References

Our work is... always different!

Every individual is unique. Communication is never one-size-fits-all. That’s why our work is never the same. Different clients. Different demands. Different worlds. Who, Where, What: our palette is many-coloured.

List of clients

We are grateful to our clients for letting us portray them here. On grounds of discretion, we do not say where, when or how we act(ed) on their behalf. Two clients have requested as a matter of principle that we do not use their logos. But they have allowed us to mention them as clients: for more than 20 years we have worked for the German Foreign Ministry and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK).

ASU | Die Familienunternehmer
Aventis
Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung
BASF
BDB
BDI
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann Stiftung
BJU | Die jungen Unternehmer
BLL
Bonner Akademie
Brystol-Myers Squibb
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie
Bundesverband des Schornsteinfegerhandwerks
Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung
Celesio
Citibank
CMA
Daimler
Deutsche Annington
Deutsche Bank
DLG e.V.
Finanz Informatik Technologie Service
Fraport
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
GIZ
Goethe-Institut
Grundbesitzerverband NRW
Hamburgische Landesbank
IHK
Internationales Paralympisches Komitee
Japanische Botschaft
KFW
Landeszahnaerztekammer Thüringen
LGO Dortmund
MBtech Group
Megapharm
Messe Frankfurt
Mitsubishi FUSO
Mitsubishi Motors
Möbelhaus Roller
Postbank
RAG Informatik
RWE
FC Schalke 04
Scout24
Siemens
Siemens Business Solutions
Staatstheater Stuttgart
Stadt Gelsenkirchen
T-Online
Targobank
Deutsche Telekom
UBS
United Nations
Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland
Witt Weiden
Wyeth Pharma

Countries

Communication is... international!

Communication is culture. Communication is language. Communication is local – but everywhere!

And so is our work. In many countries. In different cultures. In different languages. The map of our expertise. The globe of our challenges. A whole world of clients.

Examples from practice

Our experience is... multifarious!

Examples of projects. Successfully implemented. Presented as concretely as possible, as discreetly as necessary.

Trainer, russian civil society

One client has a very specific requirement: he wants media training on the subject of ‘Russian civil society’. The training should be in Russian, and – non-negotiable – the trainer must be a woman.

In just a few days we found the appropriate trainer in our network.

Preparation, japanese media

Prior to taking up his management position in Japan, a client has to prepare himself for the national media as he’ll be working closely with them.

A Japanese colleague from our network briefs him on the Japanese media scene, pointing out the main differences between it and the German media, and naming the leading Japanese journalists. In addition we give him contacts and inform him of possible risks.

Worldwide product-launch event

As part of a global product launch, a company faces a demanding task: the brand new product is to be presented simultaneously across the world.


Together with our client, we work out the form of the events, write the main speeches and train the speakers. On the day, we are there at their side in Berlin, Beijing and Detroit.

Coaching board members

We have regularly coached board members from various companies of different sizes in the field of communication for a number of years. The coaching includes not only preparation for public appearances such as speeches or interviews, but also internal communication at company events and at particular staff interviews.

Staff development

For a number of clients, attending one of our communication training events is an obligatory component of staff development and a precondition for promotion within the company.

Our clients tell us that this arrangement has proved its worth over the years.

Internal (crisis) communication

A client decides on drastic internal structural alterations; the employees are nervous and demoralized in view of the resulting rumours.

Together with management, we work out the form the internal road shows are to take; we train the managers, and stand by their side. And turn the audiences into motivated employees.

Crisis PR: prevention and cure

There’s a crisis, no doubt about it. The media have been ferreting away and a client is under fire. Following a number of incidents, journalists have him in their sights. We get him out.

Once the fire’s been put out, we advise him on how to avoid such crises in the future, and how he can use ‘quiet’ periods to forestall further trouble.

Baptism of fire in the tv chat show

The new CEO of a multinational company is about to undergo his baptism of fire in a chat show to be broadcast nationwide.

To prepare him, we find doubles for all those taking part (including the host), build a mock-up of a TV studio, and go through the show time and again. His appearance is a complete success.

PR skills enhancement

For many years we’ve been training a client’s communications department. We coach the staff in all the skills a PR team should have. These include writing press releases, telephoning with journalists, giving interviews, or preparing senior management for media encounters.

Our client’s image has manifestly improved.

Outsourcing of public relations

For one of our clients, we have taken over the whole of the work of the PR department: we build up contacts with journalists, write press releases, organize press conferences, and more besides. We implement his ideas.

Charisma through speech training

A client is accustomed to addressing large numbers of people. However, he doesn’t feel comfortable, and notices that his audience often don’t go away with the impression he’d like to have made on them.

In the practical training session, we realize that he’s simply speaking too fast, with the result that his audience lose track of what he’s saying. We teach him breathing and voice-production techniques, and not least an enhanced awareness of his own body language.

Our client now likes public speaking. And his public like listening.

Personal branding

To start with, the public saw him ‘only’ as an important member of the board. Now his whole personality stands for particular qualities and opinions, for unambiguous values and decisive actions. His advice and commitment are held in high esteem, far beyond his original remit. As a man, he stands out; his name is the programme.

Innovative trade-fair presence

At major trade fairs, a client sought to attract the attention of visitors with the same old PowerPoint templates, short films and other sales gimmicks. His success was, shall we say, limited.

Together with him, we worked out something new, something much more in accord with his innovative identity. And we trained his staff in the same spirit. His fair stands now exert a magnetic attraction.

Video AGM

For one client we managed to set up a virtual AGM – bringing together more than 20,000 people in 22 towns and cities all over Germany. Here are a few more numbers from this, the biggest video conference ever held in Europe: 8 satellite links, 24 OB vehicles, 46 camera sets, 1,400 sq. m. of stage space, more than 80 tons of sound/lighting/video technology, some 2,500 m of cabling at each venue – and not least: more than 20,000 enthusiastic people.

Suddenly in senior management

Some employees found themselves promoted to senior management positions. Their specialist skills are not in doubt, but they have no management experience.

How do they define their new leadership role? How do they act it out? We coach them. We talk to them about the expectations not only of their superiors, but of their subordinates too. And how they can harmonize these expectations with the demands they place on themselves.

A good work climate through communication

During a media training course with an SME, we notice that the climate within the company is anything but good. Talks with the board bring the basic problem to light: there’s not enough internal communication.

Over a number of years, we set up a basic feedback culture. What are the preconditions, what form do professional feedback talks take, what next?

Company morale has manifestly improved – and so, incidentally, have the client’s results.

Demand and motivate: performance reviews

We regularly train the management of various companies in dealing with typical situations that crop up in performance reviews with staff. The clients in question include both SMEs and large corporations.

Examples of such typical situations are: ‘How do I conduct a goal-setting interview?’ or ‘When do I offer feedback, and how?’ The classic case is the negative performance review: how can I put criticism across in a way the employee will understand and accept? How do I convey it clearly and unmistakably, without making it look personal? After all, I want to motivate him/her to do better.

As a result of good communication between management and staff, many of our clients have seen a lasting improvement in company morale.