Do you read the headlines or the newspaper?

From a leading, quality newspaper, you expect strong promises about ‘sharpness’, ‘interpretation’ or ‘nuance’. However, our strategy revolves around the seemingly weak notion of ‘fun’. But it isn’t weak at all. Precisely the fact that it’s very ‘un-serious-newspaper-like’ makes it powerful. It steers away from typical newspaper clichés, and creates an immediately interesting contrast to the prevailing image of de Volkskrant. We emphasised that friction with the tagline ‘Meer weten is wel zo leuk’ (‘It’s nice to know more’, a phrase integrating a Dutch figure of speech). This wasn’t the way you’d expect the Volkskrant to communicate, while retaining the ‘right’ content and tone. Subsequently, we chose to use the headline-scanning tendencies of the ‘nu.nl generation’ as creative springboard for the executional concept, by using ‘Do you read headlines or do your read the paper?’ as the main header throughout all media. For TV, it was translated in a humorous style to conversations that fail to pick up steam due to people’s limited knowledge of events beyond the headlines. Naturally, besides TV, a lot of focus was placed on online media, which is the primary point of contact for young newsreaders. In the end 104,000 trial subscriptions were realised.

Aiming roughly for the nu.nl-reading audience, we looked for a light-hearted jumping-off point with the pleasure of reading de Volkskrant front and centre. With that reading pleasure coming from the breezy tone and style of writing. But also from the subject matter, which provides a lot of room for the lighter things in life. And of course from being in the know, of knowing what you’re talking about, of being a good conversational partner. In a discussion with editor-in-chief Philippe Remarque, he summarised that pleasure with the phrase ‘smart with a smile’ – that hit the nail on the head, leading directly to the central insight: smart can be fun.

De Volkskrant is in a healthy state in terms of credibility and readership loyalty. However, there’s a perception problem that’s limiting growth potential: de Volkskrant is perceived as slightly grouchy by some, as ‘The Daily Vinegar’. Unjustifiably so. The new course charted under editor-in-chief Philippe Remarque has rendered that perception highly inaccurate – the tone now is lighter, with more flair and room for playfulness. So the brand needs to follow suit. And not least because that slightly sour image is stemming the flow of new subscribers, particularly among younger people, sceptical as they are about why they need to read a newspaper in the first place: ‘News is everywhere, right? And free?’ So we received the challenging assignment of developing a campaign that readjusts brand perception and makes relevant target groups more receptive to a trial subscription.