Exciting times at Refreshworks – We’re happy to announce that we signed with Simon Neefjes and Wim Hekstra, our newest investors! After months of meetings, discussions, and paperwork, it can be made official: we’ve made a growth leap.
We’ve been operating for over 9 years in The Netherlands. We started as a motion graphics studio in Alphen aan den Rijn and soon moved to The Hague. Back then we were working for big clients in the entertainment industry like Sony Music – later deciding to become a motion graphics and digital marketing agency supporting local clients such as Swishfund and fast-growing crypto business BOTS. All alongside international corporations like AkzoNobel and Unilever.
It’s been a great ride since! Our decision to adopt a growth hacking discipline gave us a unique position in The Hague, a somehow virgin market for this field. Our mission is to help clients adopt a data-driven mindset and grow their business efficiently. And just last year, we partnered with Growth Tribe for the first official Growth Hacking event of The Hague.
Simon Neefjes is former 15 years CEO of TBWA/NEBOKO, founder of NEBOKO, advertising man of the year and current Venture Partner of Slingshot Ventures. Under his time in leadership, TBWA/NEBOKO won multiple advertising awards. Making the shift for Simon was only natural, as he remains a creative at heart. Simon embraces the changes that entirely switched up the advertising industry, as more disruptive agencies like us (w00t!) came into the scene. No wonder all those conversations with him had some sparks. We’re confident that his contribution to Refreshworks will take us on steady growth and provide mentorship to the team.
Wim Hekstra is current COO of Aegon, multinational life insurance, pensions and asset management company. A great commercial lead, Wim had worked in various international roles for ING and Heineken. A true international man, Wim lead the growth of Sun Life in Hong Kong and lived there for 11 years, after having lived in The Carribeans. His passion for health and happiness is no secret; Wim ran the IronMan triathlon!
“Simon’s experience will be extremely valuable and beneficial for us at this stage. We were very inspired by the innovative transformation that he brought along to TBWA/NEBOKO,” Ebel Slijp explains. “We’re very excited and lucky to have him on board!”.
Diederik Klever, partner and creative director is certain this partnership will help the content production team grow as it allows for more resources, which enables him to dedicate more of his time to tailor-making content production for growth campaigns, a shift he anticipates in the market.
“This is a great partnership for us. We value all the work and the craft that goes into big budget advertising. Our approach is different and the market really needs content quickly, made to be freshly-consumed. Wim and Simon are great commercial minds that put customers first and we’re very happy to have them by our side.” – Diederik Klever
With this partnership, we are confident about the need for a re-branding of our proposition from Motion Studios | Digital Agency to Growth Production Agency. We believe the market is ready for new terminology.
