The Company
In 1996, Jesper Jos Olsson, Magnus Lindahl, Erik Wickström and Johan Staël von Holstein founded IconMedialab in Stockholm. They had backgrounds in media, marketing, interactive television and banking.
At this time Jonas Birgersson's Framtidsfabriken created one of the world’s first internet launches of a new car model when the Volvo C70 is introduced.
Lost Boys created Lost Boys Formula game development, a new base for developing top quality games hardware platforms including PCs, Sony PlayStation and Gameboy colour.
The Market
The potential power and reach of the Internet became a hot topic.
Clients
IconMedialab started to work with Swedish Post, Canon and an important Swedish stockbroker. In 1998 IconMedialab completed projects for various clients ranging from Fujitsu to SAS and LEGO.
During 1996 Framtidsfabriken becomes main supplier of Internet services for Volvo Cars. AstraZeneca, IKEA and Nike also join a growing client list.
Lost Boys delivers projects for clients including Postbank, ING Bank and Wegener. The company also develops a CD-Rom presenting a true-to-life experience of Anne Frank's hideout during the Second World War which wins several prestigious international awards.
The Company
IconMedialab and Framtidsfabriken continued to expand throughout Europe and the US. By 2001, IconMedialab had approximately 1700 employees in 19 countries.
In 1999, Framtidsfabriken, Swedish for "Future Factory", changed its name to Framfab to make it more internationally accessible. Framfab is listed on the Stockholm Exchange and through a merger with Netsolutions, becomes one of Europe's largest Internet Consulting companies. In 2000 the company merged with Guide and won its first Cyber Lion Grand Prix Award at Cannes. At the end of the same year Framfab had about 2650 employees.
Meanwhile, Lost Boys opened its first international office in Barcelona in 1999 and acquired an Internet consultancy firm, an integrated web-solutions firm and a company specialized in content and usability research in 2000. It continued its international growth in 2001, acquiring a web-solutions firm in Paris and branding specialist MetaDesign in Berlin.
The Market
E-business consultants competed in developing critical mass and global reach to meet the needs of their international clients.
Clients
IconMedialab completed projects for clients varying from Coca-Cola to the European Commission and from Nestlé to Telecom Italia.
Framfab starts working for example Maersk Sealand, Carlsberg, Hydro Texaco, and Kellogg's, and wins the prestigious Cyber Lion Grand Prix Award in Cannes. Lost Boys completed projects such as an online banking solution for Postbank, a shopping tool for Caprabo and an online sales tool for O'Neill.
The Company
In January 2002, IconMedialab and Lost Boys merged. The merger was an important stage in further developing the company. IconMedialab and Lost Boys operated under joint management and continued to work with existing brand names in their respective markets.
At the General Meeting on 4 June 2004, the statutory name of the Company was changed from Icon Medialab Int. AB into LB Icon AB. On 9 July 2004 LB Icon obtained a second listing of its shares on Euronext Amsterdam.
The Market
The market is becoming mature and professional. Clients are gaining more knowledge of the opportunities the digital environment offers.
Clients
The company works with clients all over the world such as Alitalia, Audi, Banco Comercial Português, Commerzbank, Ferrari, ING Group, KLM, Lamborghini, MasterCard International, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Novartis, Pirelli, Sony Computer Entertainment, Unilever and Volkswagen.
In 2002, the Cyber Lions Awards jury describes Framfab’s work with nikefootball.com as, "The best thing that happened on the web last year". The agency continued its winning streak with work on brands like Nike, AstraZeneca and Volvo Trucks.
The Company
In 2005 Framfab acquires Oyster and creates the No.1 player in the UK.
LB Icon and Framfab are well structured and healthy companies delivering world class solutions to international clients. When the two former competitors merged in August 2006, they form LBI International AB and become the leading digital and interactive agency in Europe.
The LBI International share is listed on the Stockholm and Euronext Exchanges using the symbol "LBI".
The Market
Broadband penetration is growing rapidly and advertising budgets is moving from traditional channels to Internet. Consumers are spending more and more of their media time online and companies are increasing expenditure on internet initiatives.
Clients
Clients and projects are getting more and more international and both companies increase the share of clients that are collaborating with them as full service agency. With the merger and forming of LBI International in mid 2006 another important step in the ability of providing - as a full service agency - services to international clients is completed.
The Company
2007 has seen strong sales influenced by our increased media services and search related activities. Our continued growth in this area is a key advantage to our full service offering that positions LBi as a more strategic partner with our larger clients and their increased appetite for spending on digital advertising.
LBi was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in its report Forrester Wave™ European Interactive Agencies – Web Design Capabilities Q4 2007. In this evaluation, LBi was cited as a leader in the field. The findings were based on LBi’s delivery of standout Persona, Brand and User Experience Driven Web Design.
2007 also brings five new agencies to the LBi network. We acquired a majority stake in Vizualize Technologies PVT Ltd (Vizualize) in India, as well as Creative Digital Group (CDG) located in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States and Syrup LLC in New York City, Stama NL in Amsterdam and Iven & Hillman in Berlin.
The Market
Demand in the digital marketing and communication sector continues to show strong growth. Although the current assumption exists that overall spending on advertising will slow down, the amount spent on digital will in fact remain strong at the expense of traditional media such as print and broadcasting. According to Zenith Optimedia, worldwide expenditures for advertising are expected to rise by approximately 5% on average. Analysts generally agree on the continuing trend of shifting spending towards the lower cost Internet marketing.
Furthermore, Zenith estimates that 80% of the world’s fastest growing advertising markets are located in Central and Eastern Europe. Zenith predicts a worldwide growth of Internet advertising by approximately 30% in 2007. While overall spending in advertising fell by 0.5 percent in the first half of 2007 at the expense of print and broadcasting, internet advertising grew by 23% in first half 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitorplus. On the competitive front, the outlook for the last few months of 2007 continuing into 2008 will most likely show heightened activity in combinations of various independent digital services companies particularly in Europe. Consolidation in the US has been ahead of the European market but we should see more such activity in Europe in the future. While the traditional holding companies have a scale advantage, their lack of an integrated digital service offering creates tremendous opportunities for the few key players such as LBi.
Clients
LBi has enjoyed another year of working with our amazing clients and meeting lots of new faces across all of our markets, including London 2012, HMV, Canon, FT.com, Lavazza, Swarowski, Issey Miyake, Kia, Sara Lee and Citroen.