Digital agency Plan.Net posted gross income of EUR 36.7 million for the German market in 2010. This represents an above-average increase in turnover of 31.5 percent. The agency handled media volume worth EUR 263 million, an increase of more than 35 percent compared to the previous year. Increased business from existing clients, a number of attractive new accounts and the ongoing expansion of expertise were some of the factors contributing to this outstanding performance.

Munich, 14 April 2011 — The Plan.Net Group continues its upward trajectory: the digital agency reported an increase of 31.5 percent in agency fees in calendar year 2010, bringing the total amount earned in fees to EUR 36.7 million (2009: EUR 27.9 million), an overall performance that positions it well ahead of the market average. This is the seventh time that the Group has reported double-digit growth: with the exception of 2009, the agency's growth rate has regularly extended into double figures since 2003. The agency was established in 1997. Plan.Net made gains of 35.3 percent in the media volume segment. Plan.Net Media is currently responsible for a gross online spending budget of EUR 263 million (2009: EUR 194.3 million). Staff numbers also rose significantly in 2010. The agency's excellent performance resulted in the creation of 70 new positions, bringing the total number of employees at the Plan.Net Group to roughly 300.
Under the stewardship of Michael Frank and Manfred Klaus, management at the Plan.Net Group is very satisfied with the agency group's achievements: "Last year, we succeeded in implementing increasingly integrated projects that spanned a number of media channels.  The Plan.Net Group is currently transforming itself from a digital agency into a multidisciplinary communications agency that has its roots in the digital arena.  Last year, we adapted effectively to the needs of our new clients and to market demands, which call for agencies to provide increasingly integrated support across all channels," said Michael Frank, commenting on the success.  The signs had already been good:  with Plan.Net's Head of Creative Friedrich von Zitzewitz and award-winning creatives like Axel Thomsen, Daniel Könnecke and Markus Maczey, Plan.Net has employees who have proven themselves in a traditional agency environment.  "Our goal is to become a state-of-the-art communications agency and industry leader – backed by the outstanding support and technical expertise of the Serviceplan Group," said Michael Frank.
The impressive leap in growth was due for the most part to the increase in existing client business and the acquisition of attractive new accounts in all service areas supported by the Plan.Net Group. Following the economic crisis, existing clients like Lufthansa, T-Online, BMW, MINI and MediaMarkt were able to increase their budgets; in addition, Plan.Net was also successful in attracting many renowned companies as new clients, including Johnson & Johnson, KabelBW, Beiersdorf (Nivea account), Mirapodo, Fraport AG, ZDF and BMW Motorrad International. Another new client, Danone, has awarded Plan.Net the contract for a range of online projects. This year, Plan.Net will be looking after all digital communication for Sprite, one of the brands in the Coca Cola portfolio, another new client acquired in 2010. Plan.Net was also responsible for the implementation of DHL's meinpaket.de portal and the cross-media implementation of the accompanying campaign.
The mobile, social media and performance marketing areas of expertise are also booming: in 2010, Plan.Net Mobile developed numerous apps, augmented reality applications and innovative forms of advertising for mobile devices, including a campaign page for BMW for the iPad and the first touch-sensitive advertising materials for LEGO Duplo for smartphones with touchscreens. Successful social media campaigns for Nivea, Weight Watchers, Sprite and O2 and newly acquired clients like IKEA, Infineon and Saturn in the area of performance marketing are clear proof of how important these issues were last year. All the signs are that this trend will continue in 2011.
In the media area, Plan.Net Media has achieved outstanding success in many campaigns with its ScreenPlanning model, which it developed specially for the integrated online and TV planning of video advertising. It is based on the established media currencies for online (AGOF Internet Facts) and TV (GfK) and facilitates the accurate control and efficient optimisation of media deployment between the two channels of TV and online. "We are successfully deploying ScreenPlanning for clients like Bonprix, IKEA and BMW. In practice, we were able to achieve performance benefits of up to 30 percent compared to TV-only strategies – with the same budget," said Manfred Klaus.
The effectiveness of the agency's in-house targeting system, N.E.R.O., was also enhanced again last year and was deployed for a number of campaigns including BMW, Weight Watchers, AOK Hessen and Cortal Consors; user-defined (re-)targeting rules and an integrated system for dynamically generating banners are key factors in N.E.R.O.'s success. Manfred Klaus: "Thanks to our in-depth understanding of the entire media area, leading planning tools like ScreenPlanning and N.E.R.O., and cross-channel performance monitoring, we can integrate digital channels to the best possible effect into our clients' strategies, thus maximising the success rate of their communications."
Plan.Net's 300 employees are key to the agency's success – 70 new positions were created in 2010 following the upturn in the economy and the expansion in expertise. The agency's new appointments include prominent experts such as Marcus Ambrus (Managing Director of Plan.Net Media), Heiko Ditges (a visionary in the area of social marketing and the new man in charge of the unit), Thomas Pfluger (Unit Manager at Plan.Net Media), Taskin Erdem (Affiliate Marketing), Stephan Kopp (SEO) and Falk Sniegocki (Creative Director at Plan.Net Solutions). The Group has also been involved with Berlin-based Internet technology specialists Webfact to further enhance expertise in the technology area at Plan.Net. Further international expansion was of course the highlight of 2010: Plan.Net opened a branch in Vienna in February, this was followed in May by the establishment of Plan.Net Middle East in Dubai and in December by Plan.Net Benelux in Liège.
The outlook for 2011 is similarly positive. This year, the agency's in-house planning tools will be further enhanced and optimised based on new market research studies and technological developments. The agency also intends to continue using social media as an integral element of its integrated communication concepts and strategies. The development of international markets remains on the agenda; in addition to Europe, the focus will also be on growth markets in Eastern Europe and Asia. "One of our reasons for this continued expansion is to be able provide clients with our extensive range of services at an international level: 'think global, act local', as it were," said Michael Frank. The expansion of strategic planning and multi-channel services will continue to be at the heart of all growth.