Team

When we confront Adi with the fact that we want to write about him here on the website, he first reacts with the strategy: "Wait until they forget". When that doesn't help, he tries verbal excuses: There's not much to tell, he says.

But after some good coaxing, he does give something away: he grew up in Bosnia. He taught himself programming before he worked his way up to team leader in a digital agency through years of experience in web development. But that's how it happens, says Adi. He has also accumulated a broad knowledge of design and 3D animation in search of new fields to discover, try out and master. He ran his own agency in Sarajevo for eight years before love led him to Vienna - and thus to Identum. But none of this is worth mentioning, thinks Adi.

There is one more thing he could tell, he suddenly thinks. In his 20s he worked as a bartender. In one of the most famous clubs in Sarajevo.

That's cool.

And in his spare time, he likes to jump off cliffs. From a height of 10 meters into the sea.

Oh.

Ah, and for a few weeks he babysat a little tiger cub. ...in his living room.

Adi, the walking understatement.

This is Ali. Ali presents himself on Instagram in stylish black suits and a perfectly groomed beard. To his trusted barber, he casually says, "Same as always". Afterwards Ali goes to Vienna's hippest shisha bar. There he drinks "the same as usual". A peppermint tea. Because you know him there. Sure. Ali, who likes to act cool. As cool as cool peppermint tea.

But even the thickest beard can't hide the fact that Ali can be completely different. The Web Developer is always there when you need something. And sometimes even when you didn't need anything at all. Ali also likes to help out with information: about 90s hip-hop, the best hummus from his homeland Iraq or the most pleasant beard oil. That he also likes to give it away to inexperienced colleagues. Furthermore, Ali has an impressive wealth of knowledge about Disney princesses. The proud uncle of three little nieces feels a deep emotional bond not only to his beard.

On top of that, Ali is very ambitious, the Ali. That's why he not only ranks in the top ranks of the agency's internal ping-pong leaderboard, but also studies Web Design & Development at the SAE Institute in Vienna and is committed, ambitious and eager to learn in his everyday work. Speaking of curious - does anyone here know how to get chewing gum out of their beard?

In addition to his many professional skills, Baris also plays the guitar, bass and drums – much to our disappointment not yet at the same time. He also sings and writes his own songs. He is a passionate cook and has his own blog. The only thing he can't do is drink Klaus' strong coffee, he has to dilute it with water. But we forgive him, because secretly we sometimes wonder: is there anything that Baris can't do?

Let’s take a deep breath:

CausesometimesCarinahassomanythingstosaythatthereissimplynotimeforbreathing.
The lively and thrilling communication style of our upper Austrian colleague can be quite contagious and if we were to measure her speed of speech, she would definitely be more of a waterfall then a still water. While speaking, she spreads her happiness so one simply has to take her in one’s heart.

And we all know what a chatterbox enjoys especially. Speaking foreign languages, of course. A whole bunch of them. Fluently! That is why on a normal work day, Carina playfully changes from her upper Austrian dialect, to high German, to British English and Spanish. Our British, Spanish and upper Austrian colleagues are very grateful that finally someone can fully understand them.

After a youth dominated by sports, as a member of the ski team and a marathon runner, his heart now beats to the rhythm of music. Nonetheless, the impassioned guitarist and songwriter still retains a good few things from his sporting past. The endurance, resilience, and composure that Flo brings to agency life make him an important part of the creative team.

Some say the best way to get to know other people is over a beer. In Hannah’s case, it’s more like 6,000 – having initially worked on our beer-themed Facebook campaign for the 2014 World Cup. And, of course, someone who knows their beer is right at home with us. Our management agreed, bringing in Hannah to be part of the Identum team. In her free time she sings in a choir, does artistic gymnastics and then gets to the zoo as often as she can to look at the giraffes – she even has an annual pass – before watching a few episodes of the cult series “Friends” (she’s The One Who Knows All The Words). Oh and, as well as all this, she’s also learning Swedish. Impressive!

Vienna, 1972 vintage: an advertiser with 20 years’ experience domestically and abroad. Member of the Austrian Camping and Caravaning Club and a lecturer at the Werbe Akademie, a Viennese training institution.

Two daughters and a wife mean he has little to no say at home, such as on the colour of paint for the walls.

In communications since 1997. As an editor, media representative, creative professional, consultant and strategist, he was able to develop a multi-faceted understanding of brand communications. His life is shaped by a pioneering spirit. Studying part-time besides working, he was part of the first graduating class for integrated corporate communications and already embarked on the path of self-employment during this time. Right from the beginning, he focused on offering employees an inspiring, performance-oriented and fair work environment under the special conditions of the creative industry.

