Serviceplan Acquires Stake in Group One in Poland

Serviceplan is continuing to grow: As the largest owner-managed agency group in Europe, the Serviceplan Group now also has a presence in Poland. The expansion into Poland in addition to existing European operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, France and the Benelux countries is thanks to Serviceplan’s acquisition of a stake in the likewise independent agency group Group One. Like Serviceplan, Group One is the largest independent agency group in its homeland. 

Group One was founded in 2013 by CEO Marek Żołędziowski along with Jakub Potrzebowski, Maciej Hutyra and Jacek Koltonik and has grown in a very short space of time to become an integrated agency group under the brand names Change (Creation), Gong (Digital), SalesTube (Performance Marketing and Online Sales) and Value Media and Media+ (Media) with a workforce at present of 300 employees. Its customers include L'Oréal, ING Bank, Zywiec, EB (Heineken Group), Castorama, Lenovo, Hochland, TUI as well as BMW. Serviceplan and Group One are already working together for some customers on joint projects in the areas of media and creation. The shareholding will mean that the companies Change and Media+ will trade in the future under Change Serviceplan and Mediaplus respectively.

Florian Haller, CEO of the Serviceplan Group, says: “We want to offer our services to our customers in all key markets in Europe – and around the globe. Poland is one of the most dynamic growth markets in Europe with an enormous potential and demand for integrated and innovative communication solutions for international and national brands. Thanks to the stake in Group One, we are an important and significant step further along our path to becoming the first internationally active independent agency group, hailing from Germany."

Markus Noder, Managing Director of Serviceplan International, adds: “We are delighted to have found a partner in Group One that not only complements us ideally at a personal level, but whose structure and service portfolio also reflects ours. And who together with us will now be able to offer our customers in Poland integrated and innovative communication solutions including media.”

Marek Żołędziowski, CEO of Group One: “Just like the Serviceplan Group, we operate our communication business under one roof and as an integrated model. That’s why we are so pleased to now embark on this successful path together and be part of the international agency group.”