As of January 2014, Grey Berlin will open as a new hybrid agency to further drive the strong growth in the digital segment. "With this strictly integrated concept, we are taking a logical step - in line with our 'Famously Effective' credo - towards our goal of reinstating the agency group as No.1 for strategic brand management in Germany," explains André Schieck, Chief Digital Officer of Grey Germany Group. Schieck emphasises that the Berlin office, contrary to the project office concepts of competitor agencies, will run as an autonomous, integrated agency.
With Matthias Meusel and Oliver Handlos as managing directors, Schieck has succeeded in acquiring an internationally renowned team for the new agency.
Matthias Meusel previously worked as Chief Marketing Officer at eBay Inc. for Germany's biggest car marketplace Mobile.de. With the integrated campaign for Mobile.de he won Silver at the 2013 Effie Awards. Before working for eBay Inc. Matthias Meusel was in the management team of DDB Tribal Berlin and also worked for many years on the client side for both Coca-Cola and Vodafone.
Oliver Handlos comes from BBDO New York, where he had been working as Creative Director for such major clients as AT&T since 2010. Before that Handlos worked at Jung von Matt and Scholz & Friends. His work has won multiple awards, among others twelve Lions in Cannes. In the Big Won Report 2009, Oliver Handlos was listed the second most successful creative director worldwide.
The leading creative team also includes Jan Lucas and Achim Weber. Creative Director Jan Lucas has previously worked, among others, at M&C Saatchi. Digital Director Achim Weber comes from DDB Tribal Berlin, where he first worked together with Matthias Meusel, in charge of the Volkswagen account.
All staff members at Grey Berlin have hybrid work histories. "Our people bring extensive skills and experiences from both digital and non-digital to the table. That is the basic premise of our work," says Matthias Meusel. "The world's most successful and creative campaigns are all driven by a digital engine. So the hybrid concept will also be the creative DNA of our agency right from the start," adds Oliver Handlos.
Under its new global Chief Creative Officer Tor Myhren, Grey takes another step to sharpen its creative profile. Tor Myhren: "Berlin is one of the world's creative capitals. With our new office we want to take advantage of that momentum and benefit from Berlin's huge creative energy."
