Record Year for Serviceplan Group

Economic growth, innovative client projects, and creative results breaking records: The Serviceplan Agencies are looking back on a successful 2024/25 fiscal year. Despite a challenging economic environment, the Creative & Content* part achieved a revenue of €245 million and grew by +7.5 %. This success is based on important budget wins, successful campaigns for existing clients, and the strategically strong expansion of the agency and management structure. 

Among other things, Serviceplan won the mandate for AIDA Cruises. Serviceplan Hamburg developed a new communication platform for the leading cruise brand. Together with Serviceplan Culture, the team won the pitch for the brand experience budget of Rügenwalder Mühle. The first major projects were the founding of the participatory “FLXPLR Council” and the pop culture hack “Hauchnah an deinem Star” (Close to your star). Serviceplan Culture also created cultural relevance for brands through authentic integration into communities in innovative projects for Viva con Agua, XPLOR: MEDIA in Bavaria, Hyundai, O₂, TK, and SOS Children's Villages. 

In addition to cultural relevance, the creative communication work also focused on the product itself. For PENNY, Serviceplan NEO used “Price Packs” to turn the price of the store's own brand into a design feature and, together with the discounter, made a strong statement in favor of price stability. With 1.4 million products sold in four weeks, the campaign was a resounding success in the markets and, with a total of over 100 awards, became one of the most honored works of the year. At the 2025 Cannes Lions, it was among the top 5 most successful works worldwide. 

Since January 2024, Serviceplan has been responsible for Lufthansa's global marketing communications as lead agency. Creative highlights from this fiscal year include the global “All it takes is a Yes” campaign, which – in a magical way - invites people to make their travel dreams come true with Lufthansa, and the extraordinary partnership with artist Sho Shibuya, who created unique loungewear for Lufthansa Allegri's First Class. For Netflix, Serviceplan Berlin took the expression “a shipload” literally and sent a container ship full of series and film highlights down the river  Rhine.  

Rainbow Wool created fashion with a purpose: the first wool yarn to support queer rights by providing a safe home for gay sheep from German breeding farms. 1.3 billion impressions from 33 countries and coverage in all high-reach German media, including a magazine cover story, generated enormous attention for the creative fashion statement promoting acceptance and equality. It was delivered through an integrated approach by Serviceplan Köln together with Serviceplan MAKE, Serviceplan PR & Content, TACSY, and Serviceplan Culture. 

Another key creative trend this year: humor as a connecting element. Serviceplan humorously invited soccer fans to Germany on behalf of Bitburger and looked back on key moments in human history when a simple “please” had a significant impact on the course of events. Serviceplan Berlin had Oscar winner Kevin Costner take the public transport BVG to a movie premiere. Serviceplan Bubble and O2  launched their first creator campaign with the makers of “INTIMATE.” and tackled entrenched clichés in the telecommunications industry with a talking fish. With “NOTMYMUESLI”, Serviceplan NEO revealed the dark secret of conventional mueslis for its new client MyMuesli. 

In the area of content production, Serviceplan Make developed the AI-supported, in-house developed and highly automated production pipeline “MAKELine,” which combines classic production methods with generative AI tools. AI-supported image generation, automated script creation, advanced post-production, and intelligent partner integration significantly reduce production times and costs. MAKELine guarantees product reliability combined with creative freedom for unlimited asset scaling and adaptation across all target groups and channels. Among other things, it is the core component of the highly automated content factory in 26 European markets for BMW and MINI as part of THE MARCOM ENGINE. 

Serviceplan also set new benchmarks within its specialist agencies. Serviceplan Health & Life 2025 took first place in the prestigious Healthcare Marketing Agency Ranking for the eleventh time in a row, far ahead of the runner-up. Serviceplan PR & Content secured major new accounts with Motel One and Hapag-Lloyd and defended its second place in Pfeffer's PR ranking, which ranks Germany's top communications agencies based on revenues.  

At the same time, important personnel and structural changes were made to secure future growth. In Berlin, Serviceplan launched a new independent public affairs agency as a strategic partner for companies, associations, and institutions in the political arena. 

