Zum Goldenen Hirschen agency was founded in 1995 and has been one of the most creative communication agencies in Germany ever since. Currently over 250 employees work from offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dubai, New York and since 2011 also in Munich and cater to more than 40 clients with a budget worth over 120 million Euros. Integrated campaigning teams made up of strategy, advertising, PR and online experts cover the entire field of communication. We look forward to welcoming Jens Agotz, team leader creation ZGH Berlin, to the judging panel of the GoSeeAwards, TRANSPORATION category, and would very much like to take the opportunity to introduce him to you in the following interview.
You took over the creative direction at advertising agency Zum Goldenen Hirschen in Berlin. You are in charge of all clients, leading a team of 30 creatives. What attracted you to the job?
For one the scope of political communication to brand advertisement is very interesting. Also our team of 30 is just right – not just in terms of size, but also in terms of everyone’s personalities.
We heard that it’s somewhat of a comeback for you, as you did an internship there in 2001. Is it true?
Yes, to be honest I was bored by my studies. So I looked for something more interesting and found an internship at the agency. Afterwards I graduated from Texterschmiede in Hamburg and subsequently worked at weigertpirouzwolf and then at Scholz & Friends in 2006. I started at S&F in 2013 until I got the offer from ZgH at the beginning of the year and thus I guess I have come full circle!
The Hirschen Group, Hamburg, founded the network ‘The Golden Dudes Worldwide’ for clients with international projects or ambitions. What exactly is the idea behind this?
Campaigns are not just adapted but individually created and tailored to each market. We found flexible creative partner agencies for this purpose that share our vision and whom we actually learn from all the time.
Your work-life-balance claim is ‘the day has 28 hours’. What would you do if you had four more hours in the day?
Currently I would love to get a little more sleep. But no more than two hours. I would spend another ‘extra’ hour visiting galleries and museums. And see friends in the remaining hour. Particularly those I haven’t seen in a while.
What do you like do to outside of work?
I love to travel and getting to know different places and people. To me it’s not just fun, but also changes my perspective and grounds me. It makes me realise that other people have real problems, while we often get upset about banal things.
Are there any moments in your career you like to think back to time and time again?
There is one moment that I definitely don’t like to remember: after an agency party the entire weigertpirouzwolf agency office burned out overnight. And I was the last person to leave the office. In the end it turned out that it had been an electrical fault that triggered the fire. Apart from that I have countless amazing memories!
Storytelling is known as the new, most prestigious field in advertising. Many stories are entertaining, but their advertising power is questionable. What’s your approach?
I can strongly recommend storytelling, because it is much more memorable and puts the product and brand into the ‘relevant’ category. But of course the story needs to be connected to the product. When you have a well-narrated story, you can actually use the product and show it close up, without compromising on originality.
We are very happy that you will support our first GoSeeAward as a judge. What status does photography have for you personally and for the creation of successful campaigns? And do you collect art, are inspired by any photographers?
Good photography highlights an idea and gives it a unique character. Therefore I will certainly start collecting photography more seriously in future. Currently my collection is limited to Andrea Papi, a young photographer from Rome.
You would like to judge the TRANSPORTATION category – why this category in particular? What do expect? And do you like cars?
Since I already worked for BMW, MINI and Opel, the category just seemed to make sense – even though I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as a car fan per se. More of a car campaign fan.
We present projects, which Jens Agotz influenced creatively, such as the VHV insurance commercial with testimonial Dieter Bohlen.
And with this great interview we declare the submission phase of our first GoSeeAwards officially over. Viewing the submissions will start over the weekend - we are very excited. We will of course continue to keep you posted.
