Scholz & Friends Family

What Scholz & Friends Family does

Scholz & Friends Family GmbH is a Hamburg-headquartered, multi-specialist creative agency group operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP plc within the VML global network. The company employs approximately 1,200 people ("Friends") across seven locations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zürich) and delivers integrated communication services through a matrix of specialized sub-brands covering strategy, brand design, PR and agenda setting, social and creator marketing, video production, media planning, customer experience, commerce, events, healthcare, influencer marketing, employer branding, public-sector digital services, sustainability consulting, and cross-media production. The agency's "orchestration" methodology, refined over 30 years, combines all communication disciplines with human and artificial intelligence to serve large enterprise, public-sector, and institutional clients including Volkswagen, Mazda Europe, IWC Schaffhausen, McDonald's Deutschland, Deutsche Telekom, Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, Coca-Cola, Allianz, Audi, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, and the German Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs.

The company's core technology layer is the WPP Open by Scholz & Friends platform, which brings WPP's global AI infrastructure (with $300M annual investment at the parent level) to the DACH region for generative content production, agentic workflow automation, predictive analytics, and knowledge retrieval across text, image, video, audio, and structured data. A dedicated CIRCUS sub-brand provides social-first platform expertise with over 50 social media specialists, while Scholz & Friends Digital Media operates strategic partnerships with Amazon, Google, META, and Microsoft for media planning and campaign measurement.

Revenue is generated through professional-services contracts including project-based engagements, retainers, and campaign work for corporate and public-sector clients; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company sells primarily via direct enterprise field sales with dedicated account teams and managing directors across the DACH region, and is positioned as Germany's "most effective agency" with 27 Effie Awards (2019-2025) and 18 medals at the spotlight Festival 2026. Customer concentration is spread across multiple verticals with no single dominant account disclosed, though enterprise and public-sector contracts across the DACH region form the core revenue base.

Name

Scholz & Friends Family

Legal name

Scholz & Friends Family GmbH

Website

https://s-f.family

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Scholz & Friends Family is a Hamburg-based, WPP-owned creative agency group of ~1,200 specialists across 7 DACH locations, delivering orchestrated strategy, creative, digital, PR, and AI-augmented communication services to large enterprise, public-sector, and institutional clients in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Full-service creative agency providing comprehensive communication services including strategy, design, digital, social media, PR, events, and production. Revenue generated through project-based engagements, retainer contracts, and campaign work for corporate and public sector clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Scholz & Friends Family is a multi-specialist creative agency group that provides orchestrated communication services across strategy, branding, design, digital, social media, PR, events, content production, and media planning for enterprise and public sector clients. The group operates approximately 1,200 specialists across seven locations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, delivering integrated campaigns through specialized subsidiaries spanning AI solutions, healthcare communications, sustainability consulting, commerce, and public sector digital services.

Product overview

Scholz & Friends Family is a multi-specialist creative agency group operating as part of the global WPP and VML networks across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (7 locations: Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Zurich). The group offers a portfolio of integrated communication services orchestrated around a central strategy unit, with individual specialist agencies covering distinct disciplines. The core offerings include WPP Open by Scholz & Friends (enterprise AI infrastructure), the Strategy Group (certified as Germany’s Most Effective Agency with 27 Effies), Identify (brand design), Agenda (PR and agenda setting), Sounds (music and audio), CIRCUS (social and creator marketing), Broadcast (video production), Digital Media (media planning), CX Group (digital experience), Commerce, Live (events and experiential marketing), Health, Influencer Marketing, Employer Branding, Digital Public Sector, Reputation (sustainability consultancy), and WPP Production (cross-media production). The group orchestrates human and artificial intelligence across all services to deliver tailored creative, digital, and international solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CIRCUS by Scholz & Friends: Social-first and culture brand focusing on social media marketing, creator marketing, and cultural strategy
• Scholz & Friends Reputation
• Scholz & Friends Employer Branding
• Scholz & Friends Live
• Scholz & Friends Identify
• Scholz & Friends Commerce
• Scholz & Friends Digital Media
• Scholz & Friends Agenda
• CX Group by Scholz & Friends
• Scholz & Friends Broadcast
• WPP Production
• WPP Open by Scholz & Friends
• Scholz & Friends Influencer Marketing
• Scholz & Friends Digital Public Sector
• Scholz & Friends Health
• Scholz & Friends Sounds
• Scholz & Friends Strategy Group