Serviceplan pooled its creative expertise in Munich. Two successful agencies merged to form Serviceplan Munich, a new unit and an even more flexible agency model, ideally positioned for complex and fast-paced projects. In a short period of time, the new unit realized two major brand launches: the corporate design for the new insurance brand BarmeniaGothaer and the relaunch of Munich Airport's brand identity. Furthermore, the ZDF account was jointly defended. Serviceplan Campaign, under the leadership of Christoph Everke and Michael Jaeger, and Plan.Net NEO also merged to form a strong agency unit. Serviceplan NEO combines award-winning creativity with many years of social media expertise, also in international environments. 

There were some high-profile additions to the Serviceplan agencies' leadership. The industry was talking about Jan-Philipp Jahn's return to the Serviceplan Group. Since July 1, 2025, the experienced agency manager has been the new CEO, working alongside CCO Officer Till Diestel, CSO Stefanie Kuhnhen, and CFO Holger Scharnofske to manage all German creative agencies operating under the Serviceplan label. Branding expert Liselotte Schwenkert took over from Anna Lee Sønnichsen as Managing Director at Serviceplan Köln. Together with creative partner Andy Wyeth, she was able to win Aktion Mensch e.V. as a new client for the agency, among others. Serviceplan Hamburg strengthened its design expertise with the award-winning design expert Marcel Krempin. Since September 2024, he has been leading the newly established Branding & Design Team as Head of Design. 

In terms of awards, the past fiscal year was the most successful in the Serviceplan Group's history. The Serviceplan brand's top performance contributed significantly to these successes. You can find more information about awards and rankings below.  

2024/25 was one of the most successful years in the history of the Mediaplus Group. With fee revenues reaching €368 million, Mediaplus grew by 17.6% year-to-year – far exceeding the global market average of 7.9%, according to COMvergence. The independent agency group placed third in both the RECMA and COMvergence Billings Rankings for Germany. 

This growth was driven by numerous national and international pitch wins – most notably the global media account of Bosch. The mandate of the technology and services group spans 50 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia. Additional new business came from Burger King, Lorenz Snack World, GORE-Tex, and Gardena. A consistently high client satisfaction score of 90% (ClieSa client survey) played a key role in retaining accounts such as Doctors Without Borders and significantly increasing fee volume with existing clients. Key accounts include Siemens, De’Longhi, Jägermeister, E.ON, OTTO Group, Kikkoman, Mäurer & Wirtz, Deichmann, and C&A.  

Mediaplus is also generating growth through new business ventures. Together with WEFRA LIFE, Mediaplus launched WEFRA MEDIAPLUS GLOBAL HEALTH – an international media unit focused on the healthcare sector. Its mission is clear: to offer global media solutions for RX, OTX, Medtech, and OTC brands by combining international scale with deep healthcare and pharma expertise. Roche and Novartis are among its first clients. The new unit is led by Marina Sperling and Adrian Haack. In April 2025, France’s leading healthcare media agency, CMS Conseil Média Santé, was fully integrated into the Mediaplus Group and now operates as CMS Mediaplus. 

All signs point to continued international expansion, highlighted by two key leadership appointments. Since November, Chief Data Officer Karin Immenroth has been spearheading Mediaplus' transformation into a fully data-driven, AI-powered media agency. Just eight months into the initiative, the new Global Data Hub is rolling out across 25 markets. The decentralized Data Mesh platform connects agencies with client systems via project-based, GDPR-compliant interfaces. The integrated Growth Data Platform enables real-time, data-based decision-making powered by AI.  

John Wittesaele also plays a pivotal role in the group’s global expansion. As COO International Markets since February, he is responsible for scaling international client business and implementing the digital transformation across all global locations. His focus lies on strategic data and AI applications, standardization of media and tech platforms, and the development and enablement of Mediaplus teams worldwide. 

Mediaplus Performance is fully aligned with this data-first approach. Launched in summer 2024 through the merger of Plan.Net Impact and Mediaplus’ previous performance unit, the new entity brings together 130 experts to deliver full-spectrum consulting and execution services. This means compliant data collection and analytics, digital campaign planning and delivery, consumer activation, as well as ongoing optimization of budgets, processes, and technologies.  

