Title	OMROEP ZWART
Brand	OMROEP ZWART
Product/Service	BROADCAST
Category	D06. Breakthrough on a Budget
Entrant	MEDIA.MONKS Hilversum, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation	MEDIA.MONKS Hilversum, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation 2	BUUTVRIJ FOR LIFE Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation 3	WEFILM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation 4	HAMMERFEST BV Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation 5	MAAK Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Additional Company	PRSSKD Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Additional Company 2	HAVAS MEDIA Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Additional Company 3	VIGICS, THE NETHERLANDS
Additional Company 4	BAAS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
NA NA	NA	NA

Why is this work relevant for Social & Influencer?

Many different, brave, colourful people inhabit the Netherlands… until you start watching TV. The Dutch media landscape is fairly homogeneous. While a lot of Dutch can relate to this homogenous image, a good many cannot. Majority rule generally doesn’t favour underrepresented groups' interests. And there are quite a few underrepresented groups in our country. Fortunately, the Dutch broadcasting system is public. Which enables everyone that successfully attracts 50.000 paying members before the deadline of 31 December 2020, to apply as a broadcaster and make their voice be heard.

Background

A wealth of scientific studies confirms: representation matters. It is essential for growth and self-acceptance, while underrepresentation negatively impacts one's self-image and mental health. You simply can’t relate to what you can’t see. Yes, we all know #OscarsSoWhite and #BAFTAsoWhite. But it would be silly to pretend the Dutch media are doing much better. Frankly, when it comes to representation, diversity and inclusivity, the NPO (Dutch public broadcasting service) has a dramatic track record. And that’s quite something for an entity that has societal representation as one of its founding principles.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

We celebrate our differences: we are all unique and that is what unites us. This is how the idea for ‘Omroep ZWART’ came into being. Omroep ZWART connects people, regardless of their skin tone, preferences, heritage, culture, disability, religion or gender. It’s the first intrinsically inclusive TV broadcast station of the Netherlands. To put this new broadcaster on the map, we developed a community driven campaign. We invited everyone to participate. Not only in the campaign video, but also on Instagram with pictures and AR filters, during Instagram Live sessions and through the engaging social content and social conversations. All unique people with their own stories, motivations and followers. They helped to bring true ‘full-colour TV’ to the Netherlands by connecting the country's many bubbles.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Many different, brave, colourful people inhabit the Netherlands… until you start watching TV. Our broadcasting landscape severely lacks diversity, especially at the maker's table. Last year’s events prompted two Dutch artist-activists to start a broadcaster that reflects the actual world. The catch? They needed 50K paying members before December 31. We started out by creating a solid brand that celebrates ALL people. Omroep ZWART is a party and this time, everyone is invited. Our next move was to create a brand film that reframed the word ‘ZWART’ (black) into something positive (which in itself was painfully telling). The film also explains what Omroep ZWART will add to the Dutch broadcasting landscape. We then carefully planned the campaign in three steps.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

First, we created buzz. As there was no budget, we mass-invited hundreds of influencers who shared their photo with the campaign copy: ‘Awake? Join the new broadcaster’. Consumers responded with a resounding ‘yes’, resulting in lots of media attention. This yielded a total of 29.000 paying members in the first weeks. Secondly, we released the brand film, organized Instagram live sessions with friends of ZWART, shared the ZWART ideology through daily social content and stimulated new members to share their membership on social with the question: ‘Awake?’ Using a personal Instagram filter, they became immediate ambassadors. Thirdly, once we hit 25K members, we organized ‘Double Day’ in which we asked every single member to bring along one friend and spread the ZWART story with their followers.

List the results (30% of vote)

Omroep ZWART was born. With almost 60K members ZWART has cemented the No.1 spot amongst all candidate broadcasters. The plan has been submitted and received a positive recommendation by the National Council of Culture. Within three weeks of the campaign launch, Omroep ZWART became the most- followed Dutch broadcaster on Instagram (100.000+ followers). A marvellous basis for sharing formats and scouting talent, something that is already happening now. Furthermore, the ZWART Instagram account is currently sharing stories to get to know each other, In a way that has never been seen before within the Dutch Broadcasting System. Getting to know and learn from each other is at the heart of inclusion. That’s something we want to achieve with ZWART and what has already been achieved with the launch campaign of ZWART.