Südkurier campaign builds trust, support for journalism and local communities

By Thomas Liebetrau

Südkurier GmbH

Konstanz, BW, Germany

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In October last year, the editorial and marketing teams at Südkurier, based in southern Germany, launched the “We are one of you” campaign. The campaign centres on a new tonality in how we talk about our journalistic work.

“We are the ally of our readers” — this is the “purpose” of Südkurier, and although it had been developed and communicated internally, it had not yet been communicated externally. So the Südkurier teams launched a new communication programme that is more honest than ever before.

Through our journalistic work, we support the people and the local community. But our journalism also needs supporters. As Südkurier, as journalists and employees, we are right at the centre of this.

The campaign showcased local editorial teams, underscoring the message of “We are one of you.”
The campaign showcased local editorial teams, underscoring the message of “We are one of you.”

This resulted in the central message: We are one of you! Only when the editorial team and readers work together can we make a difference in the region.

Our readers should recognise that the Südkurier editorial team is not made up of journalists who simply do their job; rather, it comprises people who have turned their passion into a profession.

Like our readers, they are at home in the region. We are all neighbours, friends, family members, and club colleagues. We are all annoyed and happy about things that happen here. We are part of the local community. That’s exactly why we report. And in doing so, we make our contribution to society to make our region a little better every day.

This story, which includes both wording and visuals, is part of our new communication strategy and the core concept for our Supporter Campaign.

Creating our campaign

To establish the wording, we developed a comprehensive communication guide that was handed out to all employees in the editorial and marketing departments. This was combined with a request to actively use its wording — for example, at events or in contact with customers.

An iconic, strong design was developed for communication on posters, mailings and flyers, ads, and editorial online elements, making our brand clearly visible.

All editorial teams were photographed together in the location of their local edition. The images radiate approachability and accessibility: These people are there for you locally, and you support them with your subscription.

Along with a refresh of our design, we are implementing wording and visuals step by step in all contact points, from the poster campaign for our current editorial series to the order confirmation for new subscribers.

But how can we use direct communication with our subscribers to gain their support for our work and make them confident about their contribution?

Our strategy focuses on key touchpoints in the user journey, especially onboarding. We created a personalised onboarding flyer for every new subscriber to digital or printed subscriptions. Personalisation is based on the subscriber’s address and involves their name, selection of matching local editorial team, photos, and editorial USPs.

Every new subscriber to digital or printed subscriptions receives a personalised onboarding flyer.
Every new subscriber to digital or printed subscriptions receives a personalised onboarding flyer.

Getting to know our audience

We also looked for ways to deepen our relationship with the local communities and found these ways:

 1. Unsung heroes in clubs. People are deeply engaged in local clubs; many invest much of their life as volunteers. With “Stille Stars in Vereinen,” we celebrate them and show their benefit to local communities. We searched for the “unsung heroes in local clubs” and created a vote for them, donating a prize of €1,500 to the winners.

 2. Talk of Town debates. Local journalism covers the talk of the town regularly in products like newspapers or apps. But many readers and even more non-readers don’t contribute their opinions. Letters from readers are declining, so we invented a new way of staging the debates around the talk of the town: on stage at the City Theater Konstanz.

 

 3. Events and in-person talks. Physical proximity is key in our Supporter Campaign. We set up different formats to get in touch with subscribers and non-readers. We use our communication principles to explain our journalistic work, what it means for local communities and why people should support us.

“Südkurier opens doors” is an exclusive format for our subscribers, where they can get a glimpse behind the scenes at companies, organisations, and venues. Sponsored events with local (sports) clubs are another example of our approach, as are special events for the younger generations, including “kids reporters.”

About Thomas Liebetrau

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