Jens Hamborg Koefoed Industry Talk

Jens Hambord Koefoed Industry Talk

Jens Hamborg Koefoed, Founder of VOCAST, joined the Condé Nast College via Zoom for a dynamic industry talk about the Brand Sharing Platform shaping PR Communications. 

About Jens Hamborg Koefoed & VOCAST

 

Jens Hamborg Koefoed is a Danish journalist and co-founder of the revolutionary brand sharing platform VOCAST.  Since setting the company up in 2007, Jens has worked to support fashion and lifestyle clients to tell their stories to the world, all whilst manoevering through a saturated digital landscape. 

VOCAST is a design-driven technology company, helping strong brands in primarily fashion, design, and jewellery to automate their communications and connect with the right people in an increasingly fragmented media landscape complete with an increasing number of offshoots spanning magazines, a plethora of social media channels, and their influencers. 

The Ethos behind VOCAST

 

VOCAST is driven by the belief that good design makes a better world. The company supplies its brand sharing platform to 400 brands in 12 countries. The platform runs image banks, press rooms, digital showrooms as well as digital runways for industry organisations such as British Fashion Council and Copenhagen Fashion Week, as well as brands including; By Far, Ganni, Wood Wood, Stine Goya, Hope, ATP Atelier, and Efva Attling.

 

A highlight for VOCAST to date has been collaborating with the British Fashion Council for London Fashion Week since 2020 as the “Official Press Portal provider for LFW”, Currently, VOCAST employs 29 people from 11 countries including Condé Nast College alumnus James Joyce. The company saw a 50% organic growth since 2019 and their platform serves more than 2,500,000 unique monthly users.  

 

Jens Hamborg Koefoed Industry Talk

 

During his industry talk, Jens explained the shift in the media landscape from the mass media model that he first entered into at the beginning of his career as a journalist, before moving on to explain how in today’s mediascape we are confronted with what he coins as a “fragmented media landscape.” 

 

 

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Navigating a Fragmented Media Landscape

 

Jens gave an easily digestible breakdown of how brands have communicated through PRs with big buyers and editors up until very recently in a non-visual way, using tools such as Dropbox and WeTransfer, before moving on to show how VOCAST has revolutionized the approach with digital showrooms for brands such as Ganni where all materials have been embedded into the retailer’s website. 

VOCAST’s considered software allows brands to provide all the materials necessary to communicate with retailers, media, and consumers alike, and in turn cuts through the disruptive noise of social media making for more streamlined communication showcasing the brand in a 360 degree digital way. 

 

“You need to create content that resonates.” Jens Hamborg Koefoed, VOCAST

 

Speaking about brand communication, Jens pointedly remarks, “You need to create content that resonates. Then you need to get that content out to people that will carry it to the public.” Continuing he explains, “As a fashion brand, you’re not only competing with other local brands, you’re also competing with brands from across the world. That means that standing out and creating a unique position for your brand becomes equally important.” 

 

When quizzed by a Condé Nast College student about the brands VOCAST work with Jens passionately spoke about their mission to work with design-led companies that are striving to do things in a more meaningful and lasting way, explaining his thoughts on this, he said “I believe that the future belongs to companies that don’t mass produce, [drive] overconsumption. We don’t need more… we need better, more sustainable… those are the people we want to empower.” 

Jens Hamborg Koefoed Industry Talk

Key Takeaways from the Jens Hambord Koefoed Industry Talk

 

Learning about this exciting platform for brands to communicate with a “digital flagship” was an inspiring experience for our students, with Jens showing the plethora of world-renowned brands VOCAST work with today. He started the company with just £1000 of investment capital, demonstrating that a solid idea with purpose can go a long way. 

 

  • Communicate with visual people in a visual way
  • You don’t need a lot of capital to make a great idea turn into a globally successful company
  • Work with like-minded businesses with shared values
  • Look to work with people who are doing things in an enduring and sustainable way
  • Happy people perform better, so it’s important to take better care of our planet as well as ourselves.  

Emily Hallie, Communications Director at Condé Nast Britain Industry Talk

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