Mediahuis​’s Boaz Shkolnik on how AI, audio and agility are riding its B2B transformation

Mediahuis is without doubt one of the Netherlands’ main media teams. With a wide-ranging portfolio of nationwide and regional newspapers and virtual manufacturers, it not too long ago expanded its advertiser achieve around the nation’s northern and southern areas.

As we undertaking additional into 2025, what were the spaces of enlargement and encouragement for Mediahuis within the final 12 months?

Mediahuis has grown considerably within the audio area. We have taken an important place within the radio marketplace by means of obtaining 4 radio stations. In addition to radio, Mediahuis has grown its podcast community by means of developing top quality podcast collection and extending our community with third-party podcasts, making Mediahuis one of the crucial greatest podcast networks within the Netherlands. With this addition of audio to our community, we’ve really turn out to be a cross-media community the place we achieve greater than 80% of the Dutch marketplace from early morning until past due at night time on quite a lot of media channels.

Is AI having a big influence on your enterprise, and in what tactics?

Absolutely. While device studying has been a part of our business for the final 10 years, the newest traits in AI mark an actual shift. And whilst this shift brings new demanding situations, I’m most commonly eager about the alternatives it unlocks for us.

From higher information research to content material technology and speeded up product building, AI is already having a tangible influence. For instance, our engineers now use equipment similar to Cursor to construct and check new options in days as an alternative of weeks, permitting us to experiment extra freely and transfer from concept to execution a lot quicker.

I attempt to unfold that sense of chance throughout groups, encouraging experimentation and rethinking how we paintings. One dialog we’re having: if the price of construction issues has dropped dramatically, what does that imply for the way we prioritize, validate and take dangers in product building and innovation usually?

How is your courting with the large tech platforms?

Pragmatic. We have interaction with the platforms each as companions and competition. We price distribution alternatives however also are desirous about rising our owned environments, the place we will be offering extra keep an eye on, believe and transparency to advertisers.

Can you percentage any cutting edge methods your company is imposing? How are you leveraging generation to strengthen your promoting choices?

Our B2B division’s innovation technique is constructed round 4 core pillars, all of which can be pushed by means of generation:

1. Product innovation: We’re increasing our proprietary advert suite that connects our purchasers’ converting wishes with the breadth of our portfolio. It’s incessantly subtle the usage of marketing campaign effects, Jstomer comments and marketplace traits.

2. Sales enablement: We’re construction an AI-powered interior device that helps our gross sales groups in developing probably the most related and treasured answers for purchasers. It additionally is helping us higher perceive Jstomer call for and adapt our providing accordingly.

3. Operational excellence: By automating repetitive duties around the division, we fortify potency, cut back mistakes and make extra time for strategic paintings and Jstomer collaboration, enabling us to scale with out pointless overhead.

4. Client revel in: We’re lately creating new client-facing equipment to simplify marketing campaign setup, reporting and insights. The objective is to present purchasers extra keep an eye on and transparency, whilst proceeding to supply the non-public carrier that units us aside.

In what approach does promoting enhance your subscription pressure?

Advertising finances top quality journalism that builds believe and loyalty, which is the core of our product and the explanation why other folks believe a subscription to our information content material.

What are the important thing components of creating a robust model in as of late’s marketplace? How do you take care of model relevance in a unexpectedly converting atmosphere?

Strong manufacturers as of late are constructed on goal, consistency and relevance. It’s about having a transparent identification, appearing up in the precise puts and developing content material that truly is helping or evokes your target market. At Mediahuis, we see manufacturers win once they act like publishers – main with concept management and construction long-term relationships.

To keep related, it’s important to be agile. Listen carefully, adapt temporarily and keep aligned with what your target market cares about. The marketplace adjustments rapid, but when your model is apparent on its goal and tuned into its target market, you keep forward.

How do you tailor your methods in your other markets? Are there any peculiarities about your nation/marketplace within the promoting area (eg, your merger with the regionals)?

It is vital to tailor your methods to the other markets. At Mediahuis, we structured our whole B2B division to distinguish our gross sales effort, product building, advertising and marketing messaging, marketing campaign reporting, and many others, between the nationwide and regional promoting markets. We consider that those are two other markets that require a special means, communicate a special language and feature other wishes. And inside of those two markets, there also are variations between industries through which we adapt our providing and repair.

How do you achieve more youthful audiences in 2025?

Reaching more youthful audiences in 2025 isn’t with regards to being at the proper platforms – it’s about being related, original and including price within the moments that subject. Younger pros, particularly Gen Z and more youthful Millennials, are extremely media-savvy. They be expecting manufacturers to appreciate their time, talk their language and display up with goal. We additionally acknowledge that more youthful audiences continuously blur the road between paintings and existence. They eat trade content material on TikTook, ConnectedIn, podcasts or even Instagram – continuously outdoor of running hours. So we meet them the place they’re, with content material that’s mobile-first, visually enticing and designed to spark dialog.

