A brand new studio

“Trends and Kanaal Z have joined forces, because together, they get smarter. And today, we’ll all get a bit smarter together as well.” That’s how Xavier Bouckaert (CEO, Roularta Media Group), welcomed everyone at last Friday’s seminar. But before kicking off the keynotes, Xavier had a surprise for the visiting advertisers and media agencies: by tapping the mysterious button on stage, he revealed the brand new and state-of-the-art Kanaal/Canal Z newsroom. 

The challenges of (good) journalism

Niels Famaey (Publisher News & Business, Roularta Media Group) gave an introduction on the challenges of modern journalism – and the solutions that are available. News consumption is happening (accelerated) digitally and AI is entering the game, unfortunately opening a window of opportunity for fake news. Niels: “AI cannot do journalism: it can never find news, because the news is what’s new. What it can do, and how it will help journalism, is by summarizing, repurposing, giving context, repackaging, transcribing, and so on. It frees journalists to do high quality journalism.”

2023 Decision Makers Survey results

Linda Scheerlinck (Research Manager, Roularta Advertising) presented the results of the 2023 Decision Makers Survey, conducted in May with responses of nearly 1500 professional decision makers and executives. Some key takeaways:

1. Decision makers are media omnivores: they are addicted to information and consult many different media to continuously expand their knowledge – emphasizing the importance of a multi-channel media strategy to target this group
2. They remain stable and predictable: their consumption habits and use of media have remained nearly identical since the previous Decision Makers Survey (together with Trustmedia in 2015)
3. Print still rules: paper versions of newspapers and magazines continue to be widely consumed and readers show a strong preference for accessing the full context through the traditional print format
4. Nevertheless, the importance of technology cannot be overstated: more than 80% believes AI will become the biggest gamechanger in business
5. Advertising plays an influential role: an impressive 50% of respondents reported that they have discovered new products or brands thanks to advertising

Of course, this is just a fraction of the insights on the buying behaviour and media consumption of decision makers, so we strongly recommend planning a follow-up moment with your account manager.

Contact us for more info on this survey

AI: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly

Vlerick professor and renowned author/ keynote speaker Mieke De Ketelaere came to demystify generative AI for advertisers. Most memorable quote: “AI today is at the level that cars were at the 1950s. It’s having a negative impact on people’s decisions. Yes, it can speed up your tasks and decrease your costs, but be critical, because any bias or error in the world is also in the generative systems that are out there.”  In short: AI can be an incredible tool for marketeers, but even though its output might seem impeccable on the surface, human oversight remains an essential part of the process.

Strong collaborations between news editors and advertisers

Amid Faljaoui (Director, Trends-Tendances) presented his vision for the business newsroom of Roularta, illustrated by some inspiring collaborations with advertisers. Take for instance CBCs successful Kanaal/Canal Z debate with Luc Ferry (philosopher, minister, author) on the future of private banking, of which the ROI “was higher than we aimed for”. Or take the case of Credendo’s Risk Atlas, as summarized by Nabil Jijakli (CEO): “We sell products that aren’t very sexy or easy to explain. At Roularta, we can target business leaders and finance directors with content created by quality journalists who make difficult issues understandable, via various media channels.”

B2B storytelling: discover our Business Narrative Pack 

Last but definitely not least, Philippe Belpaire (General Manager, Roularta Advertising) presented a special storytelling package for B2B advertisers that includes print, online and tv. After the tour of the Kanaal/Canal Z studio, the first advertisers also already showed their interest in using the studio for their webinars. Philippe: “You can't just sell a B2B service with a classic advertisement – storytelling is key. That’s why we reflected on how we can leverage our biggest business newsroom of the country to create a storytelling formula that reflects all those touchpoints in one service.”

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