GoSee QUEST : Christoph Everke, head of creative, Serviceplan campaign, Munich

From a Cannes Lion’s perspective, Serviceplan is Germany’s number 1 winning agency. 15 lions, 88 points, Grand Prix winner and Direct Agency of the Year. And if you’re an avid GoSee reader, you’ll remember Christoph Everke, the creative director and partner of Serviceplan campaign, born in 1971 in Paris, France, from his great Cannes blog that we presented to you here on GoSee.

With over 250 international awards under his belt (i.e. gold/silver/merit at NYF, OneShow, Clio, ADC NY, ADC Germany, D&AD, 13 Cannes Lions), it was a great pleasure for us to quiz Christoph on his creative career. And of course we are thrilled to be able to meet the resourceful ex-punk musician face to face at the Update 12 on the 26th October in Berlin. Here’s the interview:


What is your professional background? Where and when did your career start? What did you study? To be honest, it all started rather unprofessionally – when my first band was founded. We needed a logo and so I drew it. It all went downhill from there. In 10th grade I thought graphic design had to do with graffiti, and at some point the desks I scribbled on in school just became too small. My first real attempt at spraying ended at a police station, as did my graffiti career. After finishing my A-levels, I snuck into life drawing classes at the Munich academy to build my portfolio up to get into college. That was wonderfully free and brilliant and I learned a lot. Actually I learned too much, because my portfolio was rejected, the reason: too complete.

Through the father of a school friend I managed to get an internship at Brauch, Hube & Partner. It was there I finally realised what I wanted my profession to be. I had an amazing art director that really whipped me into shape. They had a computer at this agency with PageMaker and the first version of Photoshop. The rest was done with a repro camera in the darkroom and at the drawing table. I did actually typeset whole brochures by hand. A few months later my boss said ‘Everke, you look like a punk but you pick things up very quickly’. But then it became serious – I got my first real job…

This job enabled me to finance my communications design course at the academy U5. At that time Günther Gerhard Lange taught there. He made a very formative impression on me. He taught me that truly great design doesn’t compromise, and truly great work can only be achieved with passion and absolute commitment. During my studies I had a graphic design flat share. School in the morning; job in the afternoon and our own projects - and later on our own clients - in the night. That was pretty intense.

In my last year at university I started as a junior art director at AdVenture – a small Munich agency. There, I was able to meet clients, do my own projects as well as my first corporate design and so on.

After finishing my thesis, Tobi and I had three interviews in Hamburg. He got a job with Jung von Matt, I was accepted at Springer & Jacoby. We would never have dreamed of getting a job there. It really felt like the big wide world to us, but we made it. And that’s when I arrived in advertising for good. S&J had a self-marketing campaign back then, really simple, just black letters on a white background: ‘boy you look so pale’ ‘mum you wouldn’t understand’. And that summed it up perfectly. And we were extremely proud of it. We never did anything apart from work, day and night, 24/7, all the time. Somehow my wife was able to cope with it. I still don’t understand how, but I’m very, very grateful to her. At that time she worked as a social education worker at a drug outpatient clinic. It helps to remember that outside of our job, people have real and existential problems to deal with. That puts a lot of things in perspective.

There was a credo at S&J: ‘simple, imaginative, exact’. That really made an impression on me. I think it still expresses very well what I stand for. Alex Schill was already my CD back then by the way, together with Akki Thomsen. I suppose I have known those two almost as long as my wife.

At some point the time at S&J came to an end and I went to work for KolleRebbe. I supervised a group there with Sebastian Hardieck and we won our first golden lion – with the Bisley ‘perfectly organised’ campaign. Very simple, very clear, very imaginative… At Kolle I learned how to attend to clients and brands and to add a smart gut feeling to a smart idea.

The third step was my change to VasataSchröder. I learned something there, which I didn’t know anything about before (and what most of us didn’t want to get to know) – business. I was able to look after Obi, direct 15 movies and learned from Mirko and Magnus how the business worked. I would have never thought this would become my passion, but it did (see below). The speed, the leverage, the directness. That’s all unbelievable fun.

Then our second son was born and I got a call from an agency in Munich, which wasn’t on anybody’s mind when one thought about outstanding creation. But for me it was love at first sight, a perfect marriage of different circumstances, great freedom. And that still hasn’t changed in the last 8 years.

What characterizes you? What does creation mean to Christoph Everke? First of all heartfelt passion and I mean that literally. One of my favourite works is a photograph – ‘the medium’, which I took together with Oliver Rheindorf at a Hamburg operating theatre. The initial incision of the operation for an opera poster. I love it when you do things with passion, really, with your hands. Creative method acting, so to speak.

Then it’s simple ideas: I love clear, condensed, extracted ideas and design. A word that sweeps you off your feet; a truth.

And finally I have to add another E to the three E’s from S&J – emotion: Whenever I do something I want it to evoke some kind of emotion. Ideally, my work should provoke something. Laughter, joy, pain, a disruption, luck, surprise; a deep emotion.

