United for future topics – Oseon and YPS merge

The Cologne-based PR agency YPS and Oseon have merged. Together, the joint agency features a team of thirty colleagues in the three major German cities of Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg and caters ot the needs of forty clients. Here, YPS co-founder Mattias Baumarth and Oseon founder Tapio Liller spill the tea on the merger and Oseon's plans for the future,

Tapio: Now the cat is finally out of the bag. Oseon and YPS have merged and we can finally talk about it! I am relieved. How are you feeling about it, Mattias?

Mattias: Very similarly, really. On the one hand I'm relieved and on the other there's such a positive tension when I look ahead at the things to come.

Tapio: There have been a few agency mergers and acquisitions in recent months in Germany. What makes the YPS and Oseon merger special?

Mattias: I believe you could sum it up with a simple "It's a match". We got to know each other over several months and with every meeting and every call, the impression grew stronger: these folks tick very much alike. They have the same vision about great communications, how an agency can be a good place to work and, last but not least, what desirable growth looks like.

Tapio: Absolutely right, the vibe was right from the start. That was always the most important thing for us along the way. I would add, both agencies are quite proud of their independence. This gives us the freedom to shape the agency in ways that don't come as easily to others. For example, we want to grow, but we want to work with companies that fit in with our values.

Mattias: What values are these?

Tapio: If we imagine a desirable future for our society, it will definitely be democratic, ecologically sustainable, socially fair and just for future generations. Companies or individuals that stand in the way of these things wouldn't suit us. After all, we five partners and many on our team have children and wouldn't  want to cut into their future, would we?

Mattias: Exactly. Even though I would have signed up to that before my son was born, it has become ever more important to me since then. Our business activities must live up to these values. And I believe that everyone on the team has a very similar view – regardless of whether they have children or not.

Tapio: Mattias, why don't you give our readers a brief outline of how our agency merger came about?

Mattias: Once we were very sure that it was a good fit, we talked for a long time and often about what it would take to turn two agencies into one. For my co-founder Timm and I, for example, leaving the YPS brand was not an easy decision, but it was a logical and necessary one. Oseon is a very well established agency brand and at the same time, our goal is for all colleagues to see themselves as part of a larger, joint company as quickly as possible. A two-brand strategy would have made this unnecessarily difficult.

But Tapio, let's also talk about our current clients. How does our merger affect them now?

Tapio: I sure hope not at all! All existing customers can rely on their established teams to be there for them. This kind of continuity in the day-to-day is really important. However, the more we learn in the coming weeks and months which new ideas, perspectives on communication problems and additional skills the teams on both sides bring to the table, the better we can tailor new offerings. That will happen over time.

Does Team Cologne have a specialty that will enrich us?

Mattias: A new addition to the Oseon portfolio is definitely "PR for agencies". Over the years, we won several agencies as our clients of the Cologne team. There's a wide range from design and creative agencies to social media and influencer specialists and performance marketing agencies. In this area, it helps to have a strong overlap in content and topics with our various adtech and martech clients, which Team Hamburg has also been focusing on for a long time.

Tapio: I hope I'm not exaggerating when I say that in Adtech/Martech, few German agencies know their stuff as well as we do. What's the plan in that segment?

Mattias: On the one hand, we are pooling the expertise of Hamburg and Cologne and now have plenty of people who are real subject matter experts in their respective areas. On the other hand, the two separate locations will enable us to cover an even larger part of the market in the future.

But good work also stands and falls with a motivated team. What can our people look forward to, Tapio?

Tapio: My hope is that it doesn't take us long to get rid of the internal "us" and "you" thinking that is quite normal in the early days of a merger. That's why we invited ourselves to the summer party in Cologne in late June. No, seriously, we should create integrated teams in our day-to-day business wherever feasible so that we can learn from each other quickly.

In addition, everyone will benefit from the fact that we have our own Head of People & Culture, Jessica, who will work closely with us on integrating the teams. This includes informal formats for getting to know each other that have already commenced, but also joint training sessions and parties when there is something to celebrate.

Mattias: I am absolutely certain that we will all have something to celebrate at Oseon and that we will learn a lot from each other in the coming weeks, months and years. It's going to be fabulous!

But let's cut to the chase, Tapio! When we've all become even smarter – what's the big plan behind our merger? World domination?

Tapio: Of course, what else? Seriously, there is probably no market segment for communication that has such great growth potential as our future topics. Over the next 20 years, the global economy must completely transform itself towards sustainability and climate neutrality. All industrialized countries must cope with demographic change in order to avoid falling into decline and risking their democratic constitution. The tasks politicians and companies are facing, but also each one of us, are enormous. This calls for us as communicators to help drive positive change.

Mattias: That's true, we explain what people and organisations need to know in order to shape this trasnformation. It's quite complicated sometimes, isn't it?

Tapio: It is! But that's also what makes our line of work appealing. In over 20 years in the PR business at this interface of innovation, business and society, I've never seen a boring day. I'm counting on our team seeing it the same way in 10 or 15 years' time and being proud to have helped drive important changes for a positive future.

Mattias: With that in mind – Onward!

Tapio: Exactly, our unofficial motto. Keep going, always!