Social Lab Group has agreed to sell a majority stake to Ogilvy.

Founded in 2010 by Yves Baudechon and Gilles Bindels, Social Lab Group was looking for a partner to expand its activities on new markets.

That partner will be Ogilvy which has agreed to acquire a majority shareholding in the company.

The existing founders/partners (including Cédric van Kan and Benjamin Snyers) remain minority shareholders. Social Lab, So.Zen and So.Space remain independent operating companies of Ogilvy Belgium.

Yves Baudechon, co-Founder:

"Since 3 years, Social Lab Group has evolved to become a small network of 5 agencies, active on 3 markets, with 50 experts. We wanted to expand further and open new offices in the world and leverage our unique expertise on social. We have analysed different proposals and favoured Ogilvy".

Gilles Bindels, co-Founder:

"Ogilvy also charmed us a lot with their successful approach in the institutional market. We have started working together with the Ogilvy consortium on the European Elections campaign and the chemistry between both agencies was great from the start.

We want to extend our Belgium collaboration model and are very proud that Ogilvy wants to build a presence in key markets with future Social Lab agencies created in partnership with local Ogilvy offices.

Our objective is to pursue all partnerships of the different agencies with no change.”

Koen Van Impe, CEO Ogilvy Group Brussels:

"This acquisition is a major strategic step forward in the further integration of social at the heart of the communication strategies of Ogilvy. We will be the first creative agency in Belgium that will have direct access to such a large group of social media experts to develop our creative and media strategies. We share the same vision on strategy and its implementation.”

About Social Lab

Social Lab Group is a leading Social Media Marketing agency in Belgium with offices in Paris and Amsterdam.

Founded in 2010 by Yves Baudechon and Gilles Bindels, Social Lab Group forms a network of 5 agencies, active on 3 markets. The Group employs 50 social media experts: community managers, brand socializers, campaign managers, ad experts, developers, account managers, account directors,... 

Social Lab has 3 lines of Business - Build, Engage, Amplify.

Build : Consulting. Audits of existing social presence. Training /Coaching clients and advising them on how to build a successful social strategy. Creative Workshops.

Engage : Community Management and Content Creation. Building communities through content and conversation management.

Amplify: Creating engaging ad campaigns and innovative Social Media experiences to increase the visibility of brands and their fan reach.

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion, relationship marketing.

Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a part of the WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY, www.wpp.com.) For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com. 

The Ogilvy Group in Brussels is located in the historic district of the town centre, near Brussels Central Station and Grand Place. It employs about 50 persons servicing a wide variety of local and international clients amongst others Ford Motor Company, Electrabel, Nestlé, Amnesty International, The European Commission and The European Parliament.

Ogilvy in Brussels consists of 4 units each with their own specialties: Advertising (digital media and advertising), OgilvyOne (direct marketing, e-mail marketing, database marketing); Ogilvy Public Relations (PR & public affairs, public communications, digital influencing) and Redworks (online and offline production, fast track design & development, desk top publishing).