SYZYGY, backed by WPP, acquires leading strategy firm diffferent

Berlin - September 25, 2017. The SYZYGY Group has acquired 70 per cent of the shares in diffferent GmbH. As one of the most progressive strategy consulting firms in Germany, diffferent has been a long-standing partner to companies such as the Volkswagen Group, Deutsche Telekom, Porsche, MTU, EnBW and IKEA.

diffferent provides support for its clients around brand positioning, the development of innovative service and business models and making teams agile and fit for the future and digital transformation. Owners Dirk Jehmlich, Alexander Kiock and Jan Pechmann are remaining on board as managing directors and shareholders. In addition to his duties at diffferent, Alexander Kiock will take up the position of Chief Strategy Officer for the SYZYGY Group.

diffferent was established in 1997 by Alexander Kiock and Jan Pechmann and has 90 employees at its locations in Berlin and Munich. Investing in diffferent enables SYZYGY, a leading digital agency, to boost its consulting and innovation capabilities in order to meet the increasingly complex challenges faced by companies in the digital age. The close integration of strategic consulting with creative services and design , as well as technology and media, means that SYZYGY can now provide even more effective support for clients as they seek to develop sustainable digital business activities, strengthen their brands and inspire their clients and staff.

"In diffferent, we have found a passionate but grounded consulting partner that is a perfect fit with SYZYGY's culture and working methods. Together, we intend to act as partners for all companies in Germany that think big but prefer customised and practical digital strategies, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions and ‘panaceas’. I'm really looking forward to forging unconventional paths in communication and digitisation together with diffferent and our clients," said Lars Lehne, Chairman of the Management Board of SYZYGY AG.

Taking this stake in diffferent is a further step by SYZYGY towards delivering solutions to all digital challenges and opportunities from a single source, while as a corporate group also remaining agile and personal enough to develop and implement individual and original solutions.

"At this point in time, digital transformation doesn’t need even more ideas or scaling, it first and foremost needs more mindset and substance. And companies don’t need service providers that spew out strategy templates or function as an implementation steamroller; they need people who can help them to articulate their ‘Why’ and shape their reality accordingly. SYZYGY and diffferent are guided by the same principles in this regard. Together, we will help the German business world with its many hidden champions and world market leaders to develop off-the-wall strategies and implement them in an appropriate manner," said Alexander Kiock, managing director of diffferent GmbH.