What is Federate specialised in?

Brand strategy & positioning, Customer & audience strategy, Marketing strategy, Brand identity & design, Design systems & brand guidelines, Packaging design.

Around 3 full-time equivalents (financial year 2025).

Which sectors does Federate work for?

Finance & insurance, Telecom & media, Food & beverage.

Review: Federate

Q: Who are the clients of Federate?

Among others Wallonie Cyclable, Keytrade Bank, Immoweb, itsme®, Belgian Family Brewers, Fluxys, JIMS Fitness, Anthony Martin, Nickel, La Presse.be, BRUZZ, WWF, Save The Children, Pierre Marcolini, Newpharma.

Federate, founded in 2013, is a creative agency based in Schaarbeek. Our focus is on creative work and advertising, strategy, and branding and identity.

We work across branding, communication and advertising but never by the book. Rather than operating as a traditional supplier, we build long-term partnerships with our clients. We are strategically involved, creatively ambitious and deeply invested in every brand we help shape.

Our integrated expertise includes:

Research and brand strategy
Brand positioning
Digital strategy
Branding and design
Creative direction
Campaign development
Content creation
Touchpoint and media planning
Media buying
Campaign optimisation

Founded in Brussels by a Fleming and a Walloon, we are naturally bilingual and bicultural.

Since 2013, we have worked closely with ambitious brands as committed, accessible and responsive partners. We believe that caring more about people, brands and results leads to sharper strategies, more powerful creativity and more memorable work.

Naturally bilingual and bicultural
Independent creative agency based in Brussels
Distinctive positioning and bold creative direction
Branding, communication and advertising
Long-term partnerships rather than traditional supplier relationships
Integrated strategy, creativity and media capabilities
Building memorable brands and campaigns since 2013

1

How this agency makes money

Revenue, margin and what an hour of work brings in. Everything on the earning side sits together here.

Revenue trendgross margin per financial year

20212022202320242025

Latest year: € 190.287 gross margin, growth +31% against a sector median of -0,1%.

At or above sector pace

MarginEBITDA / gross margin · value-added coverage

20212022202320242025

FederateSector median

EBITDA margin 29,7%, sector median 22,3%. Value-added coverage 1,43 (median 1,20).

Healthy margin

Revenue per headGross margin per FTE, against payroll cost

€ 65.616

Median (2024) € 72.309

Against a payroll cost of € 45.769 per FTE. The ratio between the two is the coverage rate above.

Below the median

Yield levelYield per hour worked, against payroll cost

€ 45

Median (2024) € 45

4.273 hours worked, 1.473 per FTE. Against that sits € 31 of payroll cost per hour worked, leaving € 13 for premises, equipment, depreciation and profit.

Around the median

No hourly rate follows from this. Gross margin is already net of services and sundry goods, which mixes rebilled production with the agency's own overhead, and the accounts do not say how many hours were billable. Deriving a rate from this systematically understates it.

2

Can the agency take a hit

Buffer, cash position and payment behaviour side by side, so you can see where they disagree.

Bufferequity in months of payroll

Buffer: 19,6 months (median 6,9 mo). Equity in the latest year: € 217.269.

Adequate buffer

Cash positionAvailable cash, and whether it covers short-term debt

Cash € 98.102. Liquidity ratio 2,93: current assets cover short-term debt in full. Solvency 59,5%.

Amply covered

Payment behaviourTowards suppliers and towards the NBB

Trade payables correspond to 90 days of supplier credit, sector median 73. The accounts were filed 152 days after closing; the legal deadline is seven months.

Pays slower than average

3

Signals and strengths

Events from the CBE and the Official Gazette over the past 24 months, plus positive markers derived from the figures.

Continuity

No serious signals

Signals in the last 24 months

Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Sep 2026 · Google Autocomplete
Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Sep 2026 · Google Autocomplete
Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Aug 2026 · Google Autocomplete
Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Aug 2026 · Google Autocomplete

Click a signal for a plain-language explanation. Each signal is a fact from a public source, without the agency's own context. Best to ask them directly.

What this agency does well

EBITDA margin above the sector median (29,7%)
Strong buffer: 19,6 months of payroll in equity
Team grew (+45,0% FTE in the latest year)
Value-added per euro of payroll above the sector median (1,43)
Healthy working capital (current ratio 2,93)
Equity was earned, not injected (reserves 32,3× the capital contributed)
Comfortable cash position: 270 days of payroll

Each point is a fact from the filed annual accounts, measured against the same thresholds and sector medians as the signals above.

4

All the figures

Reference material, not a starting point. Expand it if you want to read the series yourself.

