Reputation: A bridge to the advertising future

Seven years earlier, in early 2001, Alexander had started REPUTATION with his two partners, Carsten and Mikkel. Prior to launching the company, the three founders had worked together as a team at a Danish mid-sized advertising agency called Bergsøe. Their work had primarily involved international medical companies. Thanks to Carsten and Mikkel’s award-winning creative minds, their customers were in for the long term. Bergsøe’s healthcare department had quickly grown to 12 employees. But as the employee count mounted, so did the frustration of the three friends. They had found a uniquely successful formula, but personal satisfaction had been running low. They wanted more out of their jobs: better processes, better results for their clients, and better rewards for themselves. Somehow, they believed they knew exactly how to accomplish just that. What was needed was the ability to offer a one-stop, full-solution agency which would take care of every building block of a corporate reputation, centered on the concept of Corporate Identity. The three had been playing around with the idea of going independent in that new niche market for some time. After a couple of months of research and analysis, they were convinced they could make a robust case for that new concept, REPUTATION. Running an advertising agency in Denmark proved a challenge; balancing the leadership of creative souls and the pragmatism of account directors was a permanent juggling act, all that in a market that was small and treacherously competitive.