20 years at MFC - a short interview with Christoph Allefeld

Great! I've just come back from a short holiday in the mountains and to be honest, I hadn't even thought about the anniversary. All the greater the surprise when I came to my wonderful decorated workplace this morning. I was speechless for a moment. At this point, therefore, once again a big thank you to the best colleagues one could wish for for this successful surprise.

It started with an internship. I once studied art history and journalism and have always been interested in the medium of the internet, which was still quite new at the time. I had my first modem and BTX quite early on. Then the first Netscape browser, AOL and things took off.

I then had the idea that the subject of art history and multimedia should be able to be combined quite well. The first museums started to publish exhibition catalogs on CD-ROM and that made me curious. I then did further training in the field of multimedia, which included an internship, among other things. I then did this internship at the Marketing Factory and stuck with it in the traditional way. I still had the interview at the first company location in the south of Duesseldorf, but when the internship started a few weeks later, the old school in Meerbusch-Ilverich was already the company location. At least I can claim to have experienced all locations.

There are many, but I can't and don't want to highlight any particular moment. Sure, there are the legendary softball battles at the old company headquarters in the Ilverich village school or successfully completed projects. What has stuck in my memory over the years is the first company anniversary in the dignified Breidenbacher Hof, which I was able to attend as a new employee. The setting and above all the spirit of the whole team really impressed me back then and gave me the feeling: You've come to the right place.

I decided quite early on to commit myself to the company beyond the normal extent. I joined in 1998 and was appointed managing director two years later. Another two years later, I joined the company with a small holding as a co-partner. At that point it was already clear to me that these steps only make sense for me and the company if the relationship is long-term. At the time, it was just right for me and it felt right. This also has something to do with the company founder Peter Faisst, who after a short time offered me perspectives that were not available in the "old" business world. The Internet economy was only just beginning to take shape and it was possible to achieve professional goals in supposedly unconventional ways. But I was also never someone who planned my professional career very meticulously and strategically. I did what I was passionate about and I haven't done badly with it so far. In any case, I have never regretted staying at Marketing Factory for so long.

2018 is a special and profound year for me, not only because of the 20th anniversary. At the end of last year, the company founders Peter and Katja Faisst left the company to enjoy their well-deserved retirement. My partners Karoline Steinfatt and Ingo Schmitt took over the shares together with me and are now running the Marketing Factory. It is therefore clear what my professional plans are: I will stay with Marketing Factory for the time being and will do everything to ensure that we continue to have success and fun for the next 20 years. But with the colleagues we currently have on board, I'm not really worried about that.

In addition, I have decided to invest more time in my personal development in the future, which should ultimately benefit the company.

Basically, I sometimes think that it might have been nice to live abroad for a while, but that can still come - we'll see.

I am very grateful for the past 20 years and am really looking forward to the ones yet to come.

Of course, there will be cupcakes. I will tell you when, but let's keep this to ourselves. 🙂

Thanks for the great interview! The entire Marketing Factory staff is celebrating with you and is already looking forward to the years to come with you!