Skopje based Vidi Vaka is a well-known and respected multimedia outlet thanks to their recognizable production of short informative videos and genuine social stories. But as a part of the Media for All project they went a step further. Namely, their business plan envisioned setting up a separate storytelling studio with focus on branded storytelling.
In the meantime, in the frame of the project, 4 new people were hired, a new website dedicated to the storytelling studio was developed, and transfer of know-how from the designated mentor from Slovenia was underway. And one year later, the first regional interactive video for promotion of tourism for the largest domestic tour operator Fibula was made.
At the end of the day, among all the indicators that can be used to showcase progress and success, the best are always the number of clients and the revenue.
“The cross-section made before and after receiving support from the Media for All project shows the following: The number of clients increased from 14 in 2020 to 23 in 2021. At the same time, the revenue grew by 30%,” Goran Igikj, founder of Vidi Vaka, said.
The story of Vidi Vaka starts 5 years ago, when Mite Kuzevski, executive director of Foundation IDEA JIE that is behind the brand Vidi Vaka, along with Goran Igikj, program director of the Foundation, provide the first means for starting Vidi Vaka.
“In IDEA we have dealt a lot with topics regarding youth education, debate, media literacy, and new media. At the same time, our common background is journalism” says Igikj.
Five years later, Vidi Vaka is an outlet with millions of views of their content on a monthly basis, with a loyal audience and an image of a media outlet that is a messenger of the voiceless in society.
“The average percentage of the audience that interacts with some content on Facebook is 5%. For the content of Vidi Vaka, that percentage is 54% or 10 times more. And there is only one reason for that – our art of telling stories,” Mite Kuzevski said.
Vidi Vaka is one of the 11 outlets from North Macedonia that are part of the Media for All business development grant scheme. The project is funded by the UK Government and implemented by the British Council, Thomson Foundation, BIRN and INTRAC in all Western Balkans countries.
