Cartel by name, Cartel by fame.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve welcomed three new creatives and one new CD into Create: Elise (ex-Happiness), Matthias (ex-VRT Creative and ex-Happiness), Thibault (ex-BBDO) and, last but not least, Sam De Win (ex-iO, ex-Prophets and ex-BBDO) as CD. Well, technically Elise had already joined earlier. She’s now fully unleashing her talents within Create. Each of them has their own voice, their own perspective, their own pace. None of them fits neatly into a box. As far as I’m concerned, that era is over. And that’s exactly why they’re a perfect fit for Cartel Agency and Friends of Cartel.

The more seasoned creatives – the old guard – are also growing beyond the box they once started in. Our field keeps changing. It’s only logical that the skills and make-up of the team evolve with it. We’re looking for people who want to build. Ideas. Brands. Themselves. Cartel Agency.

That calls for a slightly atypical approach to finding talent. Do you recruit for job titles or pure skills? Do you look for experience or a blank page? It’s definitely not about ticking off a skill checklist or finding instantly deployable profiles who can do one trick very well. We mainly look at how someone thinks, hesitates, associates and plays. At curiosity. At the ability and the will to get better at collaboration and at creating with others. Creativity is human. And pure team play.

We apply the same logic to the way we want to work with freelancers. We don’t believe in ‘touch & go’. In swooping in, dropping something off and disappearing again. For us, freelancers are part of the whole. That may sound noble, but it really matters – to us, to me – that we keep one shared goal in sight (that cartel mindset).

We consciously bring freelancers in for longer stretches. So they get to know the brand. The people. The context. The way we do things at Cartel Agency. So that they share the sense of responsibility and ownership, instead of just delivering output. Creativity becomes sharper when you don’t have to start from scratch every single time.

And yes, that asks something of everyone. Of us as an agency, but also of the people who work with us. Commitment. Openness. A willingness to step into the story and stay in it. But it pays off. Which is why we’re genuinely thrilled that a heavyweight like Sam is stepping into Cartel Agency, into our story and into our ambition. We know lighting fireworks is not done, but we’re sure this collaboration will deliver the metaphorical kind.

Cartel Agency (and by extension Friends of Cartel) isn’t a loose collection of individuals who happen to work together. It’s obviously not a cult or a little elite club either. You won’t find a daily kumbaya circle with the whole group here. What you will find is human connection. Between permanent staff and freelancers. Between experience and new talent. Between Antwerp, Leuven and Hasselt. Between different disciplines that make each other sharper.

We believe creativity only really delivers when you share it. And because – cliché alert! – you might go faster alone, but you go further together. That’s how you make stronger work.

Welcome, Elise, Matthias, Thibault and Sam. And to every creative soul who doesn’t just want to join in but wants to help build: feel free to slide into my DMs at bart.klerckx [at] cartel.agency (bart[dot]klerckx[at]cartel[dot]agency).