5 financial years, 2021 to 2025Result, staff and balance sheet

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Result
Gross margin	€ 294.404	€ 276.831-6%	€ 216.753-21,7%	€ 145.277-33%	€ 190.287+31%
EBITDA	€ 74.130	€ 73.095	€ 124	€ 47.411	€ 56.466
EBITDA margin	25,2%	26,4%	0,1%	32,6%	29,7%
Staff
FTE	3,9	4,1+5,1%	3,3-19,5%	2,0-39,4%	2,9+45%
Gross margin per FTE	€ 75.488	€ 67.520	€ 65.683	€ 72.639	€ 65.616
Payroll cost per FTE	€ 53.048	€ 49.023	€ 65.268	€ 48.363	€ 45.769
Balance sheet
Equity	€ 122.177	€ 166.757	€ 158.701	€ 185.995	€ 217.269
Cash	€ 202.792	€ 163.702	€ 163.755	€ 36.748	€ 98.102
Liquidity ratio	1,30	2,22	3,45	2,97	2,93

Payroll cost per FTE comes from the social report where available, otherwise from the Remuneration line. Both are gross costs including employer contributions.

What this factsheet does not know

How good the work is. Figures do not measure creativity, strategy or chemistry.
How the client portfolio is spread. Concentration is not in the accounts.
Freelancers and subcontractors are not in the FTE figures. An agency with 40 staff may in practice run with 70 people.
The figures cover financial year 2025, filed on 01/06/2026. At a fast-moving agency reality today may differ.

Based on publicly filed annual accounts (NBB) and official records (CBE, Belgian Official Gazette). An indication, not financial advice. Sector medians calculated on 14 Sep 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.

What the agency actually does 32 services

Strategy & Insights

Brand strategy & positioning Customer & audience strategy Marketing strategy

Branding & Design

Brand identity & design Design systems & brand guidelines Packaging design Product & service design Storytelling & narrative

Advertising & Campaigns

Campaign concepts & big ideas Campaign execution Performance creative & DCO

Content & Production

Content strategy & editorial

Media

Digital & programmatic buying Media strategy & planning Offline buying (TV, radio, print, OOH) Paid social Search advertising (SEA)

Social, Influencer & Community

Organic social content Social strategy & platform mix

Digital Experience & Tech

SEO & GEO Website strategy & UX

CRM, Email & Loyalty

CRM & lifecycle strategy Direct marketing & lead management Email marketing Marketing automation

Data, Measurement & Governance

Dashboards & reporting

PR & Reputation

Corporate communication PR strategy & media relations

Employer Brand & Internal

Internal communication

Events, Sponsoring & Activation

Brand activation (incl. guerrilla) Events & experiences Sponsorship & partnerships

Sector focus

Finance & insuranceFood & beverageEnergy & utilitiesReal estate & constructionMedia & entertainment

Publicly known clients

Wallonie Cyclable, Keytrade Bank, Immoweb, itsme®, Belgian Family Brewers, Fluxys, JIMS Fitness, Anthony Martin, Nickel, La Presse.be, BRUZZ, WWF, Save The Children, Pierre Marcolini, Newpharma

Based on IKAg research and public sources. Incomplete or outdated? Let us know.

1

People 8 people mapped

We mapped 8 people, but this agency keeps job titles to itself — the team page sticks to names. Who does what is best asked over coffee.

AB

Aurélie Behiels

Account Manager

B

Brigitte

Sr Account

DD

Denis Dubrulle

Partner / Creative Director

PV

Paul Vatel

Junior Art Director

TD

Thomas Danthine

Partner / Managing Director

C

Céline

Senior Creative Designer

MD

Myllie Decaluwe

Digital Strategist & Creative Content Specialist

T

Thomske

Based on public profiles. Something wrong? Let us know.

2

Seniors or juniors?

Payroll cost per FTE is the best public proxy for a team's experience level. Higher is not automatically better, but it says something about who sits at the table.

Payroll cost per FTE

€ 45.769

-25% versus the median

Team composition

2,9 FTE

50% women
50% men

€ 45.769

Median Creatief bureau (2024) € 61.047All agencies (2024) € 59.069

Read with care. Directors and partners invoicing through a management company are not in the payroll cost. At small agencies this skews the picture downwards considerably.

3

Will your team stay?

Inflow and outflow from the social report. This series only counts people on the payroll: freelancers who invoice do not appear in it. A low figure therefore means two very different things, a stable permanent team or a small core with heavy outsourcing. A high figure usually points to short contracts. Compare only within the same type of agency.

Exits 2025

34,5%

Median for this type of agency (2024): 32,5%

Inflow 2025

103,4%

3,0 FTE in, 1,0 FTE out

Net team change

+2,0 FTE

20212022202320242025

Source: annual accounts and social reports (NBB), collected by IKAg. Financial year 2025. Calculations by IKAg; an indication, not financial advice. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.