With innovative business models, global excellence, and strong AI and data capabilities, Mediaplus positions itself as a compelling, independent alternative to global networks. 2024/25 also marks the agency group’s most successful creative year ever, with over 100 top-tier awards and rankings. In just three years, Mediaplus has climbed 105 places in the international WARC Creative Ranking, now in the #1 position as both Overall Media Agency and Independent Network. A #1 spot in the RECMA Quality Ranking confirms Mediaplus as Germany’s top agency and the world’s leading independent agency. Mediaplus was also named Media Agency of the Year at the German Media Awards for the fourth time. 

 You can find more information about awards and rankings below.  

With a revenue of €233 million in the 2024/25 financial year, the Plan.Net Group has demonstrated stable growth in a challenging market environment. Plan.Net has been ranked first in the latest internet agency ranking by the German Digital Economy Association (BVDW) for the third time in a row. The latest Lünendonk study on the digital experience services market (DXS) further strengthens Plan.Net's position among the leading providers, with the company securing first place in the DXS specialist sub-ranking for the first time.  

These successes are based on a clear strategic focus, future-oriented services, and consistent partnership expansion with leading technology providers. The fact that Plan.Net closed the year with a slight decline compared to the strong previous year (€262 million) was mainly due to the reallocation of agency units within the Serviceplan Group. Consequently, individual agency units such as Plan.Net NEO (now Serviceplan NEO) and Plan.Net Impact (now Mediaplus Performance) are no longer operating under the Plan.Net brand. 

Plan.Net pursues a targeted growth path in two strategic areas: Firstly, it offers end-to-end solutions and customized agency models, such as THE MARCOM ENGINE. At the beginning of the year, the contract with the BMW Group was extended and cooperation was further expanded. Secondly, Plan.Net is growing by deepening its specialized services in transformation consulting, creative UX/UI, commerce, customer interaction management (CIM) and technology. The new CEO, Christian Schmitz, who assumed the position on 1 July 2025, aims to further strengthen Plan.Net's position as a leading provider of AI-driven end-to-end solutions. 

Over the past year, Plan.Net has invested strategically in its own AI initiatives, focusing on generative AI and Agentic Services, which launched in October and are scalable, secure, and compliant with the EU AI Act. Plan.Net's most recent launch is Sōkosumi, a marketplace for AI agents that enables companies to use and manage their own and external AI agents via a central platform for the first time. Plan.Net is therefore establishing itself as a pioneer of the Agentic Economy, in which AI agents collaborate securely to solve complex problems.  

With prestigious account wins and creative successes, the Saint Elmo's Group continues to grow and achieved a total turnover of 40 million euros with a growth of +10 %. On its own, this would put Saint Elmo's in 6th place among owner-managed agencies in Germany. At the helm, the management duo of CEO Kathrin Jesse and CCO Matthias Harbeck, together with CFO Hannes Haller, is responsible for this impressive result. Saint Elmo's has further strengthened its visibility in the market as a boutique agency and integrated agency group in one. 

Saint Elmo's won one of the most important agency pitches of the year and will be in charge of PENNY's creative brand communication account in the future. Other important client wins include Dallmayr, a brand with a lot of tradition, and the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, Barry Callebaut. 

Saint Elmo's attracted attention with creative campaigns, including a loud and design-strong campaign for Sports Illustrated to encourage young girls not to stop playing sport, humorous campaigns for Expert with testimonial Rudi Völler and for blood donations at the Bavarian Red Cross, or a digitally innovative campaign for WWF. Creative recognition followed, with awards from CLIO, LIA, and ADCE, among others. 

After the successful Blackforest sneakers, Saint Elmo's Tourism implemented another innovative campaign for Black Forest Tourism. This time the focus is on the iconic figure of the “Schwarzwaldmarie”, an AI creation who now wears sneakers and tattoos alongside her traditional costume and signature “Bollenhut” hat.  

Since January 1, 2025 Anna Lee Sønnichsen has been heading  Saint Elmo's Hamburg alongside Creative Managing Partner Peter Gocht. She moved to Saint Elmo's from Serviceplan Cologne and has many years of experience in campaigning for strong brands. 

The Serviceplan Group looks back on a record year: With top placements in both international and national rankings, and a multitude of prestigious awards, the past fiscal year was the most successful in the agency group’s history. 

