Rapid-Round Congress Q&A: Pierre Caulliez and Martynas Vanagas, co-founders, Yoof Agency
One of the key challenges for media brands, especially those who publish news stories, is to create strategies to engage with Gen Z.
There are positives for media companies in that the generation appears to have a significant appetite for news and more general content. The issue is that they currently consume their content via video-based platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.
Two people who have a growing reputation for successfully advising legacy media brands on how to engage with Gen Z are the co-founders of Yoof Agency, Pierre Caulliez and Martynas Vanagas.
In this interview the pair:
- Explain how they work with brands to engage with Generation Z
- Discuss how social media is key to attracting younger audiences
At FIPP World Media Congress in Cascais, Portugal, on 6-8 June, they will run through some of the projects they have undertaken with legacy media brands and the lessons both they, and the companies they work with, have learned.
For specially discounted tickets click here.
Here Pierre and Martynas respond to our three rapid-round questions.
Who are you? And what is your role in the media/publishing?
Yoof is a news media agency that helps publishers worldwide to find new storytelling formats to attract and retain young audiences. We connect young audiences with publishers by making sure the news content matches the young readers’ expectations. Concretely we conduct research around the existing brands, consult and implement projects attracting young readers. The Yoof team is a mix of inventive and creative mindsets, allowing our customers to get the best insights and ideas to reach Gen-Z. Tools to get content across is one of the easiest and the most effective ways to work with young people and yet only so few publishers allocate enough resources to that.
What have been the highlights of your career in media/publishing so far?
The two founders Pierre and Martynas started Yoof when they were 18 and 19 respectively. The founding ideas were derived out of personal frustrations that news publishers fail to create content and formats in such a way young people would want to follow them.
Biggest highlight of Yoof was the co-projects with DPA, where Yoof has built a ‘newzee’ community of 40 young journalists who held sessions aimed to find solutions for the news content presentations, as a part of a national #UseTheNews initiative. The project was built on an idea that the publishers have to work directly with young people to create content they want to see. Until today that is one the biggest challenges publishers face – the editorial team often assume they know how to attract the youth. Our secret sauce is the ability to connect young motivated individuals to the news brands and derive synergies that result in content admired by the youth.
What do you see as the key trends in the media?
To us it feels that it is no longer about who gets to tell a story two minutes earlier than the other publisher. Instead of putting anything and everything out there, if we want to get young people interested and excited about news, publishers need to redefine their priorities in terms of storytelling.
Social media, one platform or the other, is the most powerful tool today. It is like a mountain, you cannot move it (you can try) but you can climb it. Utilising all ranges of social media tools to get content across is one of the easiest and the most effective ways to work with young people and yet only so few publishers allocate enough resources to that.
Explore Further
- Learn more about Yoof Agency here
- Follow them on LinkedIn
- See more Congress speakers
About Congress
The FIPP World Media Congress is a must-attend event for anyone in leadership positions in the media. Delegates can hear from an incredible range of media thought leaders and influencers while networking with their peers in the resort’s stunning venues and hotels.
For specially discounted tickets click here.
