Helping to fight the disease

My personal motivation to participate in Alpe d’HuZes stems from a strong desire to help combat the disease. I've had this feeling for a long time, and it grew stronger when I started my own business. My first company sponsored good causes from the very beginning, and I was fortunate that the business allowed for it. I believe that when you are in a unique position as an entrepreneur to sponsor good causes, you should do so. Entrepreneurship is not just about starting new ventures, growing revenue, or making a profit; it is also about making connections, development, life, and contributing to society.

Coosto & charities

From the start, Coosto has sponsored various good causes, but a few years ago, we decided to fully focus on sponsoring cancer research and treatment. This includes supporting organizations like KWF, the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, smaller and sometimes personal initiatives, and we have been proud sponsors of the wonderful Alpe d’HuZes for eight years now.

Nothing is taken for granted anymore when dealing with cancer

As the years pass, I'm now 53, I have become increasingly aware of how lucky I am that my family, immediate relatives, and friends are in relatively good health. 

I often reflect on the special things in life, such as the fresh scent of an early morning or freshly cut grass, the colorful display of clouds and light during a sunset, peacefully grazing cows in a meadow, or an energizing techno percussion set blasting from the speakers during a car ride. I can enjoy these things without worry, without medical stress, and that feels like pure happiness. I wish this for everyone. All these so-called givens are no longer so obvious when you are ill or when someone you love is sick. These 'trivialities' then suddenly become special moments of happiness. 

Of course, this is different for everyone, and everyone experiences it in their own way. But if my company and I can contribute, even if it is just a drop in the ocean, to fighting cancer with the goal of increasing moments of happiness, then that is the best thing there is.

Alpe d’HuZes 2023

As mentioned, I am an entrepreneur, and from that background, I also wanted to participate and ride up the mountain as an Alpe d’HuZes participant. I love challenges, especially when they are tough.

In 2023, it was time; we participated for the first time, not just as sponsors but also by cycling and running. Being opportunistic, I thought I could just ride up the mountain. After all, it was just over 15 km; I used to cycle that distance to school, it couldn't be that hard. I started training by cycling about 40 km every weekend. With three months to go and extreme weather like snow and frost, I bought an indoor bike trainer to train at home. The advantage of this device was that I could simulate the climb of Alpe d'Huez, and that became my new training goal: climbing Alpe d’Huez as often as possible on the indoor trainer in the attic.

The first time I did it, I was in for a rude wake-up call. I started too fast, and as a result, 30 minutes later, I was completely exhausted and could barely move forward. It was one of my toughest sports experiences ever. I finished the training, but I was utterly wrecked, and the next day I could barely walk due to muscle soreness. That was a serious wake-up call. I realized I had severely underestimated it and that serious work was needed.

I began by reading up on how to train for climbing a mountain by bike. I read training schedules, watched various YouTube videos, and, on the advice of an enthusiastic cycling colleague (thanks for the tip, Stan), listened to the 'Beter Worden' podcast by Laurens ten Dam and gradually adjusted my training. I learned how to train based on wattage, how to adjust my diet, incorporate varied training, and the importance of a good night's sleep. Ultimately, the preparation for 2023 was too short, but I couldn't complain; Team Coosto did fantastic, and it left us wanting more, so we signed up for 2024 immediately.

Preperations Alpe d’HuZes 2024

This time, I planned to start training much earlier, but unexpected business circumstances threw a wrench in the works, and then my mother suddenly passed away. This combination resulted in little training. In the last few months, I have been able to train relatively well. Long rides on weekends of four to five hours, combined with hill training and intervals on the indoor trainer. The result is okay; it could be better, but I am glad I can participate given the circumstances, and I am looking forward to it immensely. It will be an amazing, yet emotional and impactful experience that I will savor to the fullest.

Regarding the sponsorship money, I have decided to personally double the final amount I raise. Hopefully, this will encourage everyone to give generously, but know that every donation is greatly appreciated.

I want to thank everyone in advance for their support, and of course, I will give everything I have on the mountain! 🙂! One last important word:

Don't forget to enjoy life, the little things, the big things, keep things in perspective, and go for it. It's not tomorrow, but now! ❤️

Do you want to contribute to Toine's mission to fight cancer? Donate here!

