As of 1 January 2020, furrerhugi.holding ag will become a new minority shareholder in Republica AG. The holding company is significantly shaped by furrerhugi, a communications agency specialising in public affairs, public relations and corporate communications.
The investment means that Republica will reinforce the comfederation brand alliance from 1 January 2020 onwards. The alliance was founded by furrerhugi in May 2019 and already includes the six furrerhugi companies (Bern, Zurich, Lugano, Brussels), Crausaz & Partenaires Stratégie et Communication (Fribourg, Lausanne), Narwal (Zug), evenjo (Bern), mindnow (Zurich) and Clé de Berne (Bern).
The Swiss communications group already covers a range of specialist areas including public affairs, public relations, corporate communications, electoral/voting campaigns, marketing communications, graphic design, corporate events, live communications, film production, digital strategy and digital marketing, and offers a club and a private restaurant. Republica will add its own specialist expertise in campaigning, branding, content creation, motion design and digital design to the alliance’s armoury.
“For clients, this represents a major step forward in what we can offer: with comfederation they get efficient, effective services, provided in a single, high-quality, high-density package”, says Lorenz Furrer, Managing Partner of furrerhugi. “comfederation’s networked approach is a particular benefit for clients, because the agencies provide intelligent communications solutions in a range of disciplines, all under one roof and across all linguistic regions of Switzerland.”
furrerhugi.holding ag is able to invest in Republica AG because the latter will revert to being an independent, owner-run company as of 1 January 2020: together with the management, Bala Trachsel will take over the shareholding currently held by BERNEXPO HOLDING AG. Republica became part of the BERNEXPO GROUPE in early 2016 to provide its core expertise in strategic marketing, branding and live communications to what at that time was a traditionally focused trade fair company. In return, the relationship has allowed Republica to deepen its experience in a number of sectors in recent years, including leisure, holidays, construction, industry and education.
Republica can call on the skills of an interdisciplinary team of 35 staff, and has just moved into new premises in the Matte Lab in Bern. Working together as part of a collaborative network, and as a partner in the comfederation brand alliance, it is looking to consolidate its position as a leading content and campaigning agency for the digital age.
The Bern-based companies can look back on a long and successful collaboration. BERNEXPO is a client of both furrerhugi and Republica, and they will continue to support the company in a variety of ways in the future, including by developing and launching new formats and campaigns.