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DIGITALE WEEK
At the end of the summer of 2024, the Employment and Social Economy Department of the Flemish government reached out to us, regarding a PR approach for the Digital Week (‘de Digitale Week’ in Dutch). The concept? Local libraries, schools and governments organize free and interactive info sessions across Flanders to improve people’s digital knowledge and stimulate curiosity about the digital world. For nine days straight, from November 2-10. The Digital Week was initiated by the Department, together with the ‘Agentschap Binnenlands Bestuur (ABB)’, Cultuurconnect, Mediawijs, Linc vzw, and the ‘Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten (VVSG)’.
HYPERLOCAL & NATIONAL APPROACH ALL IN ONE
How to enthuse the general public, consisting of people with various levels of digital skills and of all ages? How to underline the need for a concept such as the Digital Week in 2024? And how to reach the press?
We worked with two key moments during which we contacted the press: the announcement of the Digital Week one month prior to the start of the event, and the start of the Digital Week itself. At both moments, we reached out to both local – think five provinces – and national press. We scanned all initiatives on newsworthiness, and summed up the most eye-catching ones per province, with compelling copy and practical info. Local media thus received solely the nearby initiatives, combined with the general press release.
In collaboration with the initiators of the Digital Week, we gathered and pitched the personal stories of multiple people that recently benefitted from digital inclusion. On top of that human interest factor, we pitched interviews with the Digital Week’s spokesperson and ditto expert in digital inclusion, as well as with an independent professor – specialized in digitization. To stress the importance of digital inclusion, we scanned reports of the King Baudouin Foundation and imec’s digimeter for relevant numbers. Did you know that four out of ten Flemish people are still digitally vulnerable? Last but not least, we bundled the most newsworthy regional initiatives in a press kit for national media.
TERRIFIC COVERAGE, ASTONISHING ROI
The Digital Week received a tremendous amount of coverage: over 80 news items, including 15 radio and television items. Next to dozens of customised local articles and news reports – from Ieper over Halle to Hamont-Achel, the Digital Week received national attention as well. With an opinion piece in Knack, a full-blown report in ‘Het Journaal’ by VRT and experts giving insights on Radio 1’s ‘De Ochtend’ and ‘Radio 2’s ‘Wat een Weekend’, the Digital Week received the attention it deserves.
Number-wise? The ROI was an astounding 53, even without radio and television items. Most importantly however, the Digital Week reached and attracted thousands of people across Flanders. People that, thanks to the initiatives, improved their digital knowledge. People that got their curiosity stimulated about the digital world. People that showed that, even in 2024, the concept of the Digital Week is still highly relevant.
- Making Digitale Week visible and tangible as a socially relevant concept
- Develop and create PR hooks around a nine-day event all over Flanders
- Position the spokesperson as a thought-leader on his expertise: digital inclusion
- Copywriting & editing of a press release and a press kit
- Press mailings