Toine Verheul

For years, I had the idea of climbing Alpe d'Huez on my bike, inspired by the heroic images of the Tour de France, particularly the victories of Peter Winnen (1981), Gert-Jan Theunisse (1989), Lance Armstrong (2001), and of course, Marco Pantani (1995), who set a world record with an incredible time of 36 minutes and 50 seconds. Along the climb, the route was packed with enthusiastic supporters dressed in the most peculiar clothing. Every year, there was a supporter dressed as a red devil, chasing the cyclists with a trident. Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France was always a great spectacle and gained a mythical status.

On television, the climbs looked tough, and the riders suffered, but watching from the couch, I thought I could do it myself. Maybe I could even come close to a good time!

On June 6, 2006 (6-6-6), 66 people cycled up Alpe d'HuZes 6 times for a good cause, cancer research. There was limited media attention initially, but year after year, the media coverage grew, capturing my attention as well. I would love to participate one day, achieve a sports performance, and sponsor a good cause—a wonderful combination. But the years went by, and there was always a reason not to sign up. I was too busy, not fit enough, cycling wasn't really that enjoyable, supporting charities could be done in other ways, and so on. Until Corona emerged and gripped the world in a dreadful manner. The number of sick people and deaths increased rapidly, and the news mainly focused on vulnerable individuals and those with underlying conditions who passed away to a disease.

During that period, I got to know Maud Burgers and Marlies von Mansveldt from the Prinses Máxima Centrum for Pediatric Oncology. The trigger was an episode of Jeroen Pauw's program "Pauw komt binnen", filmed at the Prinses Máxima Centrum for Pediatric Oncology, where he spoke with children, fathers, mothers, and families about the impact of cancer, the fear, but above all, the zest for life. I happened to come across this episode, and I was captivated by the intensity, honesty, and the pure, sad, but also beautiful stories. When the episode ended, I had an irresistible feeling that I wanted to contribute, to help. That same evening, I sent an email to Maud, stating that I wanted my company to contribute to the good work of the Prinses Máxima Centrum. The next day, I received a positive reply and was invited for a meeting. Two weeks later, I went for a visit, and after a warm welcome, a good conversation, and an impressive and discreet tour, I was even more convinced. We must contribute, and that was the start of our collaboration.

From that moment on, the Coosto management team decided to choose one charity for sponsorship, and that was everything related to cancer research. We were already sponsors of Alpe d'HuZes, but we had never participated in the event. That had to change, and besides, it was an opportunity to climb Alpe d'Huez and make a contribution. In December 2022, I sent an email to the entire company, announcing that we were registering for Alpe d'HuZes 2023. And so it happened, but there was a small detail, and that was the preparation.

By nature, I am quite positive and somewhat limitless in my thinking. Climbing that mountain on a bike couldn't be that difficult, right? The videos on YouTube of cyclists effortlessly riding up the mountain confirmed my suspicion—climbing Alpe d'Huez is quite doable. I wasn't in a hurry to train because I believed it wouldn't be that challenging. At the end of February, I decided to do a simulation training of Alpe d'Huez on my indoor bike trainer. I started off well and got into a good rhythm, but a quarter of the way up, it started to get tough, and by the halfway point, I was already quite exhausted. At 75%, I no longer found it funny and wondered what on earth I had gotten myself into. Two hours later, completely drained and with a significant mental blow, I got off the bike trainer. With a sense of panic, I realized I had a problem—this was much, much tougher than I had expected, serious work was required.

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made a concise list of what needed to be done to cycle up the mountain multiple times. I needed to lose weight, sleep more, eat healthier, train more, vary my training routine, lower my heart rate, and, above all, find out how other climbers prepare. Slowly but surely, I made progress. My endurance training improved, my heart rate became more stable and lower, and my recovery also improved. But is it enough? Now, one week before the start, I still have doubts about whether I am adequately prepared, but the excitement for the event is growing. I think it's super cool that I can participate, and I won't disappoint my sponsors. On Thursday, June 1, I will be ready and give it my all, enjoy it to the fullest, and have a beautiful and extraordinary experience. Giving up is not an option.

Thank you for your support and generous donations, we're going for it!

Help Toine reach his goal and donate here

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Tell us a little more about your work as head of influencer marketing & brand advocacy strategy

"The title alone says a lot. Brand advocacy is a term we have been using in correlation with influence since day one. We aim to utilise and harness the power of influence across the entire spectrum. This means that we advise brands to part with the idea of controlling the entire narrative (this can be quite scary sometimes!) and provide influential people with a chance to tell their story as authentically as possible. Most of what I do revolves around developing and implementing long-term influencer marketing programmes.

Here at Come Round, we’ve worked with household brands across the UK since 2009. I've been here since 2013 and it’s been an interesting journey to say the least. From having to explain to everyone what influencer marketing is, what bloggers are - to the point where now even my parents understand what I do.