What is your general view of the state of the promoting marketplace? How are you adapting to any decline?

In basic, I consider that an excessive amount of promoting spend goes to the large tech platforms, bringing native publishers beneath force. That’s why we see a shift in opposition to subscription fashions for content material. We adapt by means of making an investment in different trade fashions than conventional promoting to make amends for any loss and search for potency alternatives like streamlining processes and self-service answers.

Does print are compatible into your promoting portfolio (if print continues to be related to you)? And if that is so, is print part of an general portfolio proposal and the way do you get print at the radar of (basically younger) media planners and patrons?

Yes, print continues to be related in our portfolio – particularly in top rate and regional contexts. We place it as a part of a multi-platform technique, continuously used to counterpoint virtual activations with brand-safe, high-attention environments.

What about long run promoting tendencies? What are you seeing? Is video promoting the long run?

We’re seeing a shift in how manufacturers hook up with audiences. Advertising is changing into much less about vast impressions and extra about significant engagements. In the B2B area, particularly, relevance, personalization and believe are the entirety. That’s the place publishers like Mediahuis Nederland play a important function – we carry credibility, high quality content material environments and deep target market insights.

Video is indubitably a large a part of the long run, no longer simply because it’s enticing, however as it’s flexible. We’re seeing sturdy enlargement in short-form video. The energy of video lies in storytelling – if it might teach, encourage or galvanize concept, it earns consideration. At the similar time, we’re additionally seeing a resurgence in contextual promoting. With third-party cookies on their approach out, advertisers are rediscovering the worth of putting their messages inside of relied on, related content material – and that’s one thing we’ve at all times carried out neatly. In brief, the long run is multi-format and data-driven – with video, sure, but in addition with audio, local, high-impact show and particularly inventive partnerships between manufacturers and publishers that know their audiences inside of out.

How do you envision the media panorama evolving over the following decade? What function will conventional media play on this long run?

Media will turn out to be extra customized, decentralized and immersive. Traditional media will stay related if it continues to innovate and construct believe. Our function is to filter out sign from noise and supply dependable content material in each and every structure other folks want.

Video will keep growing, however the actual shift is in how promoting content material is being made, delivered, and measured. Thanks to AI, we’re seeing a large jump in personalization – no longer simply in messaging, however in inventive itself. Where A/B trying out was once as soon as restricted to headlines and replica, it’s now increasing into visible content material, video or even codecs, as a result of generating and localizing variants has turn out to be quicker and less expensive than ever.

At the similar time, Jstomer expectancies are evolving. Influenced by means of tech platforms, they now call for upper efficiency, seamless workflows, and whole transparency in reporting. Most publishers have had – and also have – a troublesome time maintaining, just because their trade fashions and scale are essentially other from the ones of the platform giants.

We’re additionally seeing renewed pastime in direct-sold, top rate local codecs – particularly when paired with intuitive self-service programs. That aggregate of keep an eye on and high quality is changing into an increasing number of treasured in a cluttered, automatic panorama.

What are the most important demanding situations going through media firms as of late? Where do you notice probably the most important alternatives for enlargement?

The greatest problem is incomes consideration in a saturated, noisy global whilst balancing believe and innovation. The greatest alternative is construction deeper, extra direct relationships with audiences and advertisers thru information, generation and high quality content material.

A big problem is our courting with tech platforms. They lend a hand us achieve huge audiences, however they haven’t at all times been dependable companions. A unmarried set of rules alternate can vastly influence our visibility and site visitors. The key’s discovering tactics to stick provide on those platforms with out changing into depending on them.

Another shift is the upward thrust of particular person creators as manufacturers. This adjustments the dynamics of affect and target market loyalty. As media firms, we want to reconsider how we upload price, whether or not thru collaboration, curation or providing one thing creators can’t simply reflect: believe, context and constant editorial requirements.

At the similar time, AI is converting how content material is made, pushing us to reconsider structure and distribution. Instead of one-size-fits-all content material, we now suppose in programs: tales that adapt throughout textual content, video, audio and social. And in a global that’s an increasing number of virtual, alternatives would possibly lie in one thing extra human, like construction deeper target market connections thru real-world stories. Ultimately, our function is to translate that connection into price for our target market, but in addition for our purchasers, thru promoting, branded content material or codecs that don’t exist at this time, however may well be simply across the nook. It’s my activity to verify we’re able, with the precise other folks and equipment to carry them to existence.