that. But it is not the main thing. We have to collect the data on the problems that we want to solve and then we put AI on it to make us understand the data.

For all my career, I always come to a point where I say, ‘Oh, I’m a little bored now. I did my 50th TV spot. I’m going … ’ And always something comes up that changes the whole situation. Now, again, with AI this will turn around everything and all the possibilities that we have. And so I’m fascinated, again, with advertising!

Alex Schill is the global Chief Creative Officer of Serviceplan.