Dekker very much appreciated the support she received from Iwan Reuvekamp, JOE’s experienced station manager. In 2010, after having produced Giel Beelen’s morning show on 3FM for five years, Reuvekamp moved to Qmusic, where he was given the freedom to shake things up. “To be honest, I did hesitate for a bit when I was offered the job,” Reuvekamp says. “I knew changes were needed at Qmusic, but I wasn’t sure I’d get enough time to make them. DPG Media said it was keen to work with a new generation of DJs. At 3FM, I’d also been involved in training a new cohort, although my role in that process had been modest. People have talent themselves. I don’t really believe in discovering talent, providing guidance or feedback, or holding up a mirror to someone. In the end, they’ve got to do it themselves.”

After Reuvekamp launched JOE with the help of DJs from Qmusic, the first few months went swimmingly, and the station soon attracted around 1.7 million listeners a week. “This might sound a bit strange, but radio is a slow medium,” says Reuvekamp, sitting at one of the tables in the canteen. “You have to become part of someone’s routine. That takes time, so you need a long-term strategy. But once you’ve addressed and changed things, you have to leave them the way they are for a while. Because now people know you, and like you, which is when you start growing.”

The key ingredient in all this is the music. “The music is the foundation, and the goal is to give people want they want,” says Head of Music Rob Ester. “That sounds simple enough, but many radio stations don’t do this. We deliberately don’t play new music. Every song has to resonate, which is also reflected in our marketing. We want people to get what they expect, Whether it’s Take On Me by a-ha, or Africa by Toto.”

People who tune in to a new station tend to move on again fairly quickly, Ester explains. “They’re giving JOE a try, so you want to reel them in right away. The idea for the station wasn’t new,” says Ester. “JOE was already airing on other channels, and we looked at our sister station in Belgium, which caters to a slightly older demographic and complements Qmusic, another DPG Media brand.”

In the Netherlands, JOE had been available since 2019. On 1 May 2022, the station already began airing on DAB+, and it’s now been available nationwide on FM since September 2023. “We first started online, keeping a low profile and playing music from the 70s and 80s,” Ester recounts. “We also put that qualifier in the name – it was a station with a clear theme. We did have some listeners, but in preparing for the frequency auction we started doing real market research.” This showed what kind of format was still missing in the Dutch market. “You have to make it very clear to listeners who you are. For now, we’ve made a conscious decision to play music from before 2000. No matter what time of day you tune in, it should immediately be clear that you’re listening to JOE.”

The station’s slogan says it all: ‘Good times, great music’. It’s part of JOE’s marketing, in which Merel van Vuure plays a key role. After cutting her teeth at several other major companies for a number of years, she joined JOE in October 2023 as the station’s brand manager. “As a marketer, you basically have to be able to sell any product,” Merel explains. “The difference here is that I’m not dealing with a physical product, but with people – our DJs. Which is a lot of fun and very dynamic. You can come up with an idea today and have it on the air tomorrow.”

Increasing JOE’s brand awareness is one of the key priorities for 2024. “We’re going to be very focused on that, really trying to make a name for ourselves,” says Van Vuure. “In the first few months of the year, we used billboards, advertisements and other channels to convey to as many people as people that we’re a radio station. As soon as Coen and Sander start, we’re going to use them in our promotional activities. They’re going to be the faces of JOE. Qmusic did the same with Mattie and Marieke – the moment you see them, you think of Qmusic. I’m looking forward to the challenge of doing that with Coen and Sander.”

JOE should instantly feel familiar to listeners. “We didn’t stress the fact that we were new in our programming,” says Van Vuure. “The message was: this is JOE. This is what you expect from us, and this is what you get. That’s how we want to win over station flippers. We have a broad music offering with a clear identity, which appeals to a lot of people. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane.” It’s obvious that Van Vuure takes great pleasure in her work. “We’re launching a new brand in the Netherlands, which I really enjoy.”

The word ‘familiar’ recurs throughout the various conversations, including the one with Kimberley Dekker: “I’ve only been here for a few months, but it already feels like the station has been around for a hundred years. It all feels very familiar.”

Iwan Reuvekamp: “We’re not saying: welcome to our new radio station JOE. People don’t want a new radio station – there’s no demand for that at all. People want things that are familiar, so they need to feel welcome and at home right away. This is JOE.”