Têtu

Since its founding in 1995, Têtu remains the uncontested leader of LGBTQ+ media in the francophone world. Its leading position is delicate and has been made possible by its flag bearers, a series of militant businessmen: Pierre Bergé at the helm for more than 25 years, followed by Jean-Jacques Augier and then Julien Maquaire. They all allowed the magazine to exist, investing at a loss, committed to the political and cultural necessity of Têtu.

In 2018, entrepreneur Albin Serviant took up the torch, backed by an impactful team combining talent from la French Tech and some of the best LGBTQ+ journalists out there.

Two years later, Têtu emerges victorious. It has reached profitability for the first time in its history, by reconnecting with its long-term audience while seducing a new one that is younger and more diverse.

From the conception and development of the Têtu site in autumn 2018 to the production of the biggest ever LGBTQ+ event organised on Twitch, we are proud to have contributed to the renewal of this iconic brand. The story has only just begun, but we’ll recount the first three chapters.

First, we accompanied Têtu in the financing of its ambitious digital redesign by building a project with the Support and Development Funds for the Press, part of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

Obtaining this financing allowed us, in under 3 months, to concept and develop the new Têtu site based on a new graphic identity designed by our studio. Endowed with a dynamic paywall, this new site targeted the growth of site visits, their frequency and their conversion to paid subscriptions.

Based on The Guardian‘s model, our paywall is A/B tested regularly to improve its efficiency. Often integrated into article pages on the site, it promotes subscription as a militant gesture.

Results

The new Têtu site allowed the magazine to:

• increase its traffic by 50% in unique monthly visits between 2019 and 2018, with an average of 1 million unique visitors per month
• triple the number of page views per visit and increase visitor loyalty (more than 2 sessions per month on average) for strong growth of the paying subscriber community, from 1,500 to 5,000 today

In parallel to our work on the site, we conceived of and secured financing for “Minority Report,” a custom tool, through the very selective Google Digital News Initiative. This social listening tool, integrated into Têtu’s back office, allows the editorial team to stay on top of content published by accounts that they were previously unable to follow, whether they were regional media or foreign accounts.

Results

Strongly increased interactivity, and a broader diversity of shared news, which now covers more of the entire LGBTQ + spectrum

Impossible to organise Pride March on the streets? We found the right next steps. It all started from an idea we floated to the Têtu team at the start of confinement. They let us run with it. And in less than 3 months, we set up Fièr.e.s & TÊTU, now the biggest LGBTQ+ event ever organised on Twitch.

Over the course of 14 hours of the live event, we gathered more than 1.5 million participants, attracted by original programming with short films, DJ sets, master classes and more.

Leading up to the event, our creative team designed dozens of screens necessary for running the stream and all its transitions.

On the big day, our on-site director managed the production of a Twitch-stream, which was then re-streamed on Facebook, Youtube and the Têtu site. At the same time, our seasoned moderation team moderated, without flinching, any coordinated troll attacks, and they kept the conversation going all day. It was an impressive achievement, crowned by equally impressive, and real, numbers!

Results

• More than 1,500,000 people reached
• 240,000 Twitch participants over the course of the day
• 900,000 accumulated video views for more than 2,129,000 minutes watched