History
2009
TOWN CENTER MANAGEMENT FOR CITY OF KORTRIJK
As town center manager of Kortrijk (as the company ‘Het Opzet’), Maarten Decramer, founder and CEO of Wisely, saw more than ever the need for innovative hands-on marketing management to attract customers to the city center and have them return. He dabbled in the shopping streets of Kortrijk for > 3 years, learning the tricks of marketing for retail and leisure (tourism, events, culture, etc.).
2013
SOLUTIONS FOR CITIES AND SHOPPING CENTERS
In 2013, a decision was made on the more specialized mission of ‘Het Opzet’: They would assist cities and municipalities with efficient tools and campaigns to activate their inhabitants and shoppers. But it soon turned out that this approach also worked in retail parks and shopping centers and to support events. And with success, because in the short term the company evolved into a multidisciplinary team of 10 driven people, working for various cities, retail parks and events.
‘Het Opzet’ was spotlighted by a number of umbrella loyalty & gift voucher systems for inner city centers (Tongeren, Poperinge, …) that it had implemented. It led the founders to a merger / sale of the company to Joyn, currently still the largest loyalty & marketing platform in Belgium for local commerce.
2018
BIRTH OF WISELY, 100% FOCUS ON IMPACT MAKING FOR RETAIL AND LEISURE
In early 2018, the team that had worked together for years started the new Wisely. With an even more experienced focus on marketing for environments where (1) retail is the core (such as cities, town center management, shopping streets, shopping centers, retail parks) or (2) leisure the goal (such as events, festivals, holiday or theme parks, associations … ).
Not ‘just’ a communication agency, but specialized in (medium) long term marketing management. The Wisely team is, as a matter of speaking, a part-time colleague of its customers.