Back in the summer of 2016, we teamed up with Mazda and engaged influencers around their sponsorship activation of Tomorrowland, the immensely popular electronic dance music festival in Belgium. We utilised engaged-audience identification tools to make sure that each influencer had a relevant audience – and that their brand affinities and interests were aligned with the Mazda brand. We sent 15 influencers across Europe to Belgium and made sure they got VIP (or VII) treatment.

A lot of my time is also spent on less glamorous tasks, such as research, data analysis and campaign reporting. However these aspects are becoming increasingly important within a market that is under increased scrutiny."

Influencer Marketing has picked up in popularity in the last two years - do you have an explanation as to why this is?

“Allow me to to provide you with a little backstory and explain to you firstly what I consider to be influencer advertising: utilising content creators with a lot of reach on social media to broadcast a (branded/sponsored) message. To most - this is the very essence of influencer marketing.

Influencer advertising has been going through the roof over the past few years. I personally believe this is due to a shift in media consumption – we are experiencing a significant shift from traditional TV & Radio to digital / social.

Social media are different from more traditional forms of media, where nowadays, we opt to tune in to people and the content they produce, whereas fifteen years ago, we didn’t really have any other option than to watch Big Brother on a Friday night. This is where influencer advertising has filled a void. A YouTuber with a reach of a million people being paid to create #sponsored content around a new make-up brush is rapidly turning into the modern day equivalent of an old-school TV ad. Both come with big budgets and the potential for a lot of eyeballs, and often do well well in terms of brand awareness."

So what's the benefit of using influencers to advertise your product when you can just purchase social media ads on Facebook and Instagram?

“Social media ads absolutely have their advantages over traditional TV-ads. I was visiting family in the Netherlands over the Christmas period and I noticed ads for a specific supermarket chain being shown daily on TV – however the nearest store is over 50 miles away from where my parents live This means that the ad was highly irrelevant to the 20,000 people that live in their town. Social media ads offer obvious advantages, specifically in the form of geo-targeting

But however specific your ad is, it doesn’t automatically mean it meets attention and relevancy criteria – and when done right, that is the big difference between social and influencer advertising.

People actively tune in to watch content created by internet celebrity X or Y – if your favourite celebrity uploads a new video, you’re much more likely to watch it, even when it's #sponsored.

An additional advantage of influencer advertising is the myriad of options that are available to brands. Back in the day, there were only a few TV-shows that would serve up enough eyeballs and offer relevancy to your brand. Influencers have much more to offer. If you’re trying to sell ski gear, you used to be limited to the handful of popular travel shows, nowadays you can identify and engage hundreds of popular snowboarders that create awesome content and have a direct relationship with their audience.

So what's the difference between Influencer Advertising and Influencer Marketing?

“I tend to differentiate between the two to emphasise the fact influencer adveritising is only a part of the influencer marketing package. Yes it plays a part – but it’s not the only way to utilise the power of influence. Influencer advertising is often a smash-and-grab approach, where brands nor agency even think about engaging content creators for more than a year, nor think about taking the relationship further than just content creation. In order for influencer marketing to develop, the industry needs more long-term strategic and integrated approaches to show that there's more to it than just content creation.

Real influencer marketing goes beyond a one-off payment with the goal to generate views & traffic. For me, it’s all about harnessing multiple layers of influence. Starting with that friend you have that loves to cook who always talks highly about the local butcher because he thinks the meat there is much better than what you always buy at the local supermarket. Or what about that colleague you have that keeps telling you to switch mobile phone provider because of the excellent customer service he's been experiencing. This type of influencer marketing requires a grassroots, integrated strategy that starts at customer service level.

But think about it, this is actually something that a brand can actually impact themselves (without having to pay to use influencers!). If we put the customer first and start making it a priority to to make sure that people fall in love with your brand. You don’t always have to pay people to say good things about your brand. Service with a smile and a free croissant to the guy that comes in for coffee every morning could be the catalyst to the entire office flocking to your coffee place, as well as UGC.

Influencer marketing is about more than just paid-for-content. Your customers have friends, family members & colleagues that talk about brands on a daily basis. Social media provides us with a platform to find and identify these people, to get them to create content and take a positive offline experience online (and vice versa!).

This is why technology plays such an important part within your long-term influencer marketing strategy. Tools such as Coosto are not just designed to identify trends, they also offer you the opportunity to identify existing and potential customers – and what’s even better, you can engage these people and apply community management to increase brand advocacy levels.

