Managing Director
Playbook of Innovation:
Can you answer this in one word? Innovation, for you, is…
Andrea Koch:
Magic.
It’s that little sparkle. Innovation is about trying new things, going on new paths, learning, and improving. It’s always something new. That new thing is the sparkle or magic; it’s nothing you already know or are used to. It’s exciting in the best way. It’s better than anything else. This makes it magical because it brings me joy to constantly experience new things.
Playbook of Innovation:
Why is innovation important for you, your teams, your agency, clients, consumers, and the industry?
Andrea:
For me, it’s important because it encourages me to try and approach new things differently than I normally would.
For our teams, innovation is about being up to date, understanding the latest trends, and being efficient in our daily work. But it’s also about having more fun and trying out novel ideas.
As an agency, innovation is about differentiating ourselves from the competitors. Innovation is crucial in reaffirming our clients’ belief that we’re the right partner for their future. If we’re innovative, we can accompany our clients into the future in the best way.
For consumers, it’s probably about getting the best product or solutions. When companies are innovative, the consumer benefits from it.
For our industry, it’s about ensuring we’re always one step ahead. We’re ensuring we’re the first to use new technology and get in touch with new developments in the media market. It doesn’t help to stay in the past and say, “We did it like this for the past decade, so this is how we’ll do it now.” The world is changing, and it’s changing so fast that we must be innovative to keep up and stay one step ahead.
Innovation is such a huge word. Still, we’re confronted with innovation daily. That’s why I’m in a media agency; I want to try new things. I’m not always the target user, but I like to experience and understand innovations to know how to use them for our clients and jobs.
Playbook of Innovation:
How do you create an environment where innovation can flourish?
Andrea:
Everyone can be innovative. The task is to create an environment where everyone is innovative. People should be curious and unafraid to try new things and make mistakes. We encourage our people or colleagues to be inquisitive and try new things.
We also try to make space for meetings, brainstorming, and platforms where colleagues can get together to be creative and innovative. It’s a part of our daily life and business. Some colleagues focus on that and spend 10-20% of their time on these topics, but others aren’t as interested, so they participate in the outcome from their colleagues. I encourage my people to be brave and curious.
Playbook of Innovation:
What inspires you?
Andrea:
All kinds of things. I’m inspired by going to the movies, walking down the street, seeing campaigns from other clients, going to the theater, and listening to podcasts. Sometimes it’s sitting in a café and watching people passing by. The most inspiring thing is walking through the streets with open eyes. Watch your surroundings, watch the people. If you’re not looking and you’re not conscious, you won’t see it.
Playbook of Innovation:
Is there a tool, service, or product inside your agency or department that you consider a great example of innovation?
Andrea:
We’re sitting next to our colleagues from Mediaplus Realtime, so we have close contact with our colleagues, especially Sascha Dolling. For example, one of the most innovative tools from recent years is Nero AI. It’s the perfect example of our power of innovation. We started to implement and build up this tool years ago. We’re now ready; the world is changing, and there are no cookies anymore, but we can move on with our campaigns, and we’re ready for new, different circumstances.
We started to prepare early when we really needed it, and I think the product is very innovative. We’re one of the few agencies with a solution for the cookieless world, and that’s quite innovative.
Playbook of Innovation:
In your opinion, what’s the most innovative thing about Mediaplus?
Andrea:
Innovation is in the DNA of Mediaplus. Our former slogan was “The most innovative agency in Germany.” We also had innovation in our claim, so it’s in our DNA. Innovation isn’t only creativity but the intrinsic motivation to create something new. It’s especially true at Mediaplus because we all want to try new things. We all want to be innovative daily, not only when working on a pitch or a special project, but every day. The most innovative aspect of Mediaplus, then, is the people because we’re all genuinely curious and love trying new things and approaches.
Playbook of Innovation:
How do you inform yourself about innovation inside and outside the group?
Andrea:
I call Alex Turtschan. That’s my source of innovation because he always knows what’s up to date. He’s the guy who’s into new things and knows innovations I haven’t heard of yet. Alex is the one who goes to Austin, Texas, to attend South by Southwest and translate all this fancy stuff into a language we can understand and use. He’s also the one who translated it into our client business. It’s not only the information but how we can use it or how it benefits the client. My source of innovation is Alex, and that’s a very reliable source.
Playbook of Innovation:
Which aspect of innovation do you push in Mediaplus?
Andrea:
Concerning the office in Hamburg, I’m focused on supporting the Creative Collective so that we build more creative ideas and win more awards. I used to work closely with Lukas Pachoinig and Victoria Wissmann in Munich, where the Creative Collective was integral to our teams, so I understand its value. My goal is to continue supporting its growth and expanding its role within our teams to ensure it becomes a core part of our collaborative workflow at Mediaplus.
Playbook of Innovation:
Did your view of innovation change in the last years? If yes, then why?
Andrea:
It changed very much. The world has changed much faster than in previous years. Especially in the last four years, we’ve had so many changes in the world. That’s why we need to innovate much faster; we can’t work on a project like we have three years to get a result. No, we have two weeks, for example. When there was a lockdown, we had to cope with it and have to be ready today. It’s not in half a year or two; it’s now.
Playbook of Innovation:
Thank you for the insightful discussion on innovation. To lighten the mood and perhaps reveal more about our personalities, let's play a quick game, starting with the age-old question: cats or dogs?
Andrea:
I’m a dog person. I grew up with dogs. I also had cats, but I’ll stick with dogs.
Playbook of Innovation:
Salt or pepper?
Andrea:
Always pepper on the meal. I don’t even try the meal; I just use the pepper right away. I love pepper.
Playbook of Innovation:
That was fun! Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself. Before we finish, we wanted to ask what innovation has surprised or impressed you recently?
Andrea:
I’m quite impressed by TikTok. I thought, “Everyone is talking about TikTok; there must be something to it. I’ll try it out and see why everyone’s talking about it.” And they really got me. The algorithm is so good that they caught me – when I open TikTok, I use it for 30-60 minutes; the time flies. It’s impressive how they made their algorithm so good that they caught me, even though I’m from this business and know it’s only a social media platform.
I talked to a friend who told me what she sees on her feed, and we see different content. We both use TikTok but have different feeds. That’s amazing, too.
I’m still impressed by Apple’s perfect user experience, too. I’m used to Apple. I have an iPhone and iMac at home, so for me, it was quite common. Then, my nephew joined the family and could use an iPad before he could speak because it’s usage is so intuitive. You don’t have to show him how it works; he just knew. What Apple did is clever, ensuring that a one-year-old can use it without any explanation. My parents also have an Alexa at home, and it took three minutes to know how to use it. The voice control is such a good service and provides easy access to things my parents couldn’t access before because it was too complicated with the computer and the internet. Now, they ask a question and get the answer. It’s so easy for them that it’s impressive.
Playbook of Innovation:
Thank you for sharing your insights on innovation and its future progression, Andrea. It was a valuable conversation, and we look forward to seeing what comes out of Mediaplus Hamburg in the future!
