Launch of the Digital Agency Group Citizens

Five digital agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands are joining forces to launch Citizens. The new agency group has 70 employees and serves 1,000 clients.

AGConsult (Boom, BE). UX and conversion optimization

Faceworks (Gouda, NL). Specialized in digital environments and communication tools

Online Department (Rotterdam, NL). UX agency

Thinline (Ghent, BE). Web design

Your Business Online (Breda, NL). Data, performance marketing and social media

The ambition is to become a leading digital group in the Benelux, aiming within five years to grow with more than twenty agencies into a European reference in digital strategy, UX, development and performance.

From vision to reality

Nathan Verduyn, Citizens initiator: "Citizens did not start as a classic consolidation but as an ambitious idea: a Benelux collective with scale and impact, without losing the soul of the organizations. With a strong board of directors and a search across more than two thousand agencies, this led to a selection of the strongest and most complementary players. Today Citizens counts five agencies, built as a platform to continue growing. Where cross-border collaboration often runs stiffly, Citizens proves it can work. In a fragmented landscape of thousands of agencies, the collective unites the best specialists into one integrated player. In this way, Citizens helps large and mid-sized companies move faster and stronger in a digital world that is changing at high speed. More than two years ago I dreamed of building a leading agency. But I believed the real strength lay in collaboration: strong agencies and experienced founders pooling their talents. Today I am proud that with Citizens we have turned that dream into reality."

Growing big by staying small

Citizens deliberately chooses a different path than classic consolidations: no cumbersome structure, no external investors. The culture remains personal, entrepreneurial, hardworking and down-to-earth. A collective of founders that returns value to the people who create it.

Bart de Vrind, founder, Faceworks: "From the start, we wanted to make Faceworks an organization where people grow, clients feel understood and long-term relationships are central. For twenty-five years we have tackled challenges and opportunities together. With Citizens we see the next chapter: growing and learning through collaboration, with shared goals while preserving our own identity and culture."

Jo Van Snick, founder, Thinline: "Holdings born from classic consolidation grow in size, but not in relevance. With Citizens we believe in the power of talent and collaboration. We combine the advantages of an international group with the passion and drive of specialized teams. We grow by sharing, keep our feet on the ground and use innovation to truly help clients move forward. Human, agile and impactful."

Humanity and innovation

AI, data and design are important pillars, but the core remains humanity. Technology is not an end in itself; it is about better results and experiences, for clients and their users.

Jan De Roeck, CEO, Citizens: "Together we can offer clients even stronger, integrated solutions. This is the beginning of a movement. What makes Citizens distinctive is our innovative model: a collective of smaller, agile agencies that brings something different to the market. We combine the strength of a group with the speed and culture of specialists, creating real added value for clients."

Els Aerts, founder, AGConsult: "At AGConsult we have been pioneers in UX and conversion optimization for more than twenty years. In Citizens we find like-minded partners who share the same ambition: creating impact for clients with top-level strategy and execution. By joining forces with top experts from other domains, we further increase that impact."

Open invitation

Citizens is not a closed club, but an open movement. We invite digital agencies from Belgium and the Netherlands that believe in collaboration and innovation, clients who seek integrated solutions, and talent that wants to help write this story. Together we are building a leading group that moves not only the sector forward, but above all our clients.

Machiel Oskam, founder of Online Department: "Online Department specializes in UX design for business-critical applications for government, healthcare and the energy sector. With Citizens we can create impact at a larger scale and, with technology and data, realize our growth ambitions."

Joeri Peeters, founder of Your Business Online: "At Your Business Online everything revolves around outcomes and growth. Within Citizens we combine that performance mentality with the creative, strategic and technical capabilities of the other agencies. That makes us stronger and more relevant for clients."

www.citizens-digital.com

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