how webflow builds offline bridges - a reflection with dionne tool

how has the focus on digital contributed to building future success?

Now that I look back, we have made considerable progress. Six years ago, we were more concerned with doing than sharing. At that time, we focused on implementing our activities and services. We weren't too active with communication at that time. But covid changed a lot. We realized how important visibility was because we were so dependent on our activities. That then stimulated us to take action.

And let's be honest: there's a stigma around wellbeing. People often think it's just for the elderly or people with a small wallet. You want to break that. Our new style and digital approach shows that Welfare Diemen is just there for everyone. That is an important message to break the stigma.

in what ways does it support webflow CMS and automations in achieving your strategy?

Personally, I am very focused on the content and I have less affinity with the digital part. Nevertheless, the team notes that the Webflow CMS is easy to use. That's really a big difference with Wordpress. Previously, adapting was a daunting task, but now? Now, our activities are more alive than ever. Everything is organized in one place. That just works.

Much of our offerings take place over and over again every month. By automating that offer, a large part of the monthly work of all your activities will be a lot easier. Previously, our activities were very static on our website and we showed the activity ladder in a .pdf.

Now it's dynamic and a database helps with that work. Through the use of digital, everything we do is much more alive in the real world. Every month, for example, we are now much more actively working on everything we organize before it is online. As a result, you have much more control over what is going on and what you offer. Especially if you organize more than 400 activities per month from different locations and labels.

how did diemen's wellbeing brand mature over time?

The range of our foundation is wide. We do so much. It is very difficult to bring that out of 1 brand. How could we get started with that without a mission, vision and strategy you want to work towards?

I thought it was important that everything we were going to do had to be linked to form a multi-year policy, otherwise you will go somewhere without direction. As logical as it sounds and feels like a chronological order, it's difficult to control if you don't have the frameworks of where you want to go as a foundation.

With that in mind, we have made significant steps in recent years. It started two years ago with a multi-year policy, followed by the communication policy and from there came the brand book. Then the next logical station was the website.

how do you ensure that diemen's well-being is consistent in all its different expressions?

It is quite difficult to ensure that you are consistent in your various expressions with different labels, different target groups and different employees. There's just a lot different :-)

You really need someone to monitor your corporate identity. A brand book is a good tool for this, but concrete examples, help documents and Canva templates also help.

Full implementation of corporate identity is the priority, but you should also prioritize that based on time, budgetary and communication considerations. Of course, it's not so bad that you still use something internally for notes with an old logo.

you could have invested in other things, such as campaigns or maybe even your activities.

why did you decide to invest in a new website?

In fact, we had already invested a lot in our activities and the team. You want to present that investment right once you have something standing. The website is the perfect tool for that, alongside other relevant communication channels.

A website also came out of the process as a logical next step in what we had already gone through in terms of long-term policy and communication policy. It really was the right time.

what do you like the most?

Some parties only carry out (they build it), you really do things differently. Knowledge, skill, time, inspiration and creativity are essential and not something you just wear yourself. Even if you have an entire department, I think that's still difficult. In addition, a fresh look from the outside is also of added value, as we have done ourselves, for example, by talking to non-participants in our multi-annual policy.

what is the result after the project?

It's great to see how our multi-year policy focus points influence people's actions. More collaborations have arisen, youth work has been expanded and more attention is being paid to overall well-being. We used to focus mainly on exercise, but now we are also strongly focused on mental and social well-being. This is reflected in the increased range of activities, such as mindfulness courses.

These changes seep through from team member to team member: from our employees to neighborhood sports coaches. Based on those values, a new corporate identity and then creating a new website to reach more people provides a lot of added value if you want to professionalize.

In this way, the target groups will see you more quickly and seriously, as is the case with us. Our labels are getting more attention, registrations for activities from the website are increasing and agencies such as the GGD refer to us more easily. Purely because you tell a good story digitally: people know who you are and what you do.

imagine that similar brands exist that doubt whether or not they should take a digital approach to their brand.

what lessons can you give them?

• It is important to involve others in the project. You can't carry such a big project alone: you need the knowledge and insights from the organization.
• Digital contributes much more than you often think: it is an extension of your offer. You can also develop digital products that work alongside your offline offerings. So that it moves together. We did that very nicely at the Playground. This immediately reinforces our offer to children and parents. In this way, your website is much more than a business card: it helps you attract and motivate more people.
• We don't reach everyone digitally, so make sure that offline is also okay. When I look to the future, I think that digitization is becoming more and more, but there will not immediately be an abrupt shift. On the contrary, it is also important to include fewer technical target groups in your digital approach.