27-year-old Lukas Flöer is a young founder from Germany and wants to met[ads] turn the world of 3D outdoor advertising on its head. His aim: to make advertising cool again. That’s why he and his 11-person team are challenging the big corporations to dare to innovate again. Flöer founded his company in September 2023 and has since landed clients such as Spotify, RTL and Sephora.
Startup Interviewer: Can you introduce us to your startup? What exactly do you do?
Lukas Flöer: We want to shake up the monotonous advertising world – with 3D advertising. With met[ads] We want to bring this to every digital screen – whether TV, mobile phone or out-of-home surfaces. It is important to us to make this affordable, creative and, above all, flexible for our customers.
What is the story behind your startup? How and why did you start?
My grandfather was a journalist, so storytelling has been with me since I was a child. I always found it fascinating to understand how stories need to be told so that they reach the recipient. I started working in the advertising industry when I was 17 and quickly became disillusioned. For nine years, I watched the advertising industry drive itself into ruin. For most people, it’s just about how they can place more advertising to reach more people and ultimately make more money.
It’s not about real attention or exciting campaigns, but rather just about reach. I’m here to make advertising exciting again. In addition, the infrastructure needed for outdoor advertising is largely owned by large corporations. This makes it extremely difficult for small startups like us to gain a foothold in the industry. I believe that more competition in the advertising industry can only lead to something positive: more exciting and relevant advertising for all of us.
What makes you unique, what is your USP?
We are the only advertisers in the German market who specialize only in 3D technology. Our technology is designed solely to make 3D advertising visible to consumers quickly and efficiently. In addition to our 3D expertise, the flexibility we have as a 3D specialist compared to other companies is one of our USPs. On average, it takes less than a week from the customer’s decision to implement to go-live.
Then there is the cost factor. While other 3D creations sometimes cost over 100,000 euros, we start at 10,000 euros including the screens. Unlike other companies, we also do not need any 3D assets from our customers. We model, texture, animate and activate everything ourselves, thus taking the work off the customer’s hands. It does not matter to us whether the customer is large or small, works with or without an agency(s).
What technologies do you use or what in-house technology have you developed?
Our 3D campaigns are based – to put it simply – on optical illusions. To create the perfect experience, I therefore need to know from which location the viewer is looking at the respective screen. Using geo-behavioral data, we can determine this and adjust shadows, perspective and light accordingly to create a perfect 3D effect. Using templates specially developed by us, we can adapt the campaigns quickly and efficiently for each screen based on this data. This means we are able to map the entire 3D supply chain – from the initial creation of the 3D models to the realistic animation and go-live – in one process.
Who is your target group and how do you reach them?
Our target group are all companies that want to place creative advertising. We want to make 3D advertising affordable for everyone because we are convinced that it is what the German advertising landscape and, above all, consumers need. Exciting advertising should not fail due to budget and, above all, the alternative should not be boring advertising.
What about previous financing? Are there any investors yet?
For me, it was the right path to start a business without venture capital. I had already worked in the advertising industry for many years, so I was able to assess well what would work and what wouldn’t. I had also built up a large network, which was of course helpful when starting the business. For me personally, it was always important to be financially independent of others, so it was the right path despite the high personal investment.
What are the next steps for your startup? Do you have specific goals for the future?
Our main goal is to advance the development of new, innovative screens in Germany to make 3D advertising even more visible. In the future, we also want to become the first point of contact for 3D advertising in Europe.
Do you have any tips for other founders?
Just do it, try it out and stick with it. You don’t need the perfect idea or the perfect plan to start with. As long as you stick to your vision and have a strong team behind you, not too much should go wrong.
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