Sachar Klein

The Innovator 25:

Sachar Klein

CEO

Sachar Klein Kommunikation

Berlin

"Don't just look for innovation, but look for real solutions for real problems"

A PR professional with more than 15 years of media experience, Klein is often regarded as a digital pioneer in Germany, particularly via his work for Glossybox, where he spent more than two years in charge of global communications. It was a role that saw Klein embrace digital communication, often ahead of many of his peers, demonstrating a facility for visual storytelling that remains rare among the country's communcations pros. Klein left Glossybox earlier this year to start his own consultancy, with his former employer as an anchor client. Prior to moving into PR, he worked as a journalist at Bild.

How do you define innovation?

Innovation kills the status quo and never accepts the current status. Innovation aims for perfection, but isn't able to reach perfection.

Most innovative PR/comms campaign you’ve seen in the last 12 months?

Instagram-Account of Kapten & Son

What brands and/or agencies are most innovative when it comes to marketing/PR?

Still Red Bull. Still Nike. But Kapten & Son are great, too.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider ‘innovative.’

I visited my first beauty convention in January and was impressed by how motivated the visiting people were. By the end of the day I have set up a concept for my client Glossybox. At the end of the next day they not only bought the concept but also set a date and a venue.

In what area of marketing/PR do you see the most innovation?

Influencer relations.

How would you describe the communications/PR industry’s level of innovation?

Lagging than other marketing disciplines.

Where do you see the greatest opportunity for marketing & PR to become more innovative?

Influencer relations.

Who most influences how innovative a brand’s marketing/PR is?

CEO.

Who is your mentor and why?

Gunnar Bender (used to work at AOL and Facebook and is now with Amazon). He taught me there are no influencers but people, so I'm trying be nice to everyone.

How do you find inspiration?

I read a lot and hey, there's this great thing called Internet.

Advice for people seeking to bring new ideas, ways of doing things to their organizations?

Don't just look for innovation, but look for real solutions for real problems.

In your opinion, what’s the most innovative place in the world?

I'm still looking for this place. :-)

What’s your favorite time of day and why?

Around six in the morning. No emails. Office is quiet. I am awake and very productive.