Ahoy! After enjoying the sea air of Hamburg for a year, Katrin, who hails from Upper Austria, has returned to Vienna and supports our team as office manager. The graduate in education realised at a very early stage of her professional career that advertising agencies are the perfect environment for her. She has vast experience in office management for agencies.
Friendly and charming, while at the same time persistent and resolute, which is how you have to treat overgrown children like us, the assertive Katrin is able to pacify even the most heated of dispositions. So thanks to us she is still able to make use of her specialist educational knowledge. You’re welcome, Katrin!

When we introduce our team to people, it’s not always easy to think of an unusual titbit or quirky fact about our staff. Thankfully, the same cannot be said about Linda, for whom the following statements are all entirely true: in 2016, Linda moved house seven times – including to Thailand, where she helped to prepare the at that time recently deceased King of Thailand to lie in state for a year. Linda suffers from batrachophobia –  the fear of frogs – despite the fact she comes from a family of gardeners, with her parents running a tree nursery. Linda also has 27 cousins and wanted to go to clown school when she was younger. We reckon she’d have made a great clown.

It is well known that good and evil are not always perfectly separable. That already knew Goethe's Faust. And our dear Lorina also confirms this Faust rule. Why? Well, on the one hand, the former headmistress of a Catholic private school can recite the Lord's Prayer like the Amen in church. Literally. On the other hand, Lorina would cross legal lines for her friends. Just metaphorically, of course.

So let's say someone spontaneously expressed a desire for pumpkin soup on a long car ride back from Identum Team Day. Lorina would not be told that twice - always thinking of the well-being of others. After a spontaneous emergency stop on the country road, she would jump out of the car bravely. And before even everyone realized what the hell was going on, she would come back covered in mud and with a winning smile throwing a huge pumpkin from the neighbouring field into the trunk.  Purely theoretical, of course. But Lorina really is a cool dude.

She is just as dedicated and self-confident in her everyday work. The graduate of the Advertising Design Academy Salzburg helps out everywhere without turning a hair. And from web design and corporate design to illustration and painting, she can do almost anything the graphic heart desires. She also has a good sense and eye for discovering and testing new things. Lorina, for us this is almost beyond good and evil!

Born in Lower Austria, Martina comes from the picturesque village of Oeynhausen (supposedly near Baden), but is anything but a country bumpkin: Martina has already travelled to 25 countries, and every year a new one is added. She simply loves the adrenaline that shoots through her veins when she tries something new.

The first time she tried climbing, there was a lot of adrenaline - she first hugged the tree for half an hour before continuing. To keep her adrenaline level constant even without trees, the enthusiastic outdoor person regularly goes running, archery, motorcycling, surfing and snowboarding.

So much sport naturally makes you hungry. That's why Martina likes to eat - at least what she can eat. If you ask for her allergy list for first aid reasons, you will get everything from A for apple to Z for plum (Zwetschke) - 1x with everything, more or less.

She also has a lot of professional skills: Matura in industrial engineering, Bachelor in product marketing & project management and Master in product marketing & innovation management. Can we say no to such a working wonder? No, we can't.

Yes - no. And what else...?

Otherwise she loves the colour grass green, but hates feet. Our graphic designer Mino, on the other hand, hates grass green and has finger-like toes. One can only hope that the two will never meet on a grass-green meadow without socks. End of the story.

Michi is an exceptional storyteller. You don’t need to worry about becoming part of a select group to enjoy these exquisite anecdotes from his life – Michi will be happy, delighted even, to share them with you, too. If you get the chance, there’s a few stories you have to ask him to tell: perhaps the one where he was accidentally left on the Autobahn as a child, the time he threw his suitcase into a grave when it was -27°C outside, or why he was denied access to the waste disposal area. His other hobby is cool too, as a keen paraglider, Michi climbs to dizzying heights as often as he can. He can tell you a fair few stories about that as well, such as how beautiful Austria is from above. To date, he’s completed 152 jumps. Oh, one last thing: Michi is so amazing, so polite, that he bows to doors. The reason for this doesn’t lie in some kind of obscure superstition but rather in the fact that, at a height of over two metres, he’s just too damn tall for the doors!

Austria is a diverse country. This can be seen, among other things, in our phonological diversity. And Michelle is a beautiful tile in this wonderful linguistic mosaic of Austria. When she rises to speak, it quickly becomes clear that she was definitely not born in the Bobo capital.

But Michelle as a distinctive morning person was drawn there early in her career. After starting her career in the tourism industry, she found her true destiny during an apprentiveship in the copywriting class at the Werbe Akademie Wien. Incredibly committed and structured as she is, she started as a copywriter in a Viennese agency. Almost restlessly searching for new knowledge, new challenges, new adventures, Michelle then swung up to Mexico, where she worked as a Social Media Manager. To our delight she didn't stay there permanently and returned to Vienna especially for Identum to support the creation team with her texts and concepts - Yeah! Or VULL KLASS, as you would say in Michelle's home country.