The beauty of it is, it really works. We just tested two different versions of a TV concept. The simple, emotional one conveyed even more messages (many things weren’t explicitly mentioned but were present in the overall atmosphere of the spot) than the more rational one. Emotions just sell better, faster and more intensely. And now I have scientific proof – it’s great gratification!

Is there an area in the world of advertising that you would describe as your specialism? No. I actually have three. Brand, trade, corporate (design). All three of them deal with the question: what really moves people? That is probably the essence for me; this is what it’s about. This is also the reason why I find the dialogue category in competitions so much fun.

Why is German advertising often a bit stereotypical or repetitive? Is it? I think if you look at work by Heimat, Jung von Matt, Art & COM or Serviceplan, if you want to, there is a lot of new, inspiring and unusual work to discover. We have amazing designers like Mirko Borsche here in Germany and great directors and photographers. Especially in regards to Cannes, I would say that we are in no way boring or dissatisfactory.

Advertising events such as Cannes or ADC – business or pleasure? Do you take home more than just awards? Definitely. It’s business and pleasure and I always take home more than just awards. It’s an obligation because it’s vital to see where the benchmark is set, but it’s also fun because it inspires, stimulates and clears your head to see what’s possible.

That’s why I think it’s a pity that many people think these events are just for insiders. But there’s so much to discover, especially for our clients. It’s hard to imagine what kind of energy can be released in teams, if a client says: that’s my standard and I want to get there with you.

Everyone is talking about Serviceplan. Do you have to apply to become a client? And if so – how? I am very proud of what’s happening at Serviceplan. It is highly motivating to be part of an agency that manages to constantly reinvent itself, and still stays true to its core. Therefore clients don’t have to apply, that’s not our style. We are very serious about our client relations and very fair. That’s our DNA.

The 18,6 % increase in turnover in 2011 is the talk of the town. Where was this generated (serviceplan, plan.net, facit, mediaplus ... national vs. international)? This extraordinary growth is only made possible by our agency model. One area- or one agency alone wouldn’t be able to achieve that. But by integrating all communication channels and putting them under one roof, we are spurring each other on and are growing together.

Consequently, what is the challenge for advertisement agencies in the future? The challenge was and still is the same: moving people and markets. Very straightforward. Channels, languages and possibilities change. An agency should be aware and in control of that. But you have to particularly control it when you are looking after brands and clients. We can tell from potential employees from other agencies, that it makes a big difference in which climate you are learning, the skills that make an agency unique and the skills it is teaching its staff. Serviceplan is special in that way and staff development is actually one of the main tasks for us. Because a formal education that meets today’s demands doesn’t exist.

Is being a partner in the currently hippest agency at your age an early climax to your career – or to put it differently: what’s left to do? Thank you, but I hope becoming a partner at Serviceplan does not mean an early end to my career. Quite the opposite – the agency constantly sets itself new challenges and it is remarkable to play a creative part in that. I still learn something new every day and it keeps me awake and hungry. What’s left to do? See above: to move people and markets. That’s enough for a few years to come.

Has the image of advertisers changed? From ‘creative’ to ‘efficient’? Yes, partly. Unfortunately. Because a lot of the time there’s a pretence that there needs to be a differentiation. As I said before, there is enough proof that creation is really and truly efficient. In this respect I regret this discussion quite a lot. We are there to generate, not administrate. That’s not only true for advertisers but any other companies as well. Without creative minds there would be no progress.

Is the buzzword ‘integration’ not just a sugarcoated way of saying that design lacks vigour? Or are those times simply over? Integration is in fact often used to substitute quality with quantity. That doesn’t mean that the times of ideas are over though. A truly great creation is always going to be resoundingly successful, independent of budgets and multiplications in channels. Cannes has been a trendsetter in that regard. If you are talking about integration the way we see it here at Serviceplan, it’s more of an interlocking of disciplines – and that doesn’t compete with the idea but is the driving force behind it.

If you would start your career today – what would be your ultimate tips for the new creative blood?
1.) Do what you like doing best, then you don’t have to work (sounds cheesy, but it’s true. At least for me)

2.) Be aware that you will never stop learning.

3.) That’s why you should find an agency where you can really learn something.

4.) Look for a mentor who can help you progress.

5.) Be enthusiastic, persevering and have no fear.

6.) Take the risk of asking ‘why not?’ one too many times.

7.) Get up.

We are going to see you on the 26th of October as a judge of the SCREEnings award in Berlin. Why did you decide to take part? I am very curious to see the work and I was delighted to be invited. I hope it will be another opportunity to see and learn something new.

And what would you be if not creative? Is there a plan b, a ‘real’ job ;-)? No. There’s no backdoor, no plan b. I can’t do anything else and haven’t learned anything ‘proper’; I am just fortunate enough to be doing something I really enjoy. That’s not a slogan but actually both a blessing and a curse. I can’t distinguish between work and leisure time. The only thing I could imagine doing instead would be music, that’s creative as well, but definitely not a ‘real’ job either. I confess, a long, long time ago I had a romantic image of me being a missionary. And in some way I ended up being one.