Branding and Communication: 20 Years on the Digital Road

Almost 150 satisfied clients, more than 50 national and international design awards, now 30 permanent and freelance experts, and four moves to reach the perfect home – that is the impressive balance sheet for Arndtteunissen's 20th anniversary in February 2022. On the occasion of the round “birthday”, founding managing director Benjamin Arndt recalls the beginnings: “Shortly after the dotcom bubble burst – and with it many dreams – it was about a realistic assessment of the opportunities the internet offers.” It was a period of transition: slow modems were a thing of the past, ADSL lines caught on, and CRT monitors disappeared from offices. A strong demand for websites and web shops emerged. In short: “The rather playful web experiments from my school days slowly became serious.”

In an era of Napster, Yahoo and the early days of MySpace, a small office for digital advertising became a creative hub for creative and technically demanding web development. The two-man company grew into an agency with everything that goes with it – except that back then, design and development still took place in our own flats. “Meetings with clients also took place in a private setting,” says communication designer Benjamin Arndt.

In 2007, co-founder Nicolai Lindau left the company on friendly terms. Jan Teunissen joined in his place. His commercial experience was an important milestone in being able to expand the agency. “I have never regretted the risk of leaving permanent employment to become self-employed,” says Jan Teunissen, also managing partner. “The creative industry with its strong digital focus was ideal for it. To this day, I take great pleasure in realising great things with our clients.”

Combining digital and design know-how with expertise in organisational development proved to be a recipe for success. The care of existing clients was continuously developed. Further institutions and companies joined over the years. Among other things, Arndtteunissen developed the new appearance of the city of Langenfeld im Rheinland and, for many years, looked after the online communication of Peek&Cloppenburg in Düsseldorf. The agency became an important contact for companies such as Bayer AG, the biscuit giant Bahlsen and the table tennis record champions Borussia Düsseldorf on branding questions and digital communication. Recently, clients have also been based in Austria and Switzerland.

Arndtteunissen supports well-known corporations and up-and-coming start-ups in their communication projects and measures. And it does so across all sectors: companies from IT, industry, food, fashion, finance and real estate are represented. Associations are also among the agency's clients.

Over time, working methods, communication channels and processes have of course changed or been reinvented. But one thing has remained a strong constant at Arndtteunissen to this day: “The courage to find novel and creative solutions,” says Benjamin Arndt. We want to try out new things in order to make our clients a little better every time. That is what still drives us.”

The agency (based on Marc-Chagall-Straße since 2016) continues to focus strongly on growth. New colleagues are being sought, both for design and for web development. “Thanks to Corona, many companies have discovered the great opportunities of digitalisation and digital branding for themselves,” says Jan Teunissen. “That is exactly where we come in.” More recently, Arndtteunissen was able to develop a comprehensive digital PR portal for Douglas, the market leader in lifestyle and beauty – “which has certainly become a benchmark in the market,” as Benjamin Arndt explains.

After 20 successful and eventful years, the team is looking forward to the tasks ahead – above all to the wonderful collaboration with many enthusiastic clients.