The beginning of a sweet story…
It all started with the registration at the Trade Licensing Office… Founding date aka birthday of the agency is March 01, 1998. That makes ZUCKER. almost 25 years old. At that time still GbR we are known today in the official context as ZUCKER.Kommunikation GmbH. Side Fact: The first or old name registered with the Trade Licensing Office was not ZUCKER. What it was before? That’s the secret, we never tell… xoxo.
Berlin Mitte forever?
We love our office at Rosenthaler Platz in Berlin Mitte. Most of us don’t know ZUCKER. in any other place than Torstraße. Yet we have moved several times in our almost 25 years as an agency. The first office was in the Münzstraße – Mitte is a must. What can be found today in the courtyard behind the Adidas store was still the first row back then. About a year later the first move: In 1999 we moved to Almstadtstraße 9, also in Mitte and also in the backyard. To 01 May 2000 then the second move, this time in the Torstraße, where we are happy until today. Since 2020 we are very flexible and can also be found in various home offices. We even have colleagues who do not live and work in Berlin, but in Bremen or Würzburg. To answer the question: Berlin Mitte forever? Absolutely!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained…
The office was there, as was a small team. What was still missing were the customers and professional office equipment – the office was completely empty at first. The plan: We sent three personalized letters to the companies Levi’s, Lego and Fischertechnik and asked for sample goods. There were no products, but shortly afterwards we were invited by Levi’s to pitch for the opening of their flagship store on Ku’damm. The result: our first official ZUCKER.client, which quickly brought us name recognition and demand in the PR scene.
Clients come and go?
So, Levi’s was the first client, but who will be the last? We don’t even want to think that far ahead yet. What we can say, however, is who has been a ZUCKER. client for the longest time. Several of our clients have been with us for about ten years, e.g. Amazon.de and Blumenbüro Holland. We have been working with Foot Locker even longer, since 2004, making the sneaker brand our longest cooperation partner.
It’s the people, though
Speaking of staying around for a long time… Even among our colleagues there is not only one person who has been creative at ZUCKER. for more than 10 years. More than 10 people have already celebrated their 10th anniversary with us. We can’t even count how many of us have been part of the team for more than five years. We are happy that so many of us have been growing together with ZUCKER. for years. After all, it’s the people who make us as an agency – their ideas, their characters, their talents and the togetherness enrich our everyday work.
ZUCKER. goes international
For our clients, agency-relevant industry events and other meetings, we have been allowed to travel to quite a few countries. We love Berlin, but who would ever say no to field work in the Caribbean? Some of our favorite workplaces and business trips outside of Germany include Curacao, the Caribbean island whose Tourist Office we worked with for almost 10 years, Mallorca, Bologna and Milan in Italy, London, which we visited for our former client Expedia, Holland, Vienna, Paris and Cannes, where industry-relevant awards are regularly presented – the Cannes Lions.
Clean desk policy!
Bye bye chaos at the workplace! Paperwork on the office desk is a thing of the past. At ZUCKER.Berlin, we have a clean desk policy. We take what we need with us or store it in lockers. At the end of the working day, the desks are free and clean for our colleagues the next day. We no longer have our “own” seats but can sit wherever we want. Nevertheless, we can’t deny that everyone has their own favorite place…
ZUCKER.Green
We have enforced the Clean Desk Policy not only to keep things looking nice and tidy, but also in line with our commitment to sustainability. Through efficient office sharing, we also minimize the consumption of work materials. We also have a waste separation system, use fair trade coffee instead of coffee capsules, and have a Quooker tap that brings us sparkling water straight from the tap. We send our parcels with DHL GoGreen, do without paper as much as possible and buy green electricity. Sustainability is important to us and we try to become even better every day. That’s why we’re pleased that more and more green companies are placing their trust in us and placing orders with us; you can find more information here.
Trendsetters since the beginning
It should come as no surprise that as a lifestyle PR agency we have a lot to do with influencers. The content creators on Instagram and TikTok have become an integral part of our daily business. Especially for our oldest client Foot Locker, we work closely with our network of influencers. Before Insta and Co. even existed and social media became hype, we were already building up and expanding our talent relations. Musicians, athletes and actors were already being supplied with sneakers in the 2000s. Sliding into your dm’s? Back then via artist management agencies and mail! You can read about the VIPs we have already worked with here.
Agency dogs welcome!
ZUCKER. loves. dogs. Dogs are always welcome in our office. Over the years, we’ve already had the pleasure of welcoming one or two agency dogs – and “one or two” is in the double digits. In order to always be well prepared for such distinguished visitors, ZUCKER.colleague Jennifer always has a few treats in her desk drawer. Good to know!
A post by Laura Dörling