TUMULT on Being the New Branded Entertainment Agency On the German Block

Tumult​​
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noun, formal
a loud noise, especially that produced by an excited crowd, or a state of confusion, change, or uncertainty

“In the last couple of years, we have barely worked creatively,” Fabian Frese and Till Monshausen say about their previous roles as respective chief creative officer and executive creative director at Accenture Song. They describe this to be the natural cycle of climbing up the ‘Man Men’ ladder and being creative heads of an agency. “It becomes more about managing people.”

That is why they decided to start their new branded entertainment agency, TUMULT.

When asked how and why they decided to build an agency as friends, Fabian jokes, “Calling us friends might be a stretch.” Till chimes in on the laugh.

Having worked together for about two decades, first at Jung von Matt, then Accenture Song, they banter easily and professionally. After years of working together in various creative leadership roles, they have seen the changing face of advertising and both agree that branded entertainment content is its future, which is why they decided to leave their already successful careers to pursue their own endeavour.

It was something they always talked about doing, but it was only when Fabi’s contract ran out, that the timing seemed right. “We have reached a point in our career where we’re seeking freedom and a creative outlet,” says Fabi.

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Founding TUMULT was a big step for the pair, and they brought their two other business partners, TV host Steven Gätjen and OMR co-founder Philipp Westermeyer along for the ride.

As many traditional creative shops lag behind current marketing trends, Till and Fabi believe they have enough industry experience and knowledge between them to understand the key challenges and recurring issues that affect creative leadership.

“Audiences are resistant to watching traditional advertising,” says Till, revealing that this insight was a key reason behind launching the agency. Starting from scratch means they have the freedom to explore new advertising formats that don’t disrupt their content but allow for more natural audience integration. They’ve created non-traditional ads for podcasts, Twitch streams, and YouTube; platforms that cater specifically to the target audience and weave the message into the content creatively.

“Being a branded entertainment is fluid,” Till continues. “Currently, we’re mainly working on creating creative content that is centred around a brand or a product.”

“We only work with people and brands we like,” says Fabi.

The Art of Causing Havoc

Business partner Steven brings a real level of entertainment expertise to the team. The German-American event and TV presenter is known for hosting popular prime-time shows, like the local game show ‘Joko & Klaas gegen ProSieben.’

Philipp, on the other hand, adds entrepreneurial business knowledge to the dynamic.

Above all, the newly formed business is committed to having fun with the work they create. “We actually don’t want to grow,” Fabi says. “We want to stay boutique.”

Till agrees, saying: “We want to keep doing what is enjoyable and work on creative projects instead of managing others doing the projects.” 

Fabi admits that they don’t have a specific business plan, because they are working on such a variety of projects and they don’t want to pigeonhole themselves too early.

Regarding clients and partners, neither is worried. As one of their first projects, TUMULT launched a podcast with Porsche, presented by agency partner Steven Gätjen. “Over the years, we have collected many contacts and built up relationships, so we can go with the flow for a bit and figure out things through trial and error,” says Fabi.

“Turns out being nice to people over the years really does pay dividends,” Till says, given that so many brands have been supportive since the launch.

Every morning, the team gathers in their Hamburg office to brainstorm new ideas. “Sometimes we work without a specific brief and pitch ideas that could work for a speculative brand,” says Till. “Sometimes we don’t even have a client in mind and we’re just developing ideas that we think would be fun to create. Then we think of a partner that could be interested and approach them.”

“The vibe is very much that of a start-up,” says Fabi. “But we’re very honest about the fact that we’re just starting up with our clients.”

As an independent creative agency, TUMULT is working to disrupt the status quo. “Everything that we do is loud and contains a certain sparkle,” says Till. “We try to look at things differently and not force anything. We’re here to have a good time and make great stuff.”