What Lemz does

Havas Lemz is an Amsterdam-based creative advertising agency operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Havas Group (Euronext Paris: HAV). Founded in 2000 by Peter de Lange, Mark Woerde, and Maurice Maas, the agency serves Dutch government ministries, consumer brands, and nonprofit organizations. The agency's core service is end-to-end brand communications — brand strategy, advertising, content production, public relations, and engagement strategy — applied to recurring client accounts including Rijksoverheid, Pearle Opticians, Bever Outdoor, Bolletje, Optimel, and Justdiggit.

The agency's primary intellectual asset is "Social by Design," a proprietary creative methodology under which campaigns are built with intentional room for communities and partners to extend and adapt the work. Rather than positioning itself around advertising production, the agency pitches cultural and systemic movement, with case studies demonstrating quantified behavioral and commercial outcomes — 73% retention on a national crisis-preparedness booklet, +47% brand preference for Bever Outdoor, +3.2% market share gain for Bolletje, and 366 million social reach for a government femicide-awareness campaign. Past work, including the "Sweetie" virtual-child project for Terre des Hommes, has been recognized by D&AD as a Top 10 Campaign of the Decade.

Commercially, Havas Lemz operates as a professional services firm on project-based and retainer engagements with enterprise and government clients, primarily in the Netherlands, with international scope available through the broader Havas network. New business is routed through the Director of Business & Operations. Headcount sits in the 11–50 range, with a named leadership team comprising the CEO, Executive Creative Director, Director of Business & Operations, Head of Strategy, and HR Manager. Revenue, pricing, and backlog are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Lemz

Legal name

Havas Lemz

Website

https://havaslemz.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Amsterdam-based Havas Lemz is a creative advertising agency serving Dutch government ministries, consumer brands, and nonprofit organizations. It applies a proprietary "Social by Design" methodology to produce campaigns with measurable cultural and behavioral outcomes, operating within the Havas Group network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Advertising Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Lead Generation & Performance Media (B2B/B2C) (MPAAACAK)

Keywords

• Creative advertising agency
• Brand strategy services
• Social impact marketing
• Content production services
• Public relations agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Professional services revenue from brand strategy, advertising, campaign creation, content production, and communications consulting for government and commercial clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lemz (also known as Havas Lemz) is a creative advertising agency based in Amsterdam, Netherlands that provides brand strategy, advertising, content production, PR, and engagement strategy services. The firm operates its proprietary "Social by Design" methodology to design brand communications intended to drive measurable social and behavioral change.

Product overview

Havas Lemz is a service-based advertising and brand communications agency that operates as part of Havas Group. Rather than a unified software platform, the agency delivers its services through a portfolio of integrated capabilities spanning advertising, art direction, copywriting, brand communications, brand design, brand strategy, business strategy, community management, consulting, content creation and production, engagement strategy, internal communications, product and service design, production, public relations, strategy and insight, and visual identity. The agency applies its 'Social by Design' methodology to create campaigns that connect with audiences, shift culture, and drive measurable outcomes for clients including government organizations and commercial brands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Strategy

Quantifiable outcome

• 73% booklet retention rate (vs. typical government brochure bin rate)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ogilvy: Global WPP-owned network with an Amsterdam presence, offering a much wider portfolio (advertising, PR, consulting) that competes on large Dutch and international briefs.
• BBDO: Global creative network (Omnicom) with Dutch operations, offering scaled creative and integrated communications that compete for the same enterprise clients.
• Publicis Amsterdam: Amsterdam arm of the Publicis Groupe, a full-service holding-company competitor with substantially larger bench and broader service lines.

Direct peers

• Dept: Amsterdam-headquartered digital creative and technology agency, competing for the same Dutch and European brand transformation mandates.
• TBWA\NEBOKO: Amsterdam-based creative agency within the TBWA network, the most direct network-affiliated competitor pitching Dutch government and consumer brand accounts.
• KesselsKramer: Independent Amsterdam creative shop known for culturally-led, character-driven campaigns, closely matching Lemz's size, geography, and creative-brand profile.
• Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam: Amsterdam office of the globally recognized independent creative network, comparable on cultural-impact, award-winning campaign craft, and brand-led positioning.
• 180 Amsterdam: Amsterdam-based creative agency of broadly similar size and scope, competing head-to-head for Dutch brand and government briefs with a similar full-service creative offering.
• DDB Amsterdam: Amsterdam outpost of the global DDB network, a direct competitor for Dutch-market creative mandates and government accounts.
• Anomaly: Independent creative agency with a strong Amsterdam presence, similar in size and philosophy (brand strategy plus creative production) and a frequent co-bidder on European pitches.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LetsLemz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lemz
• Xx.com/letslemz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Lemz