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Recruitment in GermanyArrogant? Zurich agency offends Berliner
An agency is looking for new creative minds in Germany. The people of Zurich are accused of arrogance and lack of ideas.
“What is meant here ‘cheeky’ comes across as arrogant,” was the reaction to Linkedin.
Wirz AG
«Berlin is wonderful when you’re young. But at some point you get too old for the whole circus,” says Wirz creative director Caspar Heuss.
Wirz AG
That’s what it’s about
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The Wirz agency recruited new staff in Germany.
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Some Berliners were bothered by the provocative statement on the poster trailer.
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Marketing expert Felix Murbach assesses the campaign positively: “archyde news must polarize.”
“Nothing against Berlin: But you don’t seriously want to grow old here?”: The Zurich agency Wirz recently advertised young creative talent with a provocative statement on a mobile poster trailer. The company writes on the recruitment website “goodbyedeutschland.wirz.ch”: “If you feel like jumping into a crystal-clear lake instead of catching a rare skin disease in the Spree […]then we should definitely get to know each other in a binding or non-binding manner.»
The agency not only made friends with the poster trailer, which toured the German capital for a week and was placed in front of the largest agencies on site: “Nothing against Zurich. But what is supposed to be meant here by ‘cheeky’ comes across as arrogant,” criticized the social media platform Linkedin.
Instead of denouncing the grievances in Berlin, one should rather work with the positive aspects of Zurich, suggests a marketing expert. For others, the Berlin bashing is not very original: “It’s really obvious that the ‘creative agency’ needs staff and, above all, creative support.”
Mostly positive feedback
The campaign shouldn’t have seemed cheeky or arrogant, but was a life experience put on paper, says Wirz creative director Caspar Heuss. He himself lived in Berlin for almost ten years and knows how young creative people feel in this city. “It’s wonderful when you’re young. But at some point you get too old for the whole circus.” As in all good , there is a fair amount of truth in the headline. “So I can deal with the criticism of it relatively calmly.”
The reactions to the poster are almost exclusively positive, says Heuss. “Of course, as is probably the case with every topic, there are a few isolated voices that have something to criticize, but they are really surprisingly few.” By Thursday afternoon, 25 applications had already been received. “We expect more to arrive over the holidays and into January.”
“Good is cheeky”
Marketing expert Felix Murbach assesses the campaign positively: “Basically, must polarize.” Good is daring and cheeky – characteristics that are not typically associated with the Swiss. With the statement, however, the agency offends. “So it’s not surprising that there are people who find the whole thing arrogant.”
As one of the leading Swiss agencies, however, Wirz can afford such a campaign, says Murbach. At least they would have done their job well: “After all, you talk about it.” In addition, it is doubtful that the action in Berlin itself is actually received so arrogantly. “After all, most people know that Berlin is a very beautiful city and that the statement should be understood with a wink.”