Južne Vesti began as a pioneer in digital journalism and has grown into the most popular local web media outlet in Southern Serbia.
The business idea guiding this project can be captured by a simple metaphor and a question: How does one turn a good athlete into a top athlete? In this case, Južne Vesti, a media outlet already well-positioned technologically with the support of Simplicity, a successful technology company, sought to take its performance to the next level. While the outlet already had solid tools and infrastructure, its goal was to enhance sustainability and visibility. With guidance from their mentor, Aleksandar Birovljev, the team focused on strategies to elevate both impact and reach.
The Guiding Idea: From Good to Top Performer
The project focused on expanding readership, strengthening the online presence, and enhancing technological functionalities, including website redesigns and newsletters.
The approach to this business model mirrored that of an athletic trainer pushing a capable athlete: the goal was to encourage Južne Vesti to train harder, smarter, and more strategically to reach top-tier performance.
Challenges Before the Project
Before the project, the media outlet was performing slightly above average but faced challenges in its daily operations. Journalists spent a significant amount of time on routine tasks that could have been automated, limiting their focus on content creation. Meanwhile, the technology firm supporting it sought a solution that would enhance its own visibility and more clearly communicate the scope of its work.
Mentoring: Two Perspectives
The mentoring process in this project can be viewed from two perspectives: the media outlet’s experience and the mentor’s perspective on the project’s achievements.
For the media team, the project provided an opportunity to engage in project management and coordinate all activities, offering a new level of oversight and a “sanity check” on their operations. This structured approach enabled them to understand their work better and control its impact.
For the mentor, the process offered expert support—particularly in financial guidance—and a structured approach to monthly reporting, providing key lessons in aligning project expectations with operational realities.
The overarching challenge was clear: how to turn a good or average athlete into a top performer. In the case of the media outlet, a significant transformation occurred during a period of political instability in Serbia, marked by recurring elections. Initially, the media team feared that goals for visibility and readership might not be met. However, they observed that specific events and seasonal factors—such as elections—could trigger substantial increases in key performance indicators. Importantly, these spikes were not temporary: the outlet succeeded in retaining high levels of visitors, readers, and followers, demonstrating lasting growth amid a challenging environment.
Technical and Operational Challenges
Since the project focused primarily on technical development, a key challenge was aligning the technical project plans with overall project expectations. Delays are common in such initiatives, but additional complications arose when the media outlet identified certain technical functionalities that were not fully optimal. This prompted a redevelopment phase, which pushed some activities back by one to two months. Similarly, marketing activities had to be adjusted and rescheduled to coincide with key events, such as the media outlet’s anniversary.
The core challenge, therefore, was to realign and shift activities effectively while clearly communicating to the project team—particularly the project representatives—why specific tasks were not progressing according to the original plan.
Results and Impact
The project delivered tangible results across multiple areas. Both Simplicity and Južne Vesti launched redesigned websites, while a new newsletter was developed to enhance audience engagement. The media outlet achieved better positioning and increased visibility, as reflected in growth among readers, visitors, and followers. The project also strengthened connections with local brands, fostering lasting partnerships linked to its activities.
