Serviceplan Group invested in AI to great effect, while leaning into emotional and social work

Since its 1970 founding in Germany, Serviceplan Group has taken a methodical approach, using smart acquisitions to fuel steady growth. The company, which includes Pereira O’Dell, Mediaplus North America and L&C in the U.S, and incorporates Serviceplan, Mediaplus and Plan.Net agencies worldwide, ranks as one of the largest independent agency networks, with 32 offices across 21 countries. It reported 11% revenue growth last fiscal year to €818 million, which converts to more than $880 million. See all of Ad Age’s 2025 Agency A-List winners here But as Serviceplan Group serves the day-to-day creative and media needs of its clients, it is also looking to the future, including investing heavily in AI. Last year it opened AI labs in Munich and San Francisco that led to the development of a proprietary generative tool designed for modular content creation. The San Francisco lab, which is led by Pereira O'Dell and known as Silverside, was one of three studios involved in one of the most attention-grabbing campaigns of the year, Coca-Cola’s polarizing but effective holiday campaign. The effort involved using AI to remake Coca-Cola’s 1995 classic “Holidays Are Coming” ad that featured its iconic delivery trucks. Through AI, Silverside was able to help create hundreds of different versions of the spot in 48 hours. It drew a polarizing response inside the ad industry, but praise from Coca-Cola executives. At a recent financial conference, Coca-Cola Co. Chief Financial Officer John Murphy called the campaign a “great example of being able to drive at scale a creative solution that was very well received by our consumer set across the world, but produced much faster and at a much lower cost base.” Serviceplan Group CEO Florian Haller, who took on the role from his father, co-founder Peter Haller, in 2002, pointed to the network’s flexibility as a differentiator. “In times where things are changing so quickly, you need a strong entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to adapt and change very quickly,” Haller said. “That’s what differentiates a well-run independent from the big stock-listed corporations. They are simply too big to change. They have many layers. They have to ask for changes.” The network has been globalizing its “house of communications” model for over 10 years, Haller said. The concept is that in every market, the network builds up media and creative capabilities paired with experience and technology capabilities. The network’s key executives are also stakeholders in the company. Creatively, Serviceplan Group has produced strong work that often leaned into emotional or social issues. Agencies “have the duty and the power of creativity in their hands to solve problems in the world … probably better than any politician,” said Serviceplan Group Global Chief Creative Officer Alex Schill. When German grocery chain Penny asked the network for a way to address increasing consumer anxiety over rising inflation and grocery costs, Serviceplan came up with “Price Packs.” It helped the grocer change the packaging on many of its items to boldly include the price of the items, ensuring that those prices wouldn’t be changing anytime soon. The effort led to record-breaking product sales, with some items selling out during the launch week. It also led to $120 million in free media coverage and a significant increase in brand perception. For Anzen Health, Serviceplan introduced a new way for people suffering from opioid use to seek help. Through its “855-HOW-TO-QUIT” campaign, the network in ads changed the mandatory imprint codes on opioid pills into phone extensions. For example, "IP33" for codeine became "4733.” Once people called those numbers they were connected to real-life stories from opioid survivors and connected with a live caller for further assistance. The campaign included a website where people could hear the survivor stories and submit their own. A targeted media strategy used “data to help identify the pills that were the biggest problem in each market and then customize the creative to showcase that actual problem,” said North America Mediaplus CEO Tamara Alesi. The campaign reached 182 million people and 42,000 calls were received. More than 8,600 treatment referrals were facilitated and 237 individuals contacted the helpline to share their recovery stories. Anzen Health also secured $2.3 million in public funding to expand the helpline. L&C, which became part of Serviceplan Group in 2023 via a minority investment, has also produced innovative campaigns, including one for PetPace, the creator of a smart dog collar that monitors and tracks dog health. The agency launched “Animal Alerts,” a campaign that used those collars to help detect early signs of earthquakes. The effort reached 9 million residents through geo-targeted alerts and PetPace’s user base grew 30 times. Eighteen seismic events were detected, providing early warnings. Serviceplan also helped launch Rainbow Wool, a company that makes the first textile fiber from gay sheep, which would normally be killed because they are deemed unproductive. The campaign included a fashion collection, OOH ads and brand partnerships. It reached 1.3 billion people and generated €20 million in earned media coverage (more than $20.9 million). For airline Lufthansa, Serviceplan created a film centered around telling the emotional stories behind why people fly. Haller admitted that there is still room for the network to grow globally and called the U.S. its biggest opportunity for growth. Serviceplan was recently a finalist in acquisition talks for IPG’s R/GA, which ended up selling to a group backed by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Truelink Capital. “We don’t strive to be as big as [the major holding companies] but there’s still so much room [to grow] that I’m not worried about us being at the end of our journey.” See all of Ad Age’s 2025 Agency A-List winners here

Serviceplan Group invested in AI to great effect, while leaning into emotional and social work

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