Bridgeneers Joins Friends of Cartel

Within Friends of Cartel, two lead agencies will now stand side by side, each with its own distinct recipe.

As an agency for growth, Cartel Agency combines strategy and creativity to help brands and organisations grow. Bridgeneers, as an agency for good, applies those same strengths to drive social progress and positive behavioural change.

Two ingredients that go together like fries and mayonnaise. Or tomatoes and mozzarella. Two different perspectives on the value communication can create. Each with its own expertise, yet sharing the same conviction: strong strategy and creativity make the difference. For brands, organisations and society alike.

Alongside Cartel Agency and Bridgeneers, Friends of Cartel also brings together RCA PR (PR and influencer marketing), HeadOffice (content marketing), Born Digital (digital products), Cartel Works (employer marketing), and Lex & Turner (branding and design). Manamana is also part of the collective as its Agency-in-Residence.

In addition, the collective continues to invest in shared expertise across production, media, technology and AI. Think of it as having the choice between Paul Bocuse, Heston Blumenthal, Sergio Herman, Peter Goossens, Pascal Naessens (if you must), or even Stef from your favourite local chip shop when that's exactly what you're craving.

By joining the collective, Bridgeneers gains access to the broad expertise and executional strength of Friends of Cartel. In return, Friends of Cartel significantly strengthens its position in societal communications and the public sector.

If the somewhat awkward term "frenemy competitors" ever had a reason to exist, this would be it.

For more than fifteen years, Bridgeneers and the agencies within Friends of Cartel, particularly Cartel Agency and RCA PR, have crossed paths in the world of strategic and creative communications. Sometimes as competitors in a pitch, sometimes as partners, often working for the same clients. Always with mutual respect.

The fact that today's competitors have simply become colleagues has little to do with linguistics. The strategic rationale is clear, and the mutual appreciation has been there for years. Now, they finally get to sit at the same table.

The name stays. The team stays. The current management will continue to lead the agency from Leuven.

Its culture, positioning and way of working remain unchanged. The management team will also take part in the broader entrepreneurial and growth story of Friends of Cartel.

For clients, the trusted Bridgeneers team and its unique approach remain the starting point. What changes is what becomes possible behind the scenes: access to an exceptional brigade of specialists, disciplines and technologies that can be deployed whenever the assignment requires it.

With the addition of Bridgeneers, Friends of Cartel now brings together 140 employees across five locations in Hasselt (2), Antwerp and Leuven (2).

The partnership aligns with the ambition of becoming a leading and sustainable creative collective in the Benelux. Not by merging agencies into one another, but by sharpening each agency's individual strengths while sharing expertise, technology and entrepreneurship across the collective.

With Glowi, strategic partner and majority shareholder since 2024, Friends of Cartel has both the local roots and the investment capacity to realise that ambition.

Together, we are building an alternative to the traditional agency model: strong, specialised agencies with their own identity, connected through shared entrepreneurship.