How Dutch broadcaster BNNVARA takes on the future of content

THE CHALLENGE

As the largest public broadcaster in The Netherlands, BNNVARA noticed the importance of digitalization in its early stages. To maintain a strong connection with the audience, offering relevant, online content is a must.

Over the years, BNNVARA’s online landscape expanded to more than 100 websites with hundreds of thousands of articles, images, and videos. Each website with its own content management system (CMS), making the platform difficult to maintain, and limiting innovation speed.

To keep improving its digital presence, BNNVARA needed to change the workflow and systems used to centralize and publish content. A more robust, flexible architecture, a streamlined process, and the ability to offer more personalized experiences to the audience were mission-critical here.

THE RESULT

After implementing Prepr, BNNVARA developed all new websites, making links with the Prepr API. We supported the digital team during their implementation period, advising them on content and data strategy, and technology. This resulted in:

• A modern headless architecture that guarantees continuity and flexibility.
• Simplified and centralized content management, an approach that resulted in both significant reduction in time spent and cost savings.
• Improved personalized experiences of online content, as recommendations are now sent out based on interaction data.- More return visits and more content consumed.
• Frequently receiving valuable data and insights on how the audience perceives BNNVARAs content. By using detailed interaction data from all subbrands, the impact of BNNVARAs content is continuously optimized

Over 100 separate CMSs are rolled into 1 centralized headless architecture: a modular, integrated digital experience platform, powered by Prepr. This makes the transformation to a future-proof organization complete. Now, BNNVARA is ready to take on the future of online content, through consistent and personalized experiences.

THE SOLUTION

BNNVARA’s digital team turned to various suppliers to find a state-of-the-art headless CMS that could facilitate them in creating durable audience connections, and help them transform the outdated architecture into a new, flexible and modular headless environment.

After an extensive selection process and the development of various proof of concepts, BNNVARA chose Prepr as the central CMS for all its online communications. We carried out a preliminary investigation into a proper fit, a sound architecture, and a tailor-made design of all needed content models. Together, we decided to roll-out the following approach:

• Centralizing the content of all separate CMSs, enabling BNNVARA to work from a central portal for all brands.
• The setup of proper data management, processing event data, and linking with identity management.
• Developing personalized user experiences through recommendations and notifications.