Chloë Arkenbout
culture & society copywriter
Amsterdam based.
Captures concepts, ideas, personalities and experiences.
Strategic copy, authentic interviews and in-depth articles.
Specialised in culture & society projects.
Near-native English speaker.
Background in media theory and philosophy.
services
Developing strategic copy to capture the essence of concepts or ideas, by researching & restructuring information, is a challenge I love taking on. What I love equally as much, is to help individuals express their personalities or experiences.
Whether it's for a contemporary art platform, social initiative, culture magazine, (electronic) music event, urban development project, creative agency, NGO, authentic brand or a purpose driven entrepreneur.
Let me develop your tone of voice & style guide, mission statement, about page, campaign copy, press release, (pitch) strategy or biography. Conducting authentic interviews and writing in-depth editorial articles are also part of my game.
In English or in Dutch. Or both. Whatever you need.
Oh, and I also give copywriting workshops together with festival expert Timo Kragting. We've been told we're like Bert and Ernie. You can guess who's who.
research
strategic copy
authentic interviews
about me
I am an Amsterdam born and based strategic copywriter who loves to get into heated discussions about what synonyms work the best. Because it's all about context and nuance.
Culture & society projects are my expertise.
After graduating bilingual high school (leaving a near-native English speaker) I completed the Trans-Siberian Railway track and traveled through Germany, Poland, Russia, Mongolia and China by train. When I came back I completed a bachelor in Media & Culture at the University of Amsterdam and have been working as a copywriter since 2010.
Because of my craving for more in-depth knowledge, I enrolled in a part-time minor program in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam in 2019, to learn more about one of my favourite intellectual disciplines. I am especially interested in ethics and the power of language & categorisation in media.
In my free time, you can find me using my Museumkaart to see intriguing exhibitions, feeding my vinyl & book addiction, cooking a plant based meal or hanging out with my cats Duvel and Romanov. I also appreciate slow journalism and I am obsessed with listening to the sound that water makes - from ocean waves to pouring rain.
Education
• Bachelor Media & Culture, New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam
• International
Baccalaureate Certificate (bilingual education) - Berlage Lyceum Amsterdam
Acknowledgements
• Selected in the Top 500 young Dutch digital talents - The Next Web Conference 2017 and 2018
Courses
• Media Training - Headline mediatrainers and consultancy
• Copywriting Mastery class - The Next Web
• Art Criticism Masterclass - Domein voor Kunstkritiek
• Creative Writing Class - CREA
• Creative writing class - Marjolein van Heemstra
Speaker/workshop appearances
• Workshop copywriting for Apenkooi - 2018
• Workshop profiling yourself online for DWARS - Groen Linkse jongeren - 2018
• Panel Member - STAY WYSE Conference 2017
In the media
• What I think about passive aggressive smileys in NRC
• Interview with Temper about freelancing
• How my Kandinsky tattoo represents freedom on Cultypleasure.nl
• Interview about my passion for work
current & previous clients, employers & accounts
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113 Zelfmoordpreventie • Amsterdam Art Weekend (Vruchtvlees) • Amsterdam Dance Event • ADE Beats • Amsterdam Fringe Festival • Amsterdam Light Festival • Amsterdamsche Kerstmarkt • Amsterdams Taalakkoord (Gemeente Amsterdam) • Apenkooi Events • APEX Event Productions • Bildt Audio • BIG ART • Broedplaats BOGOTÁ (meurkens & meurkens) • CBK Amsterdam (Programmeursgilde) • CJP • Chasing the Hihat Events (Buiten Westen Festival + Zomertuin van Bret) • Claire PR • Coebergh Communicatie & PR • COC Nederland • Contact Amsterdam • Cupcake PR • De Lichting • De PIT • Doka Amsterdam (Volkshotel) • DWARS, GroenLinkse Jongeren • Eigengrau • Ella Overkleeft • epidemie Mediahaven • Fair Ferry • Ferhat Kaplan • Festivalkrant (YellowTipi) • FØ Jewelry • Friendly Fire • Garage Noord • GLLRY Zuidoost Heesterveld • Guide Mes Pas • HAGENS • Hertog Jan • Honig (Voedselbank Amsterdam) • Horizon • Jäger Music (Maxxium Nederland/Jägermeister) • Kaap A'dam • KAAP • Klassewerk (Volkswagen Bedrijfswagens + ACHTUNG! + ROC Amsterdam/mboRijnland) • Klassiek op het Amstelveld • Kommune • Lars Muselaers • Leffe • LET • Likeminded • LUDWIG Live • MACA • MediaMaze • Metro Movies • Michelle Potters • Muchachomalo • Museumnacht Amsterdam • Mysteryland • Nachtburgemeester Amsterdam • Native Response Records • Open Art Route Zuidoost • Overdose.am • People Marketing (Cordaid Memisa) • Post CS bv (De School Amsterdam) • Project Wildeman • Rozentