John Allen AG

What John Allen AG does

John Allen AG is a Zurich-based, full-service creative agency founded in 2009 by Jimi (John Allen Hendrix) and headquartered in Schlieren, Switzerland. Operating for over 16 years with a team of 11, the agency positions itself as the "Speerspitze" (spearhead) of Swiss factual entertainment, anchored by a 15-year exclusive production relationship with SRF (Schweizer Fernsehen) on "Happy Day," which is described as the #1 SRF show with over 40% market share in the advertising-relevant target group. The agency's work spans TV show production, documentary filmmaking, branded content, experience marketing, show scenography, and integrated campaigns for enterprise clients.

The company operates across four service pillars — Strategy, Kreation, Campaigning, and Show Production — delivered as a single full-service engagement rather than a modular platform. Production technology is core to the offering: John Allen was among the first globally to deploy the ARRI Multicam System with instant colorgrading (used for the Openair Frauenfeld 2024 mainstage broadcast), produced the first Red Bull 4K HDR concert film in Dolby Atmos for Red Bull Symphonic Loredana, and maintains 22-camera multicinecam setups and CGI/visual effects capability for live scenography and post-production. Recurring enterprise clients include SRF, EBU (Eurovision Song Contest 2025), Red Bull, UBS, PostFinance/yuh, Heineken Switzerland, Evian, Kuoni, Lucerne Festival, Openair Frauenfeld/Live Nation, Auto Schweiz, CKW, HEV Schweiz, 20 Minuten, and KLARK.

The business model is project-based professional services: bespoke, quote-based creative engagements for premium brands and public broadcasters. Go-to-market is sales-led, driven by direct relationships, project inquiries, and the agency's reputation evidenced through case studies, industry awards (Goldbach Crossmedia Award '21 for "Mein AUTOgramm"; Spezial-Edi Award for Lucerne Festival), and a roster of named logo clients. The company is privately held, Swiss-domiciled, with key creatives Chris Hanselmann (Creative Director & Partner), Lorenz Bohler (Director & Partner), and Sheril Hanselmann (Production Manager & Partner) serving as equity partners alongside the founder.

Name

John Allen AG

Legal name

John Allen AG

Website

https://johnallen.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

John Allen AG is a Zurich-based, full-service Swiss creative agency founded in 2009, producing TV shows, documentaries, branded content, experience marketing, and integrated campaigns for enterprise clients and broadcasters, anchored by a long-running SRF partnership and recent international work including Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with EBU.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative and Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Motion Picture and Video Production (51211)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAAAAAA

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

SECONDARYMPAAAAAI

B2B/ABM Creative Agencies

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

SECONDARYMPAAAAAO

Activation/Experiential Creative Agencies

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Advertising, Marketing & PR Services/Advertising Agencies (Full-Service/Creative)

SECONDARYHSACADAB

Corporate Event Production & AV Services

Home & Personal Services/Event & Personal Concierge Services/Corporate Event & Meeting Services

SECONDARYBPAFAEAD

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development

Business & Public Services/Marketing, Advertising & PR Services/Brand Strategy & Creative Services

Keywords

• Creative agency services
• TV production
• Factual entertainment
• Experience marketing
• Branded content

Headquarters

HQ city

Schlieren

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Project-based creative agency services including TV show production, documentary filmmaking, branded content, experience marketing, and campaign development for enterprise clients and broadcasters.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

John Allen AG is a Swiss full-service creative agency that produces end-to-end creative content for enterprise brands and broadcasters. The agency delivers TV shows, documentaries, branded content series, commercials, experiential marketing activations, and live event productions (including multicam concert broadcasting and show scenography). It operates four service pillars: Strategy, Kreation, Campaigning, and Show Production, anchored by pioneering production technology such as the ARRI Multicam System with instant colorgrading.

Product overview

John Allen AG is a Swiss creative agency offering a comprehensive suite of services as a single unified full-service offering rather than a modular platform. The agency operates across four main service pillars: Strategy (Ideation & Storytelling, Media Strategy, Creative Concepts, Omni-channel Experience Design, Customer & Audience Journey Design), Kreation (TVC, Native Advertising Series, Display/OOH, Web/UX & Motion-Design, Social Media Services, Experience Marketing), Campaigning (Integrated Campaigns, Omni-channel Experience, Media Planning, Programmatic Advertising, Content Distribution, Live Experience), and Show Production (Factual Entertainment, TV Show, TV & Web Series, Documentaries, Show Scenography, Show Direction). The portfolio includes case work spanning TV documentaries (e.g., Hecht – Abenteuer Hallenstadion, Seven live at the Apollo), TV series (Happy Day, ESC Mania, Game of Switzerland, Deep Dating, Schweizer HeimwerkerInnen), commercials and ad campaigns (Luce D3, Evian, KUONI), experience marketing activations (Red Bull events, Openair Frauenfeld, Heineken), and branded content for clients including SRF, Red Bull, UBS, PostFinance, and Lucerne Festival.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Services (Storytelling & Ideation, Media Strategy, Creative Concepts, Omni-channel Experience Design)

Quantifiable outcome

• Happy Day achieves over 40% market share in advertising-relevant target group
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EBU (European Broadcasting Union)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025John Allen AG is producing content for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in partnership with EBU. This represents a flagship project for the agency, demonstrating their capability to produce at the highest international broadcasting level.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DDB Switzerland: Swiss creative agency of DDB Worldwide delivering integrated brand campaigns and content for major enterprises. Direct overlap with John Allen for Swiss-market brand accounts and integrated creative production.
• TBWA Switzerland: Swiss arm of TBWA global network offering integrated creative, content, and experiential work. Competitor for major Swiss enterprise accounts across the same categories John Allen targets.
• Rod Kommunikation: Independent Swiss creative agency with strong brand storytelling and integrated campaign capabilities. Comparable Swiss independent profile competing for similar mid-to-large Swiss brand budgets.
• Jung von Matt: Leading independent Swiss/German creative agency with full-service capabilities including campaigns, content, and experiential. Comparable to John Allen in serving premium Swiss and international brands across integrated creative and production work.
• Walker AG: Swiss independent full-service agency known for content, social, and brand storytelling. Competes with John Allen for Swiss enterprise brand work across integrated creative and content production.
• Scholz & Friends: Independently-led DACH creative agency with integrated campaign, content, and production capabilities. Comparable to John Allen in scale, integrated offering, and brand storytelling focus.
• Wirz Advertising: Long-established Swiss full-service advertising agency working with major Swiss brands and broadcasters. Directly comparable as a Swiss-market integrated creative competitor chasing the same enterprise client roster.

Broad incumbents

• Havas Switzerland: Swiss operations of Havas network with full-service creative and production capabilities. Overlaps with John Allen on enterprise brands, broadcasters, and experience-led campaigns in Switzerland.
• Publicis Group (Publicis Communications): Global communications group with major Swiss presence covering creative, content, media, and production. Represents the networked incumbent competition for enterprise clients like UBS, PostFinance, and SRF.
• Serviceplan Group: Largest independent German agency group with full-service and House of Communication model. Competes for the same enterprise brand CMOs as John Allen, albeit at much larger scale with media, digital, and production across multiple agency brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/JohnAllenAG
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/john-allen-ag
• Instagraminstagram.com/johnallenag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about John Allen AG