The Belgian media market is quite complex as the country is divided into three distinct language communities – Dutch, French, and (minor) German. The first one resides in Flanders, north of the country, and accounts for some 6.9 million speakers. Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, the two French-speaking regions, consist of around 5.7 million inhabitants all together.
The country’s division – not only linguistic, but cultural and political – is a clear factor behind the lack of a unique media landscape in Belgium. Media regulations and accountability are matters of federal states and so are the local media outlets and their characteristics. Among those most read, there are national newspapers De Tijd, Het Laatste Nieuws, Het Nieuwsblad, De Morgen, and investigative De Standaard on the Flemish media market. In Wallonia, worth mentioning are Sudpresse and L’Echo. Foreign online media are quite common in Belgium, too.
Language-wise, English is generally understood and spoken in business situations, especially in Brussels and Flanders. Negotiating with English-speaking Belgians using an interpreter may be seen as a lack of trust. Nevertheless, French is preferred in Wallonia and when contacting local press, a French-speaking spokesperson may be needed.
Most PR agencies in Belgium work on an hourly rate basis. Depending on the size of the agency, hourly rates start from 125 euros per hour. The type of service plays an important role, too. Crisis communications is more expensive than reporting services. Often, pricing depends on the experience of the staff involved as well.
Just like in every other region, there are two types of assignments: project-based and retainer agreements. A combined project with media pitch, interview and press release commonly evolves around 2,100 euros.
Retainer fees depend on the size of customers, their ‘absorption potential’ by media and thus the number of hours we work for them. Generally, retainer fees range between 1,500 euros for start-ups up to 3,000 to 4,000 euros per month for larger corporations. Again, it all depends on the type of business the customer is in.
Factivity is a boutique agency that specialises in PR, reference marketing and content creation, and employee engagement. Having its ambassadorship programme, it strengthens the credibility of start-ups, small-size and corporate B2B companies in different sectors: technology, fintech, logistics, and industry. Factivity’s customers are both global and local brands – Cisco, Isabel Group, Econocom, and Zetes, among others.
The agency is based in Antwerp, covering Belgium and Luxembourg, and has both French and Dutch native speakers on board.
- Media relations are based on mutually beneficial interactions between journalists, editors, and public relations specialists. Their purpose is to communicate a client’s relevant and newsworthy message in a suitable media outlet – press, TV, radio, and the Internet.
- Social Media management is managing a client’s online presence on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. This service starts with a consistent strategy preparation to, later on, create and publish appropriate and eye-catching content on the aforementioned platforms.
- Content writing is producing marketing content such as blog posts, press releases, webpages or whitepapers to reach the targeted audience. It aims to increase traffic to a client’s website and to fulfill certain marketing objectives.
- Event presence is an opportunity to showcase a client to the general public and/or prospects and expand their network. It also includes inviting key media workers and thus aims to increment the client’s visibility in media.
- Market research is often useful to prepare a brand to enter a given market. In such a case it consists of a thorough analysis of the presence of the brand and its competitors, as well as their presence in the media and social networks. Research – e.g. surveys – can also be commissioned to a research agency to obtain valuable content that can attract the attention of the press and the client’s target audience.
- Media training aims to guide a client on how to interact with media. It improves their communication skills and provides them with tools to deliver an effective and credible message helping to get more media coverage.
- Reputation management is shaping positive public perception and opinion about a client. It consists in an active and regular monitoring of client’s mentions, mainly online, and reacting to them.
- Crisis management starts with creating a plan and strategy in case an unexpected PR crisis arises. Its goal is to minimise the impact of negative publicity and media mentions, as well as to reduce the potential damage the crisis may cause to the client.
