"We feel and act like the brand itself."

Ben Botas, owner of Ben and, and Mark Helegau, founder of The Wants Social, discuss new brand logic, the end of traditional agency models, and why authenticity is more than just a buzzword.

Interview: Janaina Engelmann-Brothánek. Photos: Company

Ben, you are often referred to as a sales agency, which you feel is too narrow a description. How would you define what you do at Ben and?

Ben Botas, founder and owner of Ben and: We see ourselves as a brand. Sales are part of our job, but by no means the whole picture. We are the brand in our markets, not intermediaries. Our mission is therefore to provide comprehensive support for brands. It's all about performance, brand building, and desirability. We have to generate brand heat, otherwise there will be no lasting success. We have developed many tools for this purpose. The focus here is on sell-out, not sell-in.

One of your strengths is bringing brands that started D2C into brick-and-mortar retail.

Ben Botas: That's right. Many brands start out purely D2C. However, many of them are now open to retail. We know what it takes to successfully navigate this transformation.

Mark, you originally come from the retail sector. How has working with sales agencies changed??

Mark Helegau, Founder of The Wants Social: The old agency model has had its day. Twice a year in the showroom, a few emails in between – that's no longer enough. Brands need partners who truly become part of their system. At The Wants, our communications agency, our employees identify with the brands they work for. They don't say, "I work for The Wants," but rather, "I work for Pomdor or Copenhagen Studios." This closeness changes everything.

How did the collaboration between the two of you, Ben and The Wants , come about??

Ben Botas: Many brands have asked me: How can we generate more brand heat in Germany? Traditional PR or influencer campaigns have never had the effect I would have liked. We need much more to generate impact. I've been watching what The Wants does for a long time and see how strongly they contribute to the success of some brands. We share the same aspiration: real influence. We want a creative solution that builds brands in a tangible and measurable way and really makes a difference. We want to combine sales and communication, i.e., bring B2B and D2C together.

Mark Helegau: We call it our accelerator: a solution for brands that want to grow in the D-A-CH market. A Scandinavian brand, for example, comes to Ben and gets sales, communication, and social commerce from a single source. Many still think in silos. We work as an integrated team with a common strategy—with market understanding, a clear story, and implementation from the store to social media.

A keyword in your work is authenticity. How do you define this term for yourselves?

Mark Helegau: Authenticity is not a campaign or a face you can buy. If you have a new testimonial every quarter, you lose your DNA. It's about attitude and consistency – across print, social media, and retail. It's not a modular system, but a coherent brand experience.

Ben Botas: And it also develops in the store. If a brand is presented incorrectly in the store, it loses credibility, no matter how strong it is online. That's why we work closely with retailers, train teams, and pay attention to storytelling. A brand is only strong if it tells the same story at every touchpoint.