Job Stuijt is a Senior Communications Advisor of Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Ministry of Transport.

What is the most important change in media since you started your career?When I started in 1997, the Internet was in its infancy. Today it’s hard to imagine life without it.

Which media do you think is most important for your company today?For us it is the entire mix. As a governmental department we need to use a combination of all media. Legally we’re obliged to communicate with the public and some media, like newspapers, give us guaranteed reach. I can’t make one media our hero – and that’s also reflected in our spending.

Google and Amazon promoted themselves just online. Are they an exception or can other brands do it too?It’s the exception. In our business we have a duty to communicate, so we can’t take high-risk strategies with media that might not reach the public. Because of the hit-and-miss nature of the Internet we can never be sure if the public has seen an online ad, so we concentrate on media everyone can access.

If you stopped all print communications, how would that affect your communications with the market?We need printed communications. We do a great deal of face-to-face work and that needs to be supported by tangible printed tools. For example at meetings and exhibitions, printed materials are vital and can’t be replaced. Maybe as our Customer Relationship Management systems improve and we can target the public more effectively we will print less, but it won’t be replaced.

Do you ‘tweet’?No. We actually have an internal version of Twitter, and I use that. It’s a good way to keep in touch with colleagues to see where they are and what they’re doing, just informally.

What do you think is the role of social media for brands?Social media can start conversations. It can create dialogue around a brand. It can also

make or break brands very quickly, as Nestle recently learnt. Greenpeace used the various social media sites to create huge pressure and a change of policy at Nestle. Brand managers are used to being in control of their media, and with social media you relinquish it. It allows branding to become a ‘movement’ rather than an advertising campaign.

Recent research shows business-to-business brands are still much more likely to use print such as direct mail and sales collateral than digital media. Why do you think this is?The risks attached. As a government agency we need to be sure to reach people with our communications. Social media can’t guarantee results in the way that radio, TV and press advertising can. We still need tangible printed tools to play a role. The Internet is an evolving idea. We’ll sit and watch how other prolific marketing companies like Nike or Coca-Cola use it, and see if their experiences can be applied to our situation. At present it’s a big learning curve and there are no guarantees.

Google trains advertisers how to get the best out of Google. Who does that for print? Media agencies advise us on media, but no one advises us on print work. I wouldn’t know who to call! We talk about centralising this type of activity because there are clear opportunities for efficiency, but we also want to stay flexible.

Why would you choose to print a brochure?To put something into people’s hands. We have a significant budget for print communications. But with print you never know if it always achieves its goal. I’d like to be able to get a better return on my print spend. It’s clear we need print, but no one can tell me if I need such high volume print runs.

What should be the next evolution in print?High quality, in-house printing on demand, is that too much to ask?

High quality, in-house printing on demand, is that too much to ask?

Question about print & paper? Ask the experts at hellopaper.com

“ Media agencies advise us on media, but no one advises us on print work.”

Job

Stui

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