It’s hard to believe, but the dietz agency is already active for 25 years
The agency business is always described as young and dynamic. There are many start-ups, many young people, lots of enthusiasm, and a spirit of optimism. Unfortunately, this very often takes a different turn or even fails completely. You need more than motivation to manage an agency successfully for many years. It also requires a good deal of experience and business know-how.
I must confess, I was a little shocked when I received the first messages containing good wishes regarding my 25th anniversary. It was due to the fact that I had mentioned the agency’s launch date April 12th, 1995 in our Xing-account. Therefore, an anniversary mail was automatically sent. In times like these – Covid-19 and all the topics relating to it keep our society almost at a standstill – this was actually very positive news.
My first reaction was: That’s it! Advertising, and digital anyway, is supposed to be young and dynamic. Then I thought about my employees and realized, that it’s actually the opposite. We have a great mixture of young employees that are eager to learn and older, experienced team members. And I think that’s just fine. What you need is a constant development, but we already know that from our long time working as an agency. And that’s where we stand today: We are a top digital agency from the Frankfurt am Main area with top clients.
The same day, I had an appointment with my bank consultant for other reasons, afterwards I talked to our tax consultant. And everyone immediately reassured me: Hey, that is a great achievement, and the agency’s credit rating is doing well, too. So, everything is fine. We seem to have found our way.
dietz.digital, a digital agency established in 2002 – how was that even possible?
If you look back and still remember the good old days, when there was a kind of Internet hype. Unfortunately, it burst at the turn of the millennium. Many agencies went bankrupt and the Internet was seen as a passing fad that wasted a lot of money. That’s why everything connected with digital became rather negatively evaluated. At that time, digital and all things connected was also referred to as “interactive”. Just like us: In 2002 I founded a subsidiary of “Communications”, named it “Interactive”, and started it with a partner.
My very own GmbH. It led me to bank talks with the Dresdner Bank. It wasn’t about a loan, just a simple corporate account. The bank consultant asked me what we were planning to do, and I explained a lot about interactive, websites, the Internet, etc. to him. His reaction was just as you might expect. I had a lot of trouble getting at least the company account. For a disposition, I was supposed to deposit the same amount of money as equity. You would hardly believe it worked that way, but that’s how it did back in those days.
We got started, and soon, we won a great client: the Gillette Group Germany. It all happened very slowly and started with small projects, but maybe it was a good thing, too, because it also allowed us to learn and develop. The Deutsche Reisebüro, today DER, was also one of these new clients, DERPART and ATLASREISEN followed as well. Smiths Detection was added, and so on and on. At that time, we were already a digital agency from Frankfurt am Main, to be precise.
It turned out to be an ideal combination for the Deutsche Reisebüro and DERPART. Print has always been one of our strongest suits and we designed all the decorations for the travel agencies nationwide. In addition, there were now mixed campaigns with print mailings and websites, which offered personalized offers for the end consumer. Everything came from one source, all implemented by only one agency: circulations in the millions, control of print productions at Bertelsmann & Co., and at the same time, the digital launches of databases, websites, and support. That’s when our experience exchange with digital topics began. For Smiths Detection, our agency set up with the RedDot CMS, then – something innovative at the time – and launched the global website.
Digital agencies need innovations
Digitally fit and top performing – as a digital agency from Frankfurt am Main, we have established our reputation. SEO, marketing automation, wireframes, Social, targeting, re-targeting, website content, PIM, DAM etc. – these are all the topics we’re dealing with today. But it also shows that you can only survive economically with innovations and a feeling for your clients’ challenges. A good example of this is the development of our products dynamicPIM® and dynamicDAM®.
Why innovation, what’s the big news about that?
Let’s get back to the beginning. Over the years, we have programmed various databases and have repeatedly recognized that no system available on the market offers the flexibility we need. In addition, we know the market for consumer goods (FMCG) perfectly. 15 years of Procter & Gamble leave its mark. We have learned a lot and realized that systems are needed that are not only flexible, but also provide product information such as logistics, sales, and marketing as well as media data of all kinds (images, videos, etc.). Ideally integrated in one place. This system is also accessible for all target groups with the referring authorizations, such as “Internal”, “Retailers”, “Agencies”, etc. In addition, it should also be possible to optimize and enrich this data in order to distribute it to the respective stakeholders (Markant, GDSN etc.).
The reality looks always different. There are various systems, incomplete content is delivered, everyone does his own thing. Everybody only works in his own area and does not see the big picture. If you take a look from a helicopter perspective (a popular phrase used by management consultants), then you notice that enormous efficiencies lie hidden here. It is always a long way to convince existing organizations to take a different path. Especially, if we are talking about P&G, Unilever, Coty or Knauf. We are convinced that good, correct, and up-to-date content is a key success criterion in this market sector.
So we have decided to develop our own products. A big step for us that came with lots of blood, sweat, and tears. But it was worth it. The applications help to provide optimal content where it is needed. We are constantly optimizing and can optionally guarantee the necessary software security via escrow accounts (if desired).
Concept, strategy, and strength of a digital agency from Frankfurt am Main
In addition to our core business (social, SEO, websites, content), the applications are another main pillar of our agency’s services, which gives us economic strength and, especially in times of Corona, also ensures that we have planning security. In addition, our operating business remains unchanged, as we are able to work from our home offices efficiently. This happened from one day to the next. dietz.digital is a digital agency that hasn’t had any job servers internally for a long time. With the result that we do not have to ask the question of how our employees should access the data needed. This practice has been working for three years now.
In conclusion: You might have already guessed; I am very proud of my team. I’m proud of a great agency with great employees that form the DNA of the agency. I’m looking forward to the future, a great time with great clients, important experiences, and great cooperation on all levels.