At your Brand’s Service. Or: The Story of How We Got Our Name

Yes, you read that correctly: We prefer the English pronunciation. Although we promise we won’t get mad if you pronounce it like a French person or if you involuntarily produce one of the many new creations we hear every week, like «searchened» or «surgeon-ed». The question remains: why the hell would we name a bunch of creatives in the heart of Zurich after the American military grade? 

Military relation: 0% 

Apart from sharing the first Google search result position with a Wikipedia entry for the military Sergeant, we have nothing in common with the army. And yet – we don’t mind the connotation: «A Sergeant is a trailblazer guiding his team in the field, sensing upcoming challenges, experiencing life at the front. He’s down to earth, engaged to find the best possible solution, committed to serve.» That’s pretty much the way we like to imagine ourselves, too – as an agency, as a team, and as individuals.

Service-oriented: 100%

The word SERGEANT in and of itself contains the concept of a service. It originates from the latin word serviens, which means the one who serves. Some people might call us a creative service provider, but that’s not all there is to it. We prefer Simon Sinek’s philosophy: «There is a difference between offering a service, and being willing to serve. They may both include giving, but only one is generous.» We love what we do and we strive for our work to have a positive impact on our client’s brands. That’s why we’re generous in our work. We value personal customer service, responsiveness and high-quality output. And we’re ready to go the extra mile.

The way we define ourselves

We Sergeants are at the service of our client’s brands. We see the brand as the core – every action, encounter, communication, product or employee has an impact on the brand, whether it be good or bad. The brand creates an emotional bond, is recognizable and makes the company stand out (we recommend this short abstract of Peter Thiel's Monopoly Theory on the topic. Or, for those who have a little more time on their hands, this podcast on branding with Marty Neumeier).

A good brand is not created on paper, as a concept or on a meeting room’s whiteboard. A brand is alive, it’s personal, authentic. It is built on shared values and as such it is coherent and predictable. This is how to create the level of trust that is indispensable for a successful brand management and development in the long term.
 

Brand Services - Where Strategy meets Creativity

Whenever companies develop comprehensive strategies and don’t know where to start with the implementation, we are ready to step in. With our mindset and expertise we manage to fill the gap. We understand people, markets, trends and business models. We can adapt all those and translate them into business operations. Hands-on, directly and efficiently. We work on solutions that fit the organisation’s structure, their strategy and resources. 

Today, some projects no longer fit traditional agency relationships and hierarchies. Maybe the budget is limited or the clients seek a form of collaboration (we have recently blogged about our love for Co-Creation). Or maybe the approaching deadlines require faster solutions (such as fast prototyping). What these situations need is an agency with agile structures, that can work independently. An agency that understands the brief quickly and provides high-quality results. An agency with in-house resources and know-how that spans fields such as UI, UX, motion design, 3D, graphic design, coding, strategy and consulting. 

We Sergeants love our work. We feel committed to the clients, not to any awards or distinctions. Or else we might have called ourselves Majors or Generals. But as it stands we are convinced our name still fits us, even after ten years.

P.S.: If you want to know the whole truth, it was the Beatles album that made Michel opt for this name in the end. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was an incredible album then and we still love it today. Just like our agency’s name, it has stood the test of time.