And before all the clichés about the sweetness of the East Styrian dialect are discussed ad nauseam, let me say: nobody - really KUANA - can put so many vowels into one word as dear Michelle.  Respect!

The overachiever with a tendency for the extremes.

Mino has extremely long, finger-like toes, loves mountains and cooking. He hates the smell of mothballs and grass-green walls.

He loves wood. In his opinion, wood is "the coolest material that exists" and he hates the music genre "Screamo". (At this point he had to demonstrate what this is. Now we know and we're deaf on one ear)

Important to know is that Mino can't handle life above 25 degrees Celsius. So it's a good thing that he has his place in our bunker aka. half cellar, with zero sunshine.

Mino loves change.

And as a kid he was a smart alec. For example, he proudly explained to his mom what the difference between a designer and an inventor is: An inventor makes something completely new, while a designer takes something existing and changes it. Ok Mino.

By the way: His goal until "about 25" is to compete in the Iron Man. Easy. And to achieve that, he trains 5 times a week and does 4 different sports. Cycling, weight training, swimming and running. Respect for so much discipline and endurance. 

This pass goes to you Petar. Because not only in the development team are you one of our Starting 5. When we see you, we will do a jump shot in pivot. You are our Point-Guard. Our High Post. Our Go-to-Guy in every crunch time.

You guessed right: Petar likes to play basketball. Formerly even in the Youth National League. And that in his home country Serbia. Where this sport is treated almost like a religion.

So, are we dealing here with the secret Michael Jordan of Serbia?

No, because from a significant age onwards, Petar's interests shifted to a topic that had taken him very far in life, but also required a large part of his attention: the opposite sex. The meanwhile happily married Petar, worked just as determinedly on his master's degree in computer science, co-founded his own startup in London and, after a stopover in Stuttgart, started at Identum to complement our online unit as a experienced full stack developer.

Aha, then he probably is the secret Steve Wozniak of Serbia.

There are people who babble without period and comma. Philipp is not  that kind of person. He's probing the situation. Make calmly his judgement. And - bang - he makes a moody comment and brings the situation razor sharp to the point. Including a comma.

Philipp doesn't need a lot of hoopla. Why should he? At the beginning of his twenties, he has several years of professional experience in web development and online project management in his pocket, in addition to an apprenticeship in computer science and graphics. That speaks for itself.

On top of that, Philipp is extremely loyal and friendly. These are qualities that benefit him not only in his everyday work, but also within the Identum team. Because his loyalty even goes so far that he can withstand even the most unusual salad creations of his colleagues. One thing, however, goes too far for him: Raisins do not make it onto his plate. Period.

Hailing from Vorarlberg at Austria’s western tip, Sabrina is a sensationally strong personality but also a happy soul. Even when under considerable stress, she remains cheery and optimistic. Equipped with a constitution that means she’s hardly ever ill, Sabrina brings people together, both in her personal life and professionally. Though sharp as a tack and level-headed, her mouth sometimes runs ahead of her mind! The resulting gaffes – such as: “400 kilos is pretty heavy for a fridge, right?" – are what we lovingly call a “classic Sabi”.

Our Styrian-born Silvia is a convinced Viennese by choice. However, she was not immediately so convinced about the district choice. Therefore, she first tried a few - 2, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 22 - and now many moving boxes later she reached her final destination in the beautiful 7th district.

Almost as diverse are Silvia's educational paths and her professional experience. After graduating from WU with a degree in business administration (major in information technology and investment banking), she started in banking and then in project management, where she mainly managed online projects. Quite apart from the fact that she was also busy with her family, household and finances. She brought all this concentrated knowledge and the experience to her job as Office Manager in the new decade. Because: No matter what it is about. Silvia takes it easy.

But when it comes to hiking, the Styrian is not calm at all and has one single credo: The goal is the goal. The journey is the worst. Good that you have reached your goal within our company, Silvia.

What’s the best way to say that a woman is just a great person without it sounding like empty praise? Let’s try: Malicious gossip has it that’s she’s actually nice! Hey, that was pretty good...

Her career path reflects her open-minded personality. Curious to the tip of her toes, infectiously enthusiastic. This in combination with her sunny disposition makes us love being around her. Her sensitivity is both her strength and her weakness. But her ability to empathize is exactly what her friends, colleagues and clients appreciate so deeply. On the job as well as in her free time, she likes being active: up in the mountains, whether climbing or with boards on her feet, and knitting hats for balance.

Back in the 90s, Werner was a sensational mix of grunge-punk and perfectionist. Stubborn as an ox, he always aims to achieve the best possible outcome – good simply isn’t good enough. He dreams of achieving the perfect foot position and is always working on his “th”. He loves mountain landscapes and would take them over panoramic ocean views any day. Each turn at chess is one cigarette long, even though he doesn’t smoke any more