#1 Understand your target group: who they are, where they are and what they want
Joost Klein understands one thing very well: the Eurovision Song Contest must appeal to new – read: younger – viewers in order to remain relevant in the future. “It is clear that he wants to involve a younger target group in the event,” says Ellen Vergouwen-Tournier, head of branding at web and marketing agency WeMessage. ‘Generation Z and Generation Alpha, or people in their twenties, teenagers and children.’
Where are they? On TikTok. Instagram and Facebook were hardly used for promotion and Klein also made little appearance in the media. Well, Arjen Lubach received the scoop and of course the song was heard on the radio. But the focus is on TikTok, where every video about Europapa can count on millions of views.
Europapa is therefore a typical TikTok song. It grabs you immediately, says social media expert Kirsten Jassies. Klein is the first Eurovision Song Contest participant ever to choose a happy hardcore record. The song is energetic, the chorus simple and full of repetition. Jassies: ‘It’s an earworm, it sticks in your head. If it comes along while you’re scrolling, you keep looking.’
Of course Europapa got its own TikTok dance. That was adopted en masse. Not only by fans, but also by companies that capitalized on the success. Employees from Hema and Jumbo, among others, went wild with the choreography. Another example is vegetable supplier Hak, who – what’s in a name – is working on the heels hit. Jassies: ‘That made it gain even more strength.’
Also read: Want to score on TikTok? ‘Young people can see right through it when companies behave boomerish’
The Europapa campaign may mainly target a younger audience, but Klein knows that with Europapa he has created a song that appeals to several generations. Even more so because he brought gabber icon Paul Elstak on board. Jassies: ‘Happy hardcore is new for young people, while it evokes nostalgia for millennials and generation X.’
#2 Connect and mobilize your supporters
Klein started his campaign a year ago. He reported on May 17, 2023, the Eurovision Song Contest still fresh in everyone’s memory TikTok that he wanted to be next year’s entry. A stream of ‘application videos’ followed. All with the same message: Joost Klein, dream big.
That dream became bigger than Klein himself, it also became the dream of his supporters. His open application led to a petition from radio station 3FM to get the Frisian on stage in Malmö. Tens of thousands of people signed it. Fans were also agitated on Instagram for weeks.
The artist also mobilized his supporters to get Europapa higher in the bookmakers’ polls. Fans voted en masse when he shared a link to the official poll of the song festival. So massive, in fact, that the voting site crashed. The poll later came back on air. With one adjustment: it was now no longer possible to vote for your own country. Which Joost Klein then turned into a joke. ‘They don’t want us to win.’
#3 Be authentic and recognizable (and ensure meme potential)
Authenticity is the key word when it comes to marketing and personal branding. Fans want to get to know the person behind the artist, Vergouwen-Tournier explains. ‘That creates trust and connection. This principle also applies to business relationships. If people feel like they know you well, they are more likely to accept something from you or do business with you.’
Klein is its own brand. That can only be maintained if you are yourself, although elements of his character will certainly have been magnified, the brand expert thinks. ‘His storytelling is deeply connected to his background.’ Klein lost both parents at a young age. When he grew up, he would be on the Eurovision stage, he always told them as a boy.
In addition to being an ode to happy hardcore and Europe, Europapa has mainly become an ode to his parents. The title is clever, says Jassies. ‘It has everything: the personal, but also the community feeling of a continent without borders.’
Authenticity is related to recognisability. Klein’s self-designed cobalt blue suit with the enormous shoulder pads (brilliant detail: it is the color International Klein Blue, by the French artist Yves Klein), the white-blonde hairstyle with the mullet that he has had for years, the broad smile – it is a look that you selected out of thousands, almost cartoonish.
The meme potential is great, Vergouwen-Tournier sees. ‘You see shoulder pads, you see blue and you think Joost Klein.’ Ikea responded with the famous shopperHema with one reverse coat hanger. Which only makes the oil slick bigger.
#4 Use the power of repetition
Repetition is uninteresting and boring, right? The opposite is true, marketers know. Repetition ensures recognisability, see previous point. People have to see or hear something several times before it settles in the brain. And once it’s there, it’s not that easy to get out, says Vergouwen-Tournier. ‘The first time I heard Europapa I thought: what is this? After three listens it turned out to be catchy, and after five listens I can’t get it out of my head.’
For that reason, Europapa could count on quite a bit of resistance during the presentation. Joost Klein’s strength is that he has stood behind his number. He didn’t compromise or adjust anything, but waited patiently for the penny to drop. Vergouwen-Tournier: ‘In the beginning he was a bit of a joke, but has now become a serious contender for the win.’
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