Blog
Humans of Berkeley – Florian Schafroth
I was recently told that this year marked my 15th anniversary with Berkeley Kommunikation (including the time spent at the previous Berkeley partner agency, Essential Media), prompting me to reflect on my long journey into the world of PR and the key milestones along the way.
My career actually started in the sports business. Following university, I started working as part of the organisation team for the Four Hills Ski Jumping Tournament in Oberstdorf, part of the beautiful Allgäu region. I loved it, but still found myself looking for another challenge and found myself drawn to the face-paced world of PR. Landing in a technology focused agency wasn’t necessarily a choice, but I quickly found that it was the right place for me.
Why? Because in my point of view, technology is such a crucial area. Don’t get me wrong, I still remember in the early days sitting in front of a blank piece of paper trying to write an article about the wonderful topic of endpoint security – and having absolutely no idea how to start it or what to write. But as time passed, the subjects clicked into place and my passion grew. I started seeing technology not only as endpoint security, or the products and services our clients were selling, but instead as the game changer for our economy, politics, and society.
The stories we told we also so much more than presenting product features to the media. They demonstrated how the transformation into digitized, future-proof businesses works for all industries, whether that be manufacturing, healthcare, finance, travel and leisure, or retail.
Highlights of my career (so far)
What I really like about my job, however, are the different areas you end up working in. I’ve been a consultant, a content producer and media relation person. There are so many highlights from my career, but a few that really stick out for me are:
- A press conference at CeBIT with 100 attendees
- Organizing 70 interviews at CeBIT within 3 days (yes, CeBIT was a fair way in the past 😉)
- A light shower stunt for our former client Staples in the heart of Munich
- Generating leads for sales via communications campaigns (not only awareness!)
- Guerilla PR activities at the IFA
- Umpteen storytelling and research-driven campaigns for earned, paid, social and owned media
- Consulting and creating communications strategies for all kinds of clients and projects
Today, I am so proud to see the agency continuously growing. I started as one of a five-person team in Munich…which now counts 20 people!
International connections
Working as part of an international agency has also been so exciting, bringing other parts of the business together with our wonderful German team – including our research unit Arlington, our Storytelling Academy and, most recently, our branding agency.
I’ve also seen us increasingly shortlisted for PR campaigns in the last few years…and finally winning one!
Today I am still working as a PR consultant, as well as a manager, taking care of our German team our Munich office, our customers, and our finances. I love all of it – especially when we get the chance to connect our global teams – therefore it was an outstanding highlight to bring together all four regions for the first time at our fantastic global QRM in July.
We are a family, we are comms professionals, we are storytellers, and we are innovators bridging the gaps (connecting the often siloed likes of PR, content marketing, sales, branding, and research). This is what my life in PR is…and it is beautiful.
Who’s your favourite storyteller? From a company perspective…our CEO Chris Hewitt? It is a tricky question as the history of mankind is filled with so many. Nevertheless, I would go for Joel and Ethan Coen, because I have been always a big fan of their movies and crazy stories.
What would you sing at a karaoke night? I have to say that I am a very poor singer. But if I had to sing at a karaoke night, I would choose “Should I stay or should I go” from the Clash. Why? Because I’ve known this song since my childhood after I saw a Levi’s commercial using this song in the cinema. Singing it should then be doable for me 😉
What’s the most used app on your phone? I think that differs from week to week, but I would say that my current football app is very highly frequented – as I love to check football news and results when spending time on my mobile.
