The press group hopes to capture a younger audience, accustomed to getting their news from social networks, with this channel where young journalists take on the role of content creators.
Journalists in front of the camera, good-natured jokes and pop culture references. Discreetly launched last October by Ouest France, the YouTube channel Kolok skilfully handles the codes of social networking. And with good reason: the Breton media group has designed this new format specifically to attract young audiences.
“Kolok is the result of a process of reflection initiated last year on how to address the 18-25 age group. We talked to experts, as well as content creators, to understand what would appeal to them.says Loup Lassinat-Foubert, the channel’s editorial project manager.
“A light-hearted tone
What better way to appeal to a young audience than with young journalists? No-one on the Kolok team is over 26. “We wanted the channel to be run by journalists with a real knowledge of the world of television. specifics of a YouTube video whether in terms of rhythm, writing or editing”, continues the manager.
The result is a humorous, self-deprecating approach to news, with journalists putting themselves on stage. “Immersion is at the heart of the Kolok project. We want the viewer to become part of the story.confirms Loup Lassinat-Foubert. For example, a journalist films himself preparing for a long-distance race and compares himself to the Mario Bros character on the athletics track, on the pretext of talking about sport and nutrition. The team is planning a series of videos: Celebrity Portraits, 24 hours in the shoes of…
An offbeat treatment that contrasts with the traditional media approach, without overshadowing the front-page subjects. “We wanted to offer a more entertaining way of telling the news, adopting a light-hearted tone”.says Loup Lassinat-Foubert. For example, the channel devotes a 30-minute video to the “thousand lives of Donald Trump”, and another 8 minutes to explaining the scandal caused by the American rapper. P.Diddy, accused of sex trafficking.
Multicast on Tiktok and Instagram
The format – mostly ten-minute horizontal videos – is also designed for YouTube. “We chose to do long formats because they’re increasingly popular on the platform, whereas TikTok and Instagram are the preserve of short formats.”analyses the project manager. The aim is to publish two videos a week, short extracts of which are then broadcast on the Instagram and TikTok social networks. It’s a well-honed strategy for content creators to maximize their visibility.
For the moment, Kolok does not monetize its videos, but the team is considering commercial collaborations, on the model of content creatorsonce the channel has proved its worth. Kolok is part of the Ouest France group’s strategy of diversifying its activities, in line with the DTT channel Ouest France TV selected by Arcom last July.