"The digital world is no longer about survival. It’s about acceleration.”

With projects for esteemed clients like VICE, ADE, CLIQ and Moco Museum, Bravoure has undergone quite some growth and transformation. Since its start in 2008, it has now grown into a full-blown digital agency with 40+ employees, teaming up with partners such as Unlike, Natwerk and WhyBecause. This year, Bravoure is expanding—navigating through some significant changes, such as a refreshed proposition. We talked to Anthony Thissen about standing out as an agency in a competitive digital landscape that's evolving at an increasing pace

I think the one thing that has constantly evolved alongside us over the past 15 years, is our methodology. Through the process of “think big, start small & grow smart”, we continuously innovate, launch and scale businesses with a long-term purpose. We define your ultimate goal with strategy (think big), we're agile in the execution (start small) and always scale by serving the end user in mind (grow smart). This way, we solve business challenges through design and tech, helping brands in their digital transformation."

As we have entered Web 3.0, with developments like NFT and redefined data ownership, I think we’re embarking on a new era of digital transformation. One that is accelerating even more rapidly due to AI.

Looking back at Bravoure's past 15 years, the initial phase was a time-consuming process. However, today, we are experiencing an exponential technological growth curve. The real question is how much this growth will be shaped by regulations and the influence of big tech players. Their decisions and the ensuing regulatory landscape will undoubtedly determine the specific path of adoption, much like we witness with AI now.

I believe that, to succeed as a digital agency in this digital landscape, innovation must become one of your core values. The digital industry is in a constant state of flux, and many agencies have grappled with the challenge of staying relevant amidst rapid technological developments. This is precisely why we place a strong emphasis on innovation at Bravoure. We use it as a powerful tool for tackling business challenges head-on, whether it's helping companies overcome specific problems or offering solutions.

I think you could say that over the past 15 years, it has become increasingly evident that a solid ethical foundation is essential for anyone studying digital disciplines, especially when it comes to the responsible use of AI. AI has extremely expanded the scope of crossing ethical boundaries- anyone can now generate things that don't exist or cause trouble for others.

While AI's rapid growth is beyond our control, how we approach and handle it is within our purview as an agency. We understand our responsibility in closely monitoring AI developments, not just adopting them. How inclusive is the AI we're using or developing? How selective is it in its processes? We should constantly ask ourselves this.

We’re addressing a growing need. There’s clearly a gap in how companies were built without digital at their core. Like the transition from Web to 2.0 Web 3.0, businesses should consider digital now as core to their business. Whether that's Healthcare, Law, Real estate, Fintech or Banking.

Companies that do not transform towards an integrated perspective on digital: good luck. You won’t make it. Thinking that digital transformation is an opportunity limited to ecommerce, social media or streaming, is fundamentally wrong. Digital transformation appears everywhere.

Therefore, we've shaken up as a digital agency too, as we’ve become more vital for organisations. We break the gap by prioritising a business-first approach, which means not only making nice design and development, but focusing on operational efficiency and KPI's as well. We're not creating art; we're crafting something functional that has to contribute to the business. We don't shy away from the term “business” - even though we're also a design agency.

Our team has grown more this year due to our new proposition. This means that we see ourselves as steadfast partners for our clients - embracing what we call "digital longevity." Propelling businesses forward through long-term trajectories. We also hired another Creative Director, so that we can meet all our clients needs.

Moving forward, I see Bravoure continuing to grow as this long-term partner that extends your team, offering dedicated resources on site that can think along and challenge you. Bringing innovation and sustainable growth.

Our focus will be more and more on prioritising trajectories over projects, business over marketing, goals over ambitions, innovation over legacy. Seeing ourselves as collaborative partners rather than only suppliers.

Definitely. One of those collaborations is CLIQ: a brand that bundles movies, series, music, games, and audiobooks, all in one streaming platform. We developed and launched the CLIQ platform in Germany, whereby we were the first to unite five different verticals into one app/product, allowing us to claim a new position in the streaming market for CLIQ.

Now, we are in a sort of continuous innovation journey with CLIQ. As a core part of their growth team. We do so by engaging at both the C-level and provide organisational advice, as well as through a hybrid form of collaboration at the team level.

Oh, then at a platform level for instance, we have recently integrated ChatGPT to collect data from over ten thousand detail pages each month. This data is then organised, localised, abd fed into one single CMS. This truly propels the company's transformation into a new phase, connecting business with digital products at scale.