When it comes to influencer marketing, some B2B businesses are ahead of the game, some have been actively working with ambassadors, fans and experts since the 90s, running these programmes with the knowledge that social proof works ‘My friend John uses this software, and he loves it – so it must be good.’ Perhaps, those types of companies being ahead of the game has to do with the fact that they’ve always had to look beyond traditional advertising – it’s harder to flog a piece of software during Big Brother."

How do you feel about the explosive growth that Influencer Marketing has experienced since 2016?

“Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. From a business perspective, it’s amazing that this is a hot topic. It has definitely created more business opportunities. But at the same time, influencer marketing is still in its infancy phase. There are a lot of bandwagon 'experts' out there - and there is a lot of misinformation out there. The flipside is that it is making brands lose confidence in how important influencer marketing can be for them. Which is why education is becoming increasingly important going into 2018.

In addition, many agencies still use reach as a benchmark of success, a lot of people have a tendency to use advertising and PR measurements and apply it to influencer marketing. Are we reaching the right people, is the audience legitimate? These are questions that most in the industry actively avoid.

The result is that many think that reach equals influence. Which is not per definition true. A book critic with 100,000 highly engaged followers can be much more relevant than a more generic lifestyle YouTuber with 500,000 followers who are less niche when it comes to interests in specific products. To me; reach is not the holy grail of influencer marketing."

So let's talk about goals and KPI's

I always try to find a balance between reach and engagement. Our focus is always on engaged audience data. We think it’s more important to analyse engaged data than historical data, but more importantly, it’s vital to dig deep and find out as much as possible about the audience. We want to avoid classic examples of being ''too influencer focused''. The brands that are being advised to work with models to sell bikini’s and make up products, without realising that the majority of their audience is actually male, and therefore irrelevant.

We focus primarily on data, finding out the actual reach (i.e. engagement rate based on reach, not on follower count) and looking at audience data to determine relevancy. We also focus on softer metrics such as sentiment, consumer insight and social media monitoring to provide our clients with data that will allow them to combine influencer marketing with their day-to-day marketing activities.

Using newly available data, we have realised that even some of the content creators we have worked with in the past are too expensive based on their audience and deliverables. The industry has been too happy to throw money at influencers based on hype - and content creators have gotten away with accepting work without showing any real value. There is a real shake up taking place, and content creators who are unable to prove audience relevancy will be in for a real shock. There is no doubt that content creators require payment, but too often brands are paying too much for content that isn’t reaching a relevant audience.

So can brands enjoy Influencer Marketing on a shoe-string budget?

“Absolutely! You don’t need to spend a lot of money in order to set up an effective influencer marketing programme. Even for start-ups, I would suggest looking at all the entire spectrum of influence. Let’s take as an example a new local bakery.

Firstly, you could identify and engage a local celeb take a picture (IGC) inside / in front of your bakery and share it on social media (against payment, of course). In addition, make sure to give those who come in on a daily basis a little something extra, in order to encourage recommendations. And then you need consumers to start creating UGC, give people that have purchased something from your bakery an incentive to share pictures of your bakery online.

This is a mini-version of a more complete, all-round influencer campaign. Imagine you’re prepping for a winter-break full of ski-action; you’re looking at your friends’ social pages to see how they’re prepping. You spot that one of them received a free pair of gloves from a big brand - and then a little while later, you see one of the big snow-boarders that you follow wearing the exact same ones. And to top it off, one of your other friends talks about the brand because they bought gloves from the same brand last year, and when they ripped, the brand was friendly enough to provide him with new ones, no questions asked.

There are few to no brands / agencies currently utilising this level of in-depth influencer marketing strategies. The interest is there (for some) but the knowledge is lacking. As an industry, we are still too focused on big numbers and big talent. If we want influencer marketing to mature, and become more effective, we should be focusing on powerful, long-term programmes that cover the entire spectrum of influence - online and offline."

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Online reputation management is an instrument you can use to affect your audience's opinion about your organisation. But what is the added value of this? What do you have to do to take control of your organisation's reputation? In this blog we will outline reputation-related concepts and we will explain the various stages of online reputation management.

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Reputation' is a term similar to trust, respect or responsibility: everyone knows these concepts to some extent, but very few people can quite put their finger on it. Still, with regards to workability, it's important to provide a uniform definition. This way you can create realistic expectations of all (im)possibilities regarding corporate reputation management.  

