Manamana and Cartel Agency are not merging

We are entering into an exclusive, long-term collaboration with Manamana. ‘We’re seeing a clear trend in the market’, says Tom Van den Bergh, CEO of Friends of Cartel, the collective we are part of. ‘On the one hand, agencies are evolving into groups with real scale and structure, like Friends of Cartel. On the other, smaller agencies with their own culture and niche are becoming even stronger in their domain, like Manamana.’

‘But brands want all of that at once. We need to offer a real answer to that, which is why we’re welcoming Manamana as an Agency in Residence. Think of it as a creative superpower within our modular ecosystem of agencies, helping us win more pitches and serve clients even better.’

Our collaboration starts from our differences, not from trying to smooth them out. In fact, those differences are actively cultivated. ‘The value of this model lies in the sum, not in some kind of blend’, says Wout Neys, Managing Director at Manamana.

‘The whole point is for us to become even more ourselves, so we can unapologetically focus on and invest in creative excellence, without having to build all the supporting infrastructure around it. Cartel Agency, in turn, can come in as a creative business partner, with real strength and credibility in both words: business and creative.’

‘Cartel Agency remains an autonomous creative agency with a strong strategic backbone’, adds Micha Appermans, our Managing Director. ‘Manamana brings additional creative intensity and culture to the table. The result? Creative boldness plus strategic structure and proven effectiveness.’

The Agency in Residence collaboration is set up as a growth trajectory with clear rules, governance and shared objectives. Both parties commit to creating structural value for clients and for each other. Hence the deliberately open design: we start by working together and strengthening each other, and then jointly decide how to deepen the relationship over time.

Tom Van den Bergh: ‘This collaboration model is not a one-off. The old agency model has been bumping up against its limits for a few years now and seems to have run its course. This way of growing together simply fits the reality of today – and tomorrow – much better.’