The Group secured top positions across all major communications disciplines in national and international rankings:  

• Design: Named “Design Agency of the Year” at D&AD Awards.  

• Digital: Ranked first in the BVDW Creative Ranking.   

• Healthcare: Ranked first in the Healthcare Marketing Creative Ranking for the eleventh time.  

• Creativity: First place in the “WARC Creative 100” ranking of “Independent Networks” as well as in the Creative Rankings of Horizont, W&V, Campaign Germany, and ADC Germany.  

• Media: Leading in the “WARC Media 100” ranking of “Independent Networks” as well as “Agencies Overall”. 

• PR: Second place in the PR Journal Ranking.  

A particular highlight is the international recognition of the Group’s creative achievements: Serviceplan Group became the first German agency group ever to be named “Independent Agency Network of the Year” at the Ad Age A-List & Creativity Awards. In addition, the renowned U.S. magazine Fast Company included the group among the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” of 2025– a clear signal of the agency group's global relevance and innovative strength.  

Across major international award shows, Serviceplan Group received multiple honors as “(Independent) Agency of the Year” and “(Independent) Network of the Year”, including accolades from the D&AD Awards, Cresta Awards, Epica Awards, Eurobest, LIA, Clio Awards, and Webby Awards. At the Cannes Lions, the group achieved a historic milestone: a total of 19 Lions, plus two of the coveted special awards—"Independent Network of the Year” and “Independent Agency of the Year”.  

The international locations also contributed significantly to this success: Serviceplan Middle East took second place as “Independent Agency of the Year” at the Dubai Lynx, while Wien Nord Serviceplan achieved third place in the “Creative Lead of the Year” ranking at the CCA Venus Award. 

Below is a selection of the awards and ranking results.  

The agency’s international offices also played a significant role in this success story: Serviceplan Middle East ranks 2nd “Independent Agency of the Year” at the Dubai Lynx, while Wien Nord Serviceplan secures 3rd in the “Creative Lead of the Year” ranking at the CCA Venus Awards. 

• Ad Age A-List: At the 2025 Ad Age A-List & Creativity Awards, Serviceplan Group becomes the first German agency group to be named “Independent Agency Network of the Year.” 

• ADC Germany: Serviceplan Group takes 1st place in the ADC Creative Ranking 2024. At the ADC Awards 2025, the agency group wins 44 Nails: 1x Grand Prix for PENNY “Price Packs” as well as 6x Gold, 11x Silver, and 26x Bronze.  

• ADC Annual Awards: Serviceplan Group wins Best of Discipline (Brand / Communication Design) for PENNY “Price Packs” as well as 6x Gold, 7x Silver, and 9x Bronze. In addition, L&C is named “Boutique Agency of the Year.” 

• Campaign Germany Creative Ranking: Serviceplan Group takes 1st place in the inaugural edition of the ranking. 

• Cannes Lions: The entire agency group wins 1x Grand Prix, 3x Gold, 11x Silver and 4x Bronze Lions. In addition, Serviceplan Group is named “Independent Network of the Year” and Serviceplan Munich is named “Independent Agency of the Year”.  

• CCA Venus: Wien Nord Serviceplan takes 3rd place in the “Creative Lead of the Year” ranking and wins 2x Gold, 3x Silver, and 7x Bronze. 

• Clio Health: Serviceplan Group wins 1x Grand Prix for PetPace “Animal Alerts” as well as 5x Gold, 2x Silver, and 5x Bronze. 

• Clio Awards: The agency group is named “Independent Agency of the Year” and wins 2x Grand Prix for PENNY “Price Packs” and “Rainbow Wool” for Schäferei Stücke, as well as 12x Gold, 7x Silver, and 11x Bronze.  

• Cresta Awards: Serviceplan Group is named “Independent Network of the Year” at the Cresta Awards for the sixth time in a row and wins 5x Gold, 8x Silver and 5x Bronze awards. In addition, Privateer's “Space Trash Signs” receives one of only two Jury Chair Prizes. 

• DDA: The agency group wins 2x Gold, 1x Silver and 3x Bronze.   

