Mortierbrigade, one of Belgium’s most famous and frequently awarded communication agencies, joins Onlyhumans, led by brothers Tom and Geert Bogaert. Combined, they form the country’s most diverse specialised, independent creative team of brand designers. A mouthful, but not without reason.
An ambitious growth strategy
Onlyhumans has grown from a digital perspective, with an emphasis on performance and creative content marketing. ‘We then strengthened our position in brand identity design by merging with Today’s branding specialists,’ explains CEO Tom Bogaert, ‘and last year we merged with web development agency Code d’Or and the employer branding experts of Fantastic, both based in Ghent. The merger with Mortierbrigade fits our ambitious growth strategy perfectly: offering the broadest range of specialised services to all our customers’.
Independent creative alternative
Jens Mortier, chief creative officer, sheds additional light on the compelling merger: ‘We have built a rock-solid reputation thanks to our creativity. That is why our customers come to us. But creativity in itself is no longer sufficient. More than ever, you have to build on that creativity by cleverly converting it to all media. We are evolving more and more into creative consultants to service our clients, with a focus on business and media. Therefore, we have been looking for the most future proof solution to help our clients, without denying ourselves and our culture. We will continue to do what we do best. At the same time, we and our clients can now count on the group’s various areas of expertise when needed, and vice versa. This is a historic moment as there is finally an independent creative alternative for the major networks.
135 talents, 4 locations
The complete family photo now includes 135 top talents, spread over offices in Antwerp, Mechelen, Ghent and now also Brussels. Private equity fund Vectis contributes to the active growth strategy. The current management of Mortierbrigade invests and participates in the new story and also joins the management team of Onlyhumans.
Article in De Tijd: Reclamebureaus Mortierbrigade en Onlyhumans smelten samen.
Since Vectis Private Equity’s investment in Onlyhumans in June 2019, the group has grown strongly through add-on acquisitions of Today (branding), Code D’Or (web platforms), Fantastic (employer branding) and, more recently, Mortierbrigade (creative communication).