"Coming to the office and meeting people I like"
Interview with Patrick Benner, Managing Director of ARTUS interactive GmbH
Patrick Benner would have liked to study design, but as he admits, 'unfortunately, he could neither draw nor paint'. However, he was fascinated by the possibilities that computers offer in terms of combining technology and design, and he explored this topic in depth. In 1996, he founded his own agency, ARTUS interactive GmbH – the start of a success story, during which the company has become the go-to partner for many brands when it comes to digital marketing.
"I never planned to start a company to be an entrepreneur – because I am not one in the conventional sense. I just wanted to do projects. That's still the case today: I still prefer to work on the projects themselves and am glad that I now have people around me who take care of the finances and administrative issues," Patrick Benner describes what he still enjoys most about his profession.
Big Brands with Impact
The breakthrough came when ARTUS interactive merged with a small agency that worked for the Gillette Group. "They were Gillette, Braun, and Oral B, big brands, for which we suddenly could do digital marketing," the managing director explains. "And without our agency having contributed anything, the next important step followed in 2005, when the Gillette Group was acquired by the Procter & Gamble corporation. Suddenly we were an agency of Procter & Gamble and hence had the opportunity to work for the top advertiser, with incredibly many brands that were of interest to us. We still work for all Procter & Gamble brands, for which digital marketing is significant. Still they are Gillette, Braun, and Oral B, but also Always, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Pampers, and others. This remains a large part of our business to this day."
Native Frankfurter with a penchant for regional projects
Today, the customer spectrum of ARTUS interactive reads like the who’s who of German business; it is mainly the big size business to which the agency offers its services. "We hardly work for medium-sized companies – not because we chose it that way; it just happened," says Patrick Benner. Exceptions are really only for companies from Frankfurt and the surrounding area: "I am a native Frankfurter, born here and living here. Since we work so much internationally, I am sometimes quite happy when a company from the region approaches us, whether it’s a museum, a law firm, or non-profit projects. That has this regional character, and that's what we particularly like about such projects."
Flexible and employee-driven
The way Patrick Benner runs his company differs significantly from the leadership style of traditional entrepreneurship. "I would describe it as employee-driven," he says. "It starts with us being very transparent, including about the numbers: expenses, income, where the money flows. We try to steer the whole administrative development of the agency together as much as possible, making decisions on things like home office, overtime compensation, special leave days, etc., together and unanimously. It goes so far that we distribute 25% of the surplus that the agency generates to our employees. I myself am not the type who tells others what to do; I think I tend to follow a bit behind and if something breaks, I clean it up. Flexibility is what most characterizes us from a business perspective and what, given what is happening in the world right now, is significantly more valuable than planning."
Yet looking to the future, it's important to Patrick Benner that his employees work with joy and motivation. "My vision for the future is very focused on what I can personally do to ensure that employees are satisfied and really enjoy what they do here. And of course, there are things that I want to tackle. It’s great that we have been working for many brands for 10, 20 years, but employees who have been with us longer might also desire more variety in their work. Hence, a broader range of clients might benefit the agency by offering new incentives to the employees. They would surely like that." Patrick Benner himself describes what drives him at work similarly to how he wishes for his employees: "I could now say that as an entrepreneur you must have economic goals and all that, but actually, that's secondary. Everything is just fine as it is. I want to come to the office in the morning, meet people I like, and create cool things together. For me, that’s the biggest vision of all and definitely more important than double-digit growth."