More audience? This is how Cinekid and EenVandaag make it happen

1. The interaction team of EenVandaag

How can we better tailor our stories to the needs of our audience? That was the question the editorial team of EenVandaag asked themselves. The TV program began their quest with audience measurements and a feedback group. "This research showed that 54% of respondents still had questions after watching our items," says online editor-in-chief Gerson Veenstra. "We wanted to do something about that."

What questions does the audience have?

So the editorial team decided to start asking questions. What do you want to know about the fireworks ban? What questions do you have about inflation? Gerson: "You might think: isn't that obvious? But journalists are not used to working this way."

The results

Four months of experimenting yielded significant results for EenVandaag:

• The audience wants this. People respond en masse to the call, regardless of the topic or channel. In four months, the editorial team received 21,000 questions.
  
• The audience feels that EenVandaag listens to them better. In a final measurement, 51% of respondents said so. In the initial measurement, this was 41%.
• Editors and reporters find it useful to know what questions are being asked about a topic. It helps them in creating stories.
• It results in more targeted content.
• Articles that stemmed from audience questions always ended up in the top 10 of most-read stories.

How do you reach young people?

Just as it’s not common for journalists to ask their viewers what they want to know, it’s also not standard in the cultural sector to survey potential visitors about what they need. That’s a shame because you miss out on a lot of audiences that way. Young people, for example. Gerson: "We have the same problem as the cultural sector; the average viewer of NPO 1 is 62 years old. Young people are not interested in our program. Research shows that if Gen Z can connect one-on-one with a journalist, they are interested. If we want to reach them, we’ll have to do it differently."

What does it bring?

By involving the audience in the program, EenVandaag creates items that better meet the news needs. This brings in new viewers. Gerson: "We’ve expanded our interaction team to six people who are fully dedicated to developing a direct relationship with our audience."

2. The digital transformation of Cinekid

How can you transform with limited resources? That was the question Cinekid asked itself. The children’s film festival, with 15 employees (expanding to 40 during the festival), is a small organization facing big challenges.
Collaboration is the answer.

How do you become an online film festival?

When festivals could only take place digitally in 2020, all film festivals decided to collectively build an online platform. Each had its own 'container' on the backend and its own virtual world on the front end. They also arranged the financing together.

We’ve become a digital organization, what now?

It turned out to be a successful experiment. So successful that Cinekid decided to continue with it. Heleen Rouw, director of Cinekid: "Inclusivity is important to us, and the platform proved to be the perfect tool to make content accessible to all children. So we wanted to keep doing it." Easier said than done, because how do you transform from a festival organization into a digital organization?

Create a digital strategy

Cinekid started with the DEN focus model, a practical tool for developing your digital strategy. Heleen: "Digital transformation only works if you implement it on both a project and tactical level. This also makes your strategy more deliberate." Every project was evaluated:

• Why are we doing this?
• When is it a success?
• How can we work better (together)?
• How do we maximize the impact?
• How do we make this project scalable?

Making choices

Heleen: "Our challenge is that we are very limited in our resources: time and money. That means we have to make choices." Cinekid does this as follows:

1. Low-hanging fruit first. What simple things can be changed with minimal effort?
2. No more standalone projects. All activities must align with the strategy.
3. All activities must positively contribute to Cinekid's value.
4. Think before you start. Always ask yourself: how much time will this take? Is it worth it? Does it actually fit?

And finally, Cinekid decided to bring digital expertise in-house. Heleen: "We used to outsource that, but it no longer fits with what we want." Cinekid's transformation is in full swing. "This year, the most exciting thing is not the festival but our digital transformation."