What is Happiness specialised in?

AI & innovation strategy, Brand strategy & positioning, Brand identity & design, Packaging design, Product & service design, Campaign concepts & big ideas.

How big is Happiness?

Around 44 full-time equivalents (financial year 2025).

Which sectors does Happiness work for?

Hospitality & tourism, Retail & e-commerce, Telecom & media, Food & beverage.

Who are the clients of Happiness?

Among others Lotto, Burger King, Marktplaats, Albert Heijn, Soubry, Quick, OVK, De Druglijn, Verisure, Promaz, Bebat, Chimay, Coca-Cola.

Factsheet & Review

Happiness

Creative agency · 44 FTE · Flemish Brabant

The content of this factsheet is in Dutch.

Happiness is een creatief bureau met thuisbasis in Vilvoorde, opgericht in 2005. Met ongeveer 44 VTE is dit een groot bureau. Ze werken rond creatie & reclame, strategie en branding & identiteit. Sectorieel richt het bureau zich vooral op fmcg/voeding, retail, fastfood/qsr en loterij.

Awards

11× Effie Awards Belgium

11× Creative Belgium Awards

6× IAB MIXX Awards

5× Agency of the Year

5× Cannes Lions

4× Eurobest

1× D&AD

1× The One Show

1× Best of Activation

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

2021202320242025

Latest year: € 4,43 mln gross margin, growth -1,5% against a sector median of -0,2%.

Growing slower than the sector

MarginEBITDA / gross margin · value-added coverage

2021202320242025

HappinessSector median

EBITDA margin 25,6%, sector median 21,9%. Value-added coverage 1,35 (median 1,23).

Healthy margin

Revenue per headGross margin per FTE, against payroll cost

€ 100.201

Median (2025) € 78.663

Against a payroll cost of € 73.606 per FTE. The ratio between the two is the coverage rate above.

Above the median

Yield levelYield per hour worked, against payroll cost

€ 60

Median (2025) € 49

74.335 hours worked, 1.682 per FTE. Against that sits € 44 of payroll cost per hour worked, leaving € 16 for premises, equipment, depreciation and profit.

Above 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.

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: 1,3 months (median 7,7 mo). Equity in the latest year: € 364.453.

Thin buffer

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

Cash € 623.732. Liquidity ratio 1,15: current assets cover short-term debt in full. Solvency 3,7%.

Tightly covered

Payment behaviourTowards suppliers and towards the NBB

Trade payables correspond to 175 days of supplier credit, sector median 85. The accounts were filed 191 days after closing; the legal deadline is seven months.

Pays slower than average

Signals and strengths

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

Continuity

Points to ask about

Signals in the last 24 months

Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Nov 2026 · Google Autocomplete
Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Oct 2026 · Google Autocomplete
Sharp drop in equity · 31 Dec 2025 · NBB
The financial reserve shrank by more than 30% over two financial years. A dividend, buying out a partner and a loss-making year all look the same here. Ask which of the three it was.
Thin buffer · 31 Dec 2025 · NBB
Equity covers less than three months of payroll. A limited reserve, and at many smaller agencies the normal state of affairs. Ask how the agency absorbs a setback.
Registered office moved · 19 Sep 2025 · Staatsblad
The registered office relocated. Usually just a new office.
Sharp headcount decline · 31 Dec 2024 · NBB
Average headcount fell by 15% or more in a year. That can be contraction, and just as easily a deliberate choice for fewer but more experienced people. Ask who left and who came in their place.

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 (25,6%)
Profitable in every one of the last 4 years
Value-added per euro of payroll above the sector median (1,35)
Equity was earned, not injected (reserves 8,1× the capital contributed)
Comfortable cash position: 70 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.

All the figures

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

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

	2021	2023	2024	2025
Result
Gross margin	€ 2,85 mln	€ 4,94 mln+73,2%	€ 4,50 mln-9%	€ 4,43 mln-1,5%
EBITDA	€ 362.537	€ 1,14 mln	€ 1,25 mln	€ 1,13 mln
EBITDA margin	12,7%	23%	27,9%	25,6%
Staff
FTE	43,1	55,4+28,5%	45,4-18,1%	44,2-2,6%
Gross margin per FTE	€ 66.233	€ 89.227	€ 99.071	€ 100.201
Payroll cost per FTE	€ 57.724	€ 69.634	€ 72.078	€ 73.606
Balance sheet
Equity	€ 1,67 mln	€ 1,91 mln	€ 331.386	€ 364.453
Cash	€ 1,92 mln	€ 1,49 mln	€ 552.771	€ 623.732
Liquidity ratio	1,42	1,37	1,18	1,15

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 10/07/2026. 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 2 Nov 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2025: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.

Frequently asked questions about Happiness

When was Happiness founded?: In 2005.
Where is Happiness located?: In Vilvoorde, Belgium.
What is Happiness specialised in?: AI & innovation strategy, Brand strategy & positioning, Brand identity & design, Packaging design, Product & service design, Campaign concepts & big ideas.
How big is Happiness?: Around 44 full-time equivalents (financial year 2025).
Which sectors does Happiness work for?: Hospitality & tourism, Retail & e-commerce, Telecom & media, Food & beverage.
Who are the clients of Happiness?: Among others Lotto, Burger King, Marktplaats, Albert Heijn, Soubry, Quick, OVK, De Druglijn, Verisure, Promaz, Bebat, Chimay, Coca-Cola.

All factsheets

Website: www.happiness-brussels.com →
Legal form: BV
Address: Steenkaai 42, 1800 Vilvoorde
Company number: BE0876.054.114
Part of group: Only →
Sector position: Bigger than roughly 90% of its peers

Are you a big or a small client?

Your annual budget with this agency

Based on a gross margin of € 4.428.891 (financial year 2025).

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Figures from the annual accounts up to financial year 2025. Company details checked against the CBE register on 2026-10-13.

Happiness

How this agency makes money

Can the agency take a hit

Signals and strengths

Continuity

What this agency does well

All the figures

What this factsheet does not know

What the agency actually does 31 services

Sector focus

Publicly known clients

People 46 people mapped

Seniors or juniors?

Will your team stay?

Award-winning work 45 award(s)