Expand Online

What Expand Online does

DEPT® (operating under the brand 'Expand Online' in the firmographic record, though substantive data describes DEPT®) is a global digital agency structured as a 'Growth Invention Company' with approximately 4,000 people operating across 5 continents in a roughly 50/50 technology-and-marketing composition. The company delivers enterprise-focused professional services across four core service pillars — AI Transformation, Brand & Media, Customer Experience, and Commerce — together with a Tech & Data practice, and operates four retained-acquired sub-brand agencies (Basic/DEPT®, Dogstudio/DEPT®, Hello Monday/DEPT®, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®). Its core proprietary technology is DEPTIFY, an AI orchestration platform for the agentic era that connects tools, data, and workflows through an agentic layer unifying briefing, strategy, content, media, measurement, and learning. The company reports 50% AI-enabled revenue and 15+ years of AI experience, with flagship partnership status from NVIDIA and core alliances with Adobe, Google, Salesforce, Shopify Plus, and Optimizely.

The commercial model is enterprise professional services sold through direct regional field sales, with regional operations across DACH, Nordics, UK & Ireland, Latin America, India, and Australia & Oceania. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagements are custom-built. The customer base is concentrated among large enterprise brands — Meta, NVIDIA, eBay, and Arm are named references — with the company verticalized across Banking, Financial Services & Insurance, Consumer Packaged Goods, Health, Retail & Commerce, and Tech, Media & Telecom. Notable production AI case studies include the Signs sign language education platform (NVIDIA) and Talking Portraits, a multimodal computer-vision-plus-generative-audio/video product.

The company holds three consecutive Webby Agency of the Year awards (2022–2024), Campaign Digital Innovation Agency of the Year (2023), and Forrester inclusion as a top commerce services provider. It is B Corp certified and operates at 100% climate neutrality. Note on data quality: the firmographic record for 'Expand Online' (Rotterdam, 11–50 employees, founded 2008, online word marketing firm) conflicts materially with the substantive source describing DEPT® (4,000 employees, global, founded as an AI-native agency); this analysis is grounded in the substantive source data.

Name

Expand Online

Website

https://expandonline.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DEPT® is a global digital agency with 4,000 people across 5 continents delivering AI-enabled marketing, commerce, customer experience, and technology services to enterprise brands via its DEPTIFY orchestration platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketing Automation Platforms & Services (BPAFAFAC)

Keywords

• Digital marketing services
• Online marketing agency
• Search engine marketing
• Content marketing services
• Performance marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - AI Transformation: Consultancy and delivery services for AI-driven business transformation, including strategy, implementation, and ongoing optimization.
2. Brand & Media Services: Full-funnel brand building from identity to media, powered by AI. Includes creative, campaign management, and media services.
3. Customer Experience Services: Transformation of complex, fragmented customer journeys into seamless experiences.
4. Commerce Services: Sales increase and brand presence strengthening across commerce platforms.
5. Tech & Data Services: Platform futureproofing and data value unlocking services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Expand Online is an online marketing firm headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, offering clients a full-service portfolio of digital marketing solutions. Founded in 2008, the firm delivers online marketing services spanning AI-powered marketing transformation, brand and media strategy, customer experience design, commerce platform implementation, and technology and data engineering for enterprise business clients.

Product overview

DEPT® (Doing the Hard Work) is the Growth Invention Company — a global digital agency spanning marketing and technology with 4,000 people across 5 continents, 50/50 tech and marketing composition, and 15+ years of AI experience. The offering is a platform-plus-services architecture anchored by DEPTIFY, an AI orchestration platform for the agentic era that unifies briefing, strategy, content, media, measurement, and learning across an agentic layer. Complementing DEPTIFY, the company delivers four core service verticals — AI Transformation (consultancy and delivery), Brand & Media, Customer Experience, and Commerce — across five industry verticals. The portfolio also includes four acquired agency sub-brands (Basic/DEPT®, Dogstudio/DEPT®, Hello Monday/DEPT®, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®) that operate as distinct creative studios under the DEPT® umbrella. The company holds B Corp certification and is 100% climate neutral.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Basic/DEPT®: Agency brand under DEPT® umbrella
• Dogstudio/DEPT®
• Hello Monday/DEPT®
• Studio Dumbar/DEPT®

