Evert_45: a boy who tells his story through social media, from the year 1945

A boy sharing his first-hand account of WWII with kids today, using the tools they live and breathe. What better way to let young people experience the reality of war and the value of freedom? During national liberation celebrations in the Netherlands, Evert_45 did just that.

Evert_45 is an immersive campaign played out as an ongoing series on Instagram, YouTube and evert45.com. Evert’s war story recounts his journey to find his brother in hiding after escaping a German labour camp. The narrative was carefully crafted from numerous insightful interviews with WWII eyewitnesses, historians and teachers.

The initiative was developed in response to Dutch newspaper interviews with elderly resistance fighters who pleaded to keep their stories alive when they would no longer be around to tell them.

KPN connects Dutch generations

KPN is deeply rooted in Dutch society. KPN also believes strongly in freedom, and in the idea that technology can increase the freedom people experience. This is why KPN feels a responsibility to help pass on the stories from WWII to the youngest generation.

Real historical stories

Even though the character of Evert_45 is fictional, his story is based on true stories of ordinary Dutch people from the Second World War. Historical accuracy was safeguarded by historian Dr. J. Rosendaal. Further development was overseen by experts and stakeholders (e.g. veterans, teachers, and the Dutch Resistance Museum).

Evert_45 vlogging like today

Evert_45 shares his story through his own YouTube and Instagram channels. His vlogs and posts reflect the visual language of young people and their interests (such as pranks and foodie posts), yet they also stay very close to his authentic experience and the historical context. Over a period of three weeks, Evert_45 shared 12 vlogs with a total of 54 minutes of video, as well as numerous posts and stories on Instagram. We matched the placement and duration of our content to our audience’s consumption behaviour. In response to the popularity of certain items we adapted our posting schedule, increasing the frequency of updates.

Evert45.com as an educational platform

On the evert45 website, we collect all Evert’s updates, presenting them in a way that allows visitors to navigate through the story. The website has an episodic structure, offering teachers a range of subjects for a history lesson about WWII. In fact, the website grew into a stand-alone edutainment channel that can be used in schools in the coming years as a run-up to 4 and 5 May.

Young people watched 1.3 million minutes worth of history lessons

The story of Evert_45 reached 70% of young people, with 93% of them responding positively to the initiative. Within three weeks, young Dutch people voluntarily (!) watched over 1.3 million minutes of history lessons. Seeing this overwhelming response, teachers are now using Evert_45’s story in their lessons on WWII and Evert_45.com is due to be included in the Dutch school curriculum as of 2018.

The Evert_45 initiative also had a positive impact on brand image. Most think this is a valuable (87%) and credible (71%) initiative by KPN. Scores on relevant brand statements are significantly higher among those who recognise the campaign, with ‘KPN makes you feel free’ at 24% vs. 18% and ‘KPN adds value to society’ at 18% vs. 15%. A remarkable result, considering the short campaign period.