• D&AD Awards: Serviceplan Group is named “Independent Network of the Year” and Serviceplan Germany “Design Agency of the Year.” The Group also wins 3x Yellow Pencils, 2x Graphite Pencils, and 7x Wood Pencils. 

• Dubai Lynx: Serviceplan Middle East takes 2nd place in the “Independent Agency of the Year” ranking and wins 3x Gold, 2x Silver, and 2x Bronze. 

• Epica Awards: Serviceplan Germany is awarded “Agency of the Year,” while Serviceplan Group is named “Network of the Year.” Awards include 1x Grand Prix for PetPace “Animal Alerts,” 6x Gold, 11x Silver, and 7x Bronze. 

• Eurobest: Serviceplan Germany is named both “Independent Agency of the Year” and “Agency of the Year”. The Group wins 37x awards: 4x Grand Prix (Anzen Health “855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS)”, PetPace “Animal Alerts” and 2x PENNY “Price Packs”), 7x Gold, 8x Silver, and 18x Bronze.   

• Fast Company: Serviceplan Group is on Fast Company's prestigious list of the “World's Most Innovative Companies” of 2025.  

• Healthcare Marketing Creative Ranking: Serviceplan Group is Germany's most creative agency for the eleventh time. For the 11th time, Serviceplan Group is ranked Germany’s most creative agency in healthcare. 

• Horizont Creative Ranking: In 2024, Serviceplan Group once again claims the #1 spot, for the third consecutive year, and also tops the five-year ranking. 

• LIA Awards: Serviceplan Group is named “Global Independent Network of the Year” for the fourth time in a row. In addition, Serviceplan Group is named “Regional Independent Network of the Year” and Serviceplan Germany is named “Regional Independent Agency of the Year.” The agency group wins 11x Gold, 12x Silver, and 10x Bronze.  

• Lovie Awards: Serviceplan Group wins 6x Gold, 4x Silver, and 2x Bronze – and is honored with 5 “People's Lovies.” In addition, Serviceplan and Plan.Net take 1st place in the “Europe's Impactful Company” ranking and 2nd place in the “Europe's Top Agency” ranking in the Lovie Awards Industry Heat Index.  

• New York Festivals Advertising Award: Serviceplan Group wins 1x Grand Prix for “Rainbow Wool” for Schäferei Stücke, and 6x Gold, 3x Silver, 11x Bronze. 

• PR Journal Revenue Ranking: Serviceplan Content Group ranks 2nd in the annual revenue and employee ranking for PR and communications agencies.  

• Red Dot: The agency group wins 1x Grand Prix for “855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS)” (Anzen Health), 4x “Best of the Best” awards, and 6x Silver.   

• SXSW Innovation Awards: Serviceplan Group wins an award for “855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS)” (Anzen Health) in the Connection and Communication category.  

• The ANDYs: Serviceplan receives 2x awards.  

• The Drum World Creative Ranking: Serviceplan Group ranks 11th among the most awarded agency networks, Serviceplan Munich ranks 2nd among the most awarded independent agencies and 4th among agencies overall.   

• The One Show: Serviceplan Group wins “Best of Print & Promotional” for PENNY “Price Packs” and the Fusion Pencil for “Rainbow Wool” (Schäferei Stücke). The Group also receives 3x Gold, 8x Silver, and 5x Bronze. 

• Webby Awards: Serviceplan Germany is named “Webby Agency of the Year” and wins 15x awards. 

• W&V Creative Ranking: Serviceplan Group is the first agency ever to rank 1st for the third time in a row. 

• WARC Creative 100: Serviceplan Group ranks 1st among the “Independent Networks” in the WARC Creative 100. In addition, Serviceplan Munich places 2nd among the most creative independent agencies worldwide and 7th among the most creative agencies overall. 

• BVDW Creative Ranking: Serviceplan and Plan.Net take 1st place for the sixth year in a row.  

• BVDW Internet Agency Ranking: Plan.Net takes 1st place for the third year in a row among Germany’s highest-revenue full-service digital agencies. 

• Lünendonk List: The Plan.Net Group is one of the market leaders for Digital Experience Services (DXS) and secures 1st place in the sub-ranking of DXS specialists for the first time.