What Schach zu Dritt does

Schach zu Dritt (SZ3) is a Berlin-based creative communications agency operating as a German private limited company (Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH), founded around 2016 with approximately 17 employees. The firm organizes its offering into four service pillars — SZ3.Brand (brand development, identity, graphic design, integrated campaigns, strategy consulting), SZ3.Digital (content marketing, social media, influencer marketing, VR/AR concepts, website development), SZ3.Live (brand spaces, festivals, guerrilla marketing, pop-ups, roadshows, events), and SZ3.Culture (immersive exhibitions including the proprietary Himmel unter Berlin, The Dark Rooms, and Lost Art Festival, produced in collaboration with sister company Wir im Raum GmbH). Its enterprise client roster spans beverage (Heineken, Diageo, Rotkäppchen, Belsazar, Bulleit, Tanqueray, Johnnie Walker), fashion/e-commerce (Zalando), technology (Google Cloud, TikTok, Sony), streaming/music (Spotify, Warner Music), sports (DFB, European Championships 2022), FMCG (Unilever, Stiebel Eltron, Meßmer), and mobility (TIER), with marquee project outcomes including 55,000 visitors at the European Championships 2022 Opening Ceremony in Munich and over 1.2 million visual contacts from the Rotkäppchen Secconade Festival Tour 2025.

The business operates a project-based professional services revenue model. Pricing is scoped per engagement, with advance payments of up to 50% of total contract value reducing working-capital risk, and no publicly disclosed rate cards or recurring-revenue contracts. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales — direct engagement with brand managers, marketing directors, and communications teams — supplemented by an event-driven motion in which project portfolios and industry-event presence (notably the OMR Festival) function as client acquisition tools. Geographic execution is concentrated in Germany (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne) with select DACH cross-border projects (Zurich, Helgoland). Revenue, ownership structure beyond the managing director Jan Häusler, and employee compensation data are not publicly disclosed; there are no venture capital funding rounds, acquisitions, or institutional investors reported in available materials.

Name

Schach zu Dritt

Legal name

Schach zu Dritt | Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH

Website

https://schachzudritt.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Schach zu Dritt is a Berlin-based creative communications agency offering brand, digital, live event, and immersive cultural exhibition services to enterprise clients in beverage, fashion, tech, sports, and FMCG across Germany and DACH.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Project-based Professional Services: Agency generates revenue through designing and executing brand activations, events, campaigns, content production, and live communications projects for enterprise clients. Pricing is based on project scope, requiring advance payment of up to half of total contract value.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Schach zu Dritt is a Berlin-based creative agency offering brand, digital, live, and culture communication services. The agency delivers brand strategy, campaign design, event and experiential marketing, and digital content production for enterprise clients across industries. No sourced factual detail is available in the input to expand this further.

Product overview

Schach zu Dritt is a communications agency (Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH) organized into four service pillars: SZ3.Brand (brand development, identity, graphic design, integrated campaigns, strategy consulting), SZ3.Digital (content marketing, social media, influencer marketing, VR/AR concepts, website development), SZ3.Live (brand spaces, festivals, guerrilla, pop-ups, roadshows, events), and SZ3.Culture (immersive exhibitions with sister company Wir im Raum GmbH, including Himmel unter Berlin, The Dark Rooms, and Lost Art Festival). The agency also organizes its own culture projects including Himmel unter Berlin (15,000–20,000 visitors per edition), Lost Art Festival (20,000 visitors, 6,000 sqm, since 2017), and The Dark Rooms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Communication
• Digital Campaign Design
• Live & Event Marketing
• Culture Communication

Quantifiable outcome

• Secconade Festival Tour 2025 reached over 1.2 million visual contacts and 311,850 festival visitors
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wir im Raum GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company that collaborates with Schach zu Dritt on immersive exhibition formats with international reach. Together they produce Himmel unter Berlin, The Dark Rooms, and Lost Art Festival.
• deadHYPEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative collective that collaborated with Schach zu Dritt on events including Rotkäppchen Secconade launch and Heineken Afterwork Vol.2, providing DJ performances and curating fashion collaborations.
• BiPolarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for stand parties at Secconade Festival Tour 2025, transforming event modules into outdoor parties.
• Parley for the OceansminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation partner for Talisker Adventures Helgoland event, providing educational input on plastic pollution and marine protection.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kempertrautmann: Hamburg creative agency working across brand, content, and digital for major brands. Comparable as a German creative agency of similar size and scope competing for the same enterprise campaign and content mandates.
• Grabarz & Partner: Hamburg-based creative agency producing integrated campaigns for major brands. Comparable as a German boutique-to-mid-size creative competitor pursuing similar enterprise brand-communication briefs.
• Kolle Rebbe: Hamburg-based creative agency focused on brand communications, content, and integrated campaigns. Comparable as a German boutique-to-mid-size creative competitor serving similar brand-experience and digital briefs.
• Antoni: Berlin-based creative agency known for integrated brand campaigns and high-profile content production. Directly comparable on creative quality, Berlin location, and a similar mix of brand, digital, and content services for enterprise clients.
• Jung von Matt: Leading German creative agency network with strong Berlin, Hamburg and Munich presence. Directly comparable as a full-service creative agency competing for the same enterprise brand-experience, advertising, and digital mandates across DACH.
• Scholz & Friends: German creative agency network with offices in Berlin, Hamburg and other cities. Comparable as a full-service creative agency competing for brand, digital, and integrated marketing mandates from enterprise clients in Germany.
• HEIMAT (TBWA): Berlin creative agency within the TBWA network producing integrated campaigns, brand activations, and content for major brands. Directly comparable as a Berlin-based creative competitor pursuing similar experiential and campaign briefs.

Broad incumbents

• Serviceplan Group: Largest independent German agency group with a broad portfolio across creative, media, digital, and tech. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering overlapping brand, digital, and live communications services at greater scale.
• DDB Germany: German arm of the global DDB network offering advertising, digital, and brand experience services. Comparable as a broader incumbent with overlapping capabilities but operating as part of an international holding-company structure.
• TBWA\Germany: German operations of the TBWA global network, offering brand strategy, advertising, and experiential services. Comparable as a broader incumbent with overlapping creative, digital, and event capabilities across DACH.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/schachzudritt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schachzudritt
• Instagraminstagram.com/schachzudritt
• TikToktiktok.com/@schachzudritt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Schach zu Dritt