Identity vs. Image vs. Reputation

Reputation is a term that is often linked to concepts like identity and image. What are the differences? There are no universal definitions, but we apply these:

can be described as the personality of your organisation. It includes everything your organisation is, does and appears to be. What do you stand for? What is your vision? Which standards and values does your organisation find important? What does your company culture look like? Corporate identity manifests itself in three ways:

1. • Behaviour (every behaviour of your organisation and its employees)
   • Communication (everything your organisation tells about itself)
   • Symbolism (the visual appearance of your organisation)

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Corporate image is the way your stakeholders perceive your organisation's identity. It's the result of your behaviour, communication and symbolism, or everything your stakeholders hear/read about your organisation. Does your audience think of you as a forward-thinking organisation? Formal? Are you perceived as a luxury brand? Feminine? The sum of these brand associations form your corporate image.

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Corporate reputation is similar to corporate image, but there is one important difference. Reputation isn't so much the perception of your audience, as it is their opinion on your organisation. Does your audience think you manufacture awesome products? Or do they think your organisation takes bad care of its employees? Or does your shipping leave something to be desired? The way people assess your organisation isn't necessarily based on personal experiences. Often, it's a result of what people have heard or read about your organisation (online).

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Example

Identity: clothing brand x is a brand that presents itself as a brand for young males.

Image: clothing brand x is perceived as a brand for the elderly.

Reputatie: people are very positive about brand X. They have read that the product quality is amazing.

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Online reputation management

In practice, your reputation is never an exact reflection of who you are or how you like to be seen. The way stakeholders assess your organisation is subjective to experiences and varies between groups or even individuals. Nevertheless, you still have a big influence on your own reputation. Reputation management means putting that influence to good use; reputation management includes all activities you undertake as an organisation to improve your stakeholders' opnion on your organisation. This is how you make sure they view your organisation the way you see fit.

Online reputation management is the most important form of reputation management, because reputations nowadays are mainly formed and affected online. Through social media, a single complaint or compliment can be widely discussed and therefore almost immediately affect your reputation. This effect can be noticeable for a long time, because online messages - different from conversations people have at the baker around the corner - are in writing and retrievable through search engines. Reputations therefore have become way more changeable.

The stages of online reputation management

Online reputation management is the most effective way to improve your reputation. But how do you intend to begin? Good reputation management goes through these three stages:

1. Social listening and monitoring

Online reputation management starts with a good understanding of what's going on inside and outside your organisation. This can be something immediate as a negative FAcebook post which demands direct attention. But it can also be a market trend your organisation can anticipate to. The first concern is to be aware of these messages, trends, threats and opportunities no matter what. Only then will you be able to take control of the situation and deliberately decide to act upon it. Social listening  and these situations won't be so far advanced you can no longer affect them. Social listening makes sure these messages will no longer surprise you or take too much of your time.

Coosto is active in a constantly changing world. Various stakeholders (customers, interest groups, social media partners, governments etc.), with often conflicting interests, play an important role in this. As Coosto, we pursue a policy based on ethical considerations, against a background of greatly increased attention to privacy.

Despite all the measures we have taken – and will continue to implement - as part of our policy, we have apparently failed to convey our position on this issue sufficiently. We find this regrettable.  We want to state clearly and transparently what Coosto stands for, and show that we do take privacy seriously.

For instance, the article of Bits of Freedom states that Coosto would allow social media surveillance. This information is outdated, and goes back to the time when social media data was a relatively unexplored territory. At the time, the market was mainly exploring the possibilities and limits of social media, and privacy was not given enough attention.

However, Coosto is constantly evolving, as is the world of social media. We have prohibited any form of surveillance through Coosto, which our contracts and general conditions state as well. Coosto is a tool for marketing and communication, and can only be used for goals such as customer satisfaction and brand awareness. We enforce this with the help of technical and legal measures.

Along with these measures, we have parted ways with several governmental customers that were unwilling to accept our changed vision and conditions, against our commercial interests. The article mentions how the police and NCTV would use Coosto. However, these organizations have not been a customer of Coosto for a long time now, partly because of above developments.

We do not make these decisions just because it is what can be expected from us, but because we value privacy. We constantly evaluate our services for their possible impact on social interests, including privacy. When necessary, we draw lines and change our product. Even when that means we leave commercial potential unused. This is part of who we are, what we stand for and what we are our proud of as a company.     

Bits of Freedom does very important work for our society, but it is a shame that in this case they do not have a clear overview of the current state of affairs. Nonetheless, this nomination has encouraged us in our commitment to communicate better about the balance between privacy and technical developments from our point of view.