Vergangenheitsagentur

As a general rule, marketing is about finding a way forward. But Dr. Alexander Schug and Dr. Hilmar Sack purposefully go in the opposite direction. The co-founders of the Berlin-based Vergangenheitsagentur (“Agency of the Past”) employ history as a marketing tool. The reason for this, as Alexander Schug explains, is that “history conveys trustworthiness and quality.” Together with Sack, he embodies the conviction that “tradition means experience means competence.”

More and more companies are taking advantage of so-called “history marketing.” A common reason for doing so is company anniversaries. For many marketing decision-makers, a company’s 50th or 100th birthday presents the perfect opportunity for having a corporate history prepared by professionals. Hilmar Sack and Alexander Schug take great pleasure in being assigned this task. They and their colleagues conduct research in archives and libraries, design exhibitions, produce short films or create publications and online features.

Let Your History Improve Your Current Image

Companies and institutions from across Germany take advantage of the services offered by the Vergangenheitsagentur. Its clientele includes Germany’s Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, the Berlin-based Ostdeutsche Sparkassenverband, chemical giant BASF and the Warsteiner brewery. “Our clients often have real moments of surprise when they discover everything that has transpired in the history of their company,” says Hilmar Sack. The best example of this comes from the 100th anniversary of “Kaffee Hag”. In the company’s early days, its decaffeinated coffee was marketed as a wellness product, an image far different from the old-fashioned one it battles against today. “With the help of history, you can also revitalize your current image,” says Hilmar Sack. Alexander Schug has even written a book on how companies can deal with their history best. Its title: “History Marketing: A Guide for Dealing with Company Histories.”

Close Collaboration with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Alexander Schug and Hilmar Sack got to know each other when they were both graduate students at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Even today, they retain strong ties to the university. Schug is a lecturer there in applied history and works closely with Humboldt-Innovation Gmbh, the university’s agency for transferring know-how and technology. Both of the Vergangenheitsagentur’s co-founders are also involved in ArGuS, the job and networking trade fair for people in the humanities and social sciences organized by the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and give presentations on their entry into self-employment.

The Historians connect Science and Economy

Alexander Schug is convinced that there is “currently a market for humanities scholars outside of the traditional occupational areas, such as journalism.” He himself wrote his master’s thesis on a company that had commissioned him to research its history. For Hilmar Sack and Alexander Schug, being entrepreneurs and scholars are not mutually exclusive roles. “We see ourselves as being part of Berlin’s scholarly environment,” says Sack, “and we bring scholarship together with business.” The historians also find optimal conditions for their pursuits in Berlin. “The city has unbeatable resources for scholars,” Hilmar Sack says, “and a completely unique environment in terms of its cultural sector, in which we can closely network ourselves with innovative companies, such as the Kreuzberg-based company textunes, and benefit from the city’s potential.”