Products and services

• DEPTIFY AI orchestration platform that unifies briefing, strategy, content, media, measurement, and learning into one workflow for enterprise marketing and technology teams.
• AI Transformation Service offering that helps enterprises adopt AI across marketing and customer experience, leveraging 15+ years of AI experience and a 50% AI-enabled revenue model.
• Brand & Media Integrated brand strategy, creative, and media services that combine brand-led creativity with performance-driven media planning and buying.
• Customer Experience Customer experience design and implementation services covering digital product design, motion, and customer journey orchestration.
• Commerce Commerce platform services delivered in partnership with Shopify, Optimizely, and other commerce technology providers.
• Tech & Data Technology and data engineering services including cloud, data platforms, and Agentic Engineering capabilities for enterprise clients.
• Basic/DEPT Specialized sub-brand focused on brand design and creative services within the agency's portfolio.
• Dogstudio/DEPT Specialized sub-brand providing digital product and creative services within the agency's portfolio.
• Hello Monday/DEPT Specialized sub-brand offering digital experience, motion, and creative services within the agency's portfolio.
• Studio Dumbar/DEPT Specialized sub-brand providing brand and design services within the agency's portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% AI-enabled revenue
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability13 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• AdobecoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership providing Adobe's creative and experience cloud solutions integrated into DEPT® service delivery for enterprise clients requiring digital experience platforms.
• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic technology partnership leveraging Google's advertising, cloud, and AI platforms for client digital transformation initiatives.
• OptimizelycoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership using Optimizely's digital experience platform for experimentation and content management solutions.
• SalesforcecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership providing Salesforce CRM and customer experience platform capabilities for enterprise client solutions.
• Shopify PluscoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce technology partnership for enterprise commerce platform implementations and optimizations.
• NVIDIAflagshipTechnology or IntegrationNVIDIA partner agency status with joint AI-powered projects including AI sign language education platform and AI-powered talking portraits. Showcases leading AI capabilities through NVIDIA technology stack.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Omnicom Group: Global advertising holding company with creative, media, commerce, and CX agencies (e.g., DDB, BBDO, Hearts & Science). Provides enterprise-scale competition for DEPT®'s integrated transformation mandates.
• WPP: World's largest advertising holding company with extensive AI investment across Ogilvy, VMLY&R, and GroupM. Competes on enterprise pitches but offers a much broader and more commoditized portfolio than DEPT®'s specialized positioning.
• Publicis Groupe: Global advertising holding company with integrated creative, media, and AI platform capabilities (e.g., Marcel/CoreAI). Competes with DEPT® on enterprise AI transformation mandates but operates at vastly greater scale and breadth.

Direct peers

• VML: Global creative and customer experience agency within WPP, delivering brand, commerce, and CX services powered by AI and data. Comparable to DEPT®'s enterprise-focused, AI-enabled full-funnel offering.
• AKQA: Design and innovation agency operating at the intersection of brand, experience, and emerging technology for enterprise clients. Comparable in its ambition to fuse creativity with technology and AI-driven transformation work.
• Sid Lee: Creative and innovation agency with capabilities spanning brand, experience, and technology, including AI-augmented work. Comparable boutique-style positioning to DEPT®'s acquired sub-brands and integrated creative-tech delivery model.
• Monks (formerly MediaMonks / S4 Capital): Tech-led creative and production agency operating globally with a services-plus-technology model. Closely mirrors DEPT®'s platform-plus-services architecture and its ambition to productize AI-driven content and media workflows.
• Huge: Digital experience agency focused on customer experience, commerce, and platform engineering for enterprise brands. Overlaps directly with DEPT®'s Customer Experience, Commerce, and Tech & Data service lines.
• Accenture Song: Accenture's creative and tech-enabled marketing services arm combines technology and marketing at enterprise scale, directly comparable to DEPT®'s integrated AI Transformation, Brand & Media, Customer Experience, and Commerce offerings.
• R/GA: Creative and technology agency that integrates brand, product, and engineering work for enterprise clients, with AI-enabled capabilities. Comparable to DEPT®'s blend of brand storytelling, customer experience, and tech engineering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ExpandOnline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/expand-online
• Instagraminstagram.com/deptagency/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@deptagency
• Facebookfacebook.com/ExpandOnline

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 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 Expand Online