© Bram Saeys - Dutch Technology Week 2017
Author profile picture

More attention to the big sub-events like Night of the Nerds, Quiz Night XL and High Tech Exploration Route and less on the higher-level DTW brand. The Dutch Technology Week is shifting the focus in the marketing of the event, which will this year take place in the first week of June. According to marketing manager Emiel Kuijpers of Brainport Development, this is necessary in order to better achieve the main objectives of the Dutch Technology Week – which will not change.

“With DTW, we want to draw attention to the importance of technology in society, which remains our primary goal”, says Kuijpers. “But we noticed that it was difficult to reach the various stakeholders and target groups equally well. There is also occasional confusion with the Dutch Design Week, people visiting DTW often think directly of DDW-like events.”

To solve this problem, DTW is putting more emphasis on the “anchor events”, as Kuijpers calls them. “In this way, we can better segment the target groups: for example, we can distinguish the business partners from the school classes. And with this, we can also facilitate the individual events much better. As a brand, DTW is, therefore, doing a step backward, also in communication, in order to offer the anchor events the full stage.” From a ‘branded house’, Dutch Technology Week can become a ‘House of Brands’, says Kuijpers.

Monique de Wit – who, together with Annemieke Hoefakker, has been the driving force behind the organization of the technology week for the past few years – says that the design and content of the DTW itself will not change much. The fans (last year there were 39,000 visitors, most of whom visited the Discovery Route on the final day) will, therefore, be able to find their familiar sub-events again this year. De Wit: “Our mission remains to promote enthusiasm and pride in technology and thereby strengthen the Dutch high-tech sector. In this way, we want to make sure that, for example, more children opt for a technical education, and later on also for a job in this beautiful sector.”