Products and services

• WPP Open by Scholz & Friends Enterprise-level AI infrastructure that brings WPP's global AI capabilities, leading models, and automation tools to the DACH region for generative AI, agentic workflows, and campaign automation.
• Scholz & Friends Strategy Group One of the largest strategy consultancies in the DACH region, providing effective recommendations for CMOs and communication managers. Certified as Germany's Most Effective Agency with 27 Effie Awards (2019-2025).
• Scholz & Friends Identify Develops unique brand, corporate, and product identities including strategic brand development, corporate design, packaging design, editorial design, brand spaces, and digital platform design.
• Scholz & Friends Agenda Leading German agency for agenda setting and public relations, covering corporate communications, political communication, crisis communication, and sustainability communication. Most awarded agency at PR Report Award and German PR Award 2024 and 2025.
• Scholz & Friends Sounds Specialist agency connecting brands with pop culture through (Pop) Cultural Marketing, music strategy, music supervision, music production and licensing, sound branding, artist collaborations, podcast conception and production, and streaming strategies.
• CIRCUS by Scholz & Friends Social-first and culture brand bringing brands into the spotlight of social media. Combines over 50 social media experts with deep platform expertise (TikTok, Meta, Reddit) for cultural strategy, content, creator marketing, and social hub building.
• Scholz & Friends Broadcast In-house video production unit developing and producing content including presentation films, social media content, reports, animated films, live events, and TV/cinema spots at locations in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne.
• Scholz & Friends Digital Media Specialist agency for media planning and campaign success measurement since 2011. Strategic partner of Amazon, Google, META, and Microsoft in Germany, and first mover on Pinterest, TikTok, and Twitch.
• CX Group by Scholz & Friends Provides CX strategy, consulting, data analysis, service design, UX/UI, software engineering, and DevOps for holistic customer experience across performance marketing, digital products, platforms, e-commerce, CRM, and loyalty solutions.
• Scholz & Friends Commerce Identifies key moments in the customer journey to activate purchasing decisions using globally developed tools. Delivers channel- and media-independent solutions for B2C, D2C, and B2B across digital, social commerce, and in-store environments.
• Scholz & Friends Live Creates unforgettable brand experiences through Experiential, Sports, and Entertainment Marketing. Covers product launches, brand stores, experiential worlds, PR events, conferences, trade fairs, roadshows, exhibitions, concerts, gaming events, and spatial installations.
• Scholz & Friends Health Provides Rx omnichannel communication campaigns, POS, PR, DTC, social media, congress presence, and medical education for companies in Rx, OTC, medical technology, veterinary medicine, and dental sectors.
• Scholz & Friends Influencer Marketing Strategically integrates influencers into brand communication from the outset. Manages the full process including strategy development, concept implementation, content creation, selection, contract negotiation, payment processing, and KPI reporting.
• Scholz & Friends Employer Branding Supports companies and institutions in finding and retaining employees through the development and implementation of employer branding strategies, positioning, distinctive visual identity, and candidate journey measures.
• Scholz & Friends Digital Public Sector Supports public sector organizations in ministries and administrations with citizen-oriented digital communication. Collaborates on strategic consulting, citizen journey concepts, complex website projects, AI-powered public sector tools, and accessibility compliance.
• Scholz & Friends Reputation Leading sustainability consultancy in the German-speaking world since 2007. Develops tailor-made sustainability and ESG strategies, implements governance structures, and guides companies through CSRD, climate protection strategies, and supply chain due diligence.
• WPP Production Provides cross-media production services for catalogues, online banners, POS displays, posters, packaging, and digital productions. Part of WPP's global content production network offering production solutions in print, TV, audio, and digital worldwide.

Quantifiable outcome

• 27 Effie Awards Germany 2019-2025 - making Scholz & Friends Germany's most effective agency
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability12 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• VMLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScholz & Friends operates as part of the VML global agency network alongside WPP, providing access to 26,000+ employees across 55+ markets worldwide for international campaign coordination.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Jung von Matt: Largest independent creative agency group in Germany with comparable headcount, multi-location DACH footprint, and a similar integrated-disciplines model. Most direct competitor within the German independent creative agency landscape.
• Serviceplan Group: Largest independent agency group in Europe, headquartered in Munich with comparable full-service creative, digital, media, and PR capabilities across DACH. Directly competes for the same enterprise client roster.
• Kolle Rebbe: Hamburg-based independent creative agency known for brand campaigns and digital work. Directly competes in the same Hamburg market and for similar enterprise brand assignments in DACH.

Broad incumbents

• DDB Germany: Part of Omnicom's DDB Worldwide network, DDB Germany operates as a leading creative agency in DACH with similar integrated capabilities. Competes for major brand accounts but is part of a broader global holding company portfolio.
• BBDO Germany: Part of Omnicom's BBDO Worldwide network, BBDO Germany is a major creative agency in DACH serving similar enterprise clients. Offers comparable creative and integrated services as part of a global holding company network.
• Ogilvy Germany: Part of WPP sibling network, Ogilvy Germany operates as a global creative and PR agency with DACH presence. While sharing WPP parentage, it competes directly for enterprise clients in brand strategy, advertising, and PR.
• Publicis Groupe Germany: German operations of global Publicis Groupe, offering advertising, digital, and media services. Competes for the same enterprise and public sector clients across DACH with a comparable multi-discipline model.
• Havas Germany: German arm of Havas Creative Network, providing integrated creative, media, and healthcare communications. Competes for enterprise clients in DACH with a comparable full-service proposition.
• TBWA Germany: German operations of TBWA Worldwide (Omnicom), offering creative and media services with a notable presence in automotive and consumer goods. Competes for major DACH enterprise clients.

Emerging players

• Antoni (Jung von Matt): Berlin-based creative agency affiliated with Jung von Matt, known for high-profile brand campaigns and viral content. Competes for the same digital and social-first assignments from major DACH brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scholz-friends
• Xx.com/scholzfriends

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Subsidiaries17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scholz & Friends Family