The choice of target audiences within the framework of their Table Stakes Europe project quickly became evident to the Rossel Est Médias team. Operating in a region deeply attached to Champagne production, the group decided to address “those who make the wine and those who love it.”

Challenging conventional wisdom, the Abendblatt team’s journey with Table Stakes Europe has allowed them to prove that regional cultural content, when done well, CAN attract new digital subscribers. The successes of the culture desk are now inspiring change in the wider newsroom.

The French media company decided to target women working in the finance sector after identifying a critical gap in the demographics of their subscribers and event attendees. The aim is to help women build careers in finance by producing content that helps them create aspirational professional paths and by providing useful networking opportunities.

During its participation in Table Stakes Europe, Grupo Joly’s digital team made a firm commitment to establish and encourage new habits in the newsroom by restructuring teams and improving processes. Thanks to the work done over these months, which has included new approaches to the use of data, holding meetings and the creation of internal playbooks, the company has a firm plan for approaching the future of digital media based on ongoing innovation and adaptation and, above all, without losing sight of the focus on specific audiences.

The Finnish local newspaper overhauled its entire newsroom based on lessons learned from successful audience-focused experiments. The key objective: to better engage new, younger digital subscribers. “Everything we do, every day, should only be things that support our goals. We have tried to build a structure that forces us to do that,” said
Jyrki Utriainen, Karjalainen’s Managing Editor.

Rheinische Post is a large and influential media group in the Rhineland, in the west of Germany, a regional giant. Their flagship title started its Table Stakes Europe, audience-centric journey with “Willkommen, Baby!”, a cluster of digital content targeted at parents-to-be. It was a game-changer, and nudged the publisher forward in its digital transformation. Here is how.

In September 2022, toward the end of their Table Stakes Europe participation, the team from Italian newspaper Il Giornale de Vicenza launched a Design/Do sprint exploring a new offer aimed at the fans of their local football team, L.R. Vicenza. They wanted to create a space that would bring people together around a club to which they have remained incredibly loyal, even if its history has not spared their emotions.

The pandemic forced the German local newspaper to rapidly rethink its approach to sports journalism. The company quickly identified the fans of the local basketball team, Brose Bamberg, as a potential target audience, and its sports desk has revamped its content production to successfully engage them.

Editorial coverage of amateur football is of interest to those who play it as well as their families, friends and sponsors: people who are loyal to their local teams in their victories and defeats. These engaged communities represent a significant potential for a regional daily newspaper. La Voix du Nord has long been aware of their importance and, since the end of 2021, has been saying it loud and clear to fans.

In the beginning of 2022, the newspaper based in Tübingen in southwest Germany launched its first audio product, a podcast called “Am Gericht” (“At the courthouse”). The show looks at issues related to crime and justice, and it has been particularly successful among women, young audiences, and current and future legal professionals in the region.