We bring together seven expert agencies, each with a distinct focus but a shared craft. The collective is built on solid foundations and trusted partners, structured for scale through The Grid, and designed to foster innovation in The Sandbox. Always with an eye on impact for our clients, the market, and the world around us.

Friends of Cartel stands on the shoulders of RCA, a multi-expertise agency that has been active since 1977. Over the years, RCA brought together talent across disciplines and worked for a diverse range of brands and challenges. It helped shape brands, campaigns and strategies that still prove their relevance today. We carry that experience with us, not as a trophy on the shelf, but as a solid foundation for everything we do now. Because deep-rooted expertise is always a plus, especially when you're building for what's next.

Since 2024, Friends of Cartel has been part of Glowi, a values-driven business group active in both B2C and B2B services. With more than 16,000 employees and over 100,000 customers, Glowi brings not just scale and strength, but also the space to grow. What connects us goes beyond structure. It’s a shared view on people, growth and collaboration. Like us, Glowi believes in bringing together talent, in purposeful entrepreneurship, and in building a culture that lasts. That shared foundation allows us, as a collective, to keep innovating, accelerating, and raising the bar in everything we do.

Our seven agencies form the solid foundation of Friends of Cartel. On top of that, we work with two accelerators that keep our collective agile and future-ready. In The Grid, ideas come to life quickly, smartly and with purpose, powered by tech and AI. The Sandbox is our playground: a space where innovation gets the freedom to grow, often in co-creation with external partners.

The Grid is the production engine of Friends of Cartel. It’s where creativity, technology and media expertise come together to turn ideas into reality: fast, smart and with real impact. From media assets to development, from digital campaigns to print and video: The Grid brings all the right skills together in one efficient workflow. Powered by AI, driven by people. We deliver. Period.

sQills works a little differently within our collective and that’s exactly the point. Born in an editorial environment, this agency still operates with the same agile mindset: assembling tailor-made teams of specialised journalists, editors, videographers and content creators for each assignment. Editorial quality and efficiency are non-negotiable. The result? Deeply researched content and sharp, thematic productions proven through long-term partnerships with clients like BNP Paribas Fortis, Colruyt and more.

The Sandbox is where we build new ideas, tools and collaborations, often together with specialised partners. Away from the day-to-day agency flow, innovation and experimentation get the space to breathe. We test, tweak and launch directly into the market. No simulations. No silos. Just honest feedback from real users, and real progress as a result.

Together with Medialife, we launched plai: our AI-first content agency. We combine strategic marketing know-how with cutting-edge AI technology to create content that’s faster, smarter and more relevant.

Let's plai

Together with Hillview, we founded That Sound: the podcast agency for brands that want to sound like themselves. Podcasts inform, inspire and entertain. From concept to production and distribution, we make sure your message is heard. By the right people. At the right moment.

Let's make a podcast

Since 2024, we proudly carry the title of SDG Pioneer: a recognition from the United Nations for companies that truly embed sustainability into their operations. It marked the end of a three-year journey in which we refined, shared, and anchored our efforts around the Sustainable Development Goals. That journey led to initiatives now woven into our daily way of working: from sustainable mobility and energy-efficient workplaces to close collaborations with the education sector. All driven by one core belief: an agency never operates in isolation. No agency is an island. As a group, we have a long history. And we’re organising ourselves for a future that stretches just as far. The SDG themes are not a separate chapter, they’re a natural constant in how we think, work, and move forward.