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After 15 years as an agency head, says the Swiss marketing magazine Persoenlich, Christoph Guye is to leave advertising and take on a new life as a business incubator.

The agency he founded will be merged operationally with Advico Young & Rubicam at the end of the year, at which time Guye will step out. What are his reasons for leaving, the magazine asks? And what, exactly, is a business incubator?

Guye Benker

P: Have you had enough of advertising?

CG: Maybe, for a moment. I've been doing advertising for 14 years in and have had a brilliant, really exciting time. But I just feel it's time for something new.

P: OK, that's a standard answer. In truth, though, a decision for something is always a decision against something else.

CG: As my agency grew, I was always playing with the idea that integrating it into an international agency could be a possibility. People had been making enquiries for a number of years. When Guye Benker was sold, a year and a half ago, it was clear to me that I would step down at some point. When you sell your company, you're always going to think about stopping.

P: First André Benker goes, then you. Has there been a clash?

CG: You'll have to ask André Benker and Advico Y&R CEO Edgar Britschgi about the reasons for his departure. The fact that I am going relatively soon thereafter is just chance. As I said, I already knew at the time of the sale that I would eventually leave. This was naturally accelerated by Guye Benker being merged operationally with AY&R. There has been absolutely no disagreement. I wanted to make sure that a solution could be found for all the staff, and I'll also be handling all my clients until the end of the year. When you hand over a baby, it should pass into good hands; you don't just leave it anonymously.

P: You're leaving unusually quickly. Was there no notice period?

CG: The operational merger demanded by the network in London has allowed me to make an ordered departure.

P: You're giving up your life's work. Doesn't that hurt?

CG: I've had my money's worth. Guye Benker was the project of a certain lifestage, that I was able to successfully bring to fruition. I find it's a good story. First I made myself independent from AY&R, founded my own agency and now that agency is going to be integrated into somewhere I myself once worked. That's a successful conclusion.

P: You're the captain, yet you are the first to leave the ship.

CG: On the one hand that's not entirely true and, on the other, the boat's not sinking, just being given five new captains.

P: The established brand of Guye Benker is disappearing. Don't you find that strange?

CG: A number of clients would have very much liked to continue with Guye Benker. There's a great potential in Switzerland for smaller and middle-sized agencies. If I'm leaving behind the life of advertiser, I don't think there are any great consequences. It would be different if I were still in the business.

P: This all sounds a little lacking in emotion. Are you just putting that on?

CG: It's effectively like that, a lifestage being left behind. When you sell your company, you detach yourself somewhat. Then it's just a question of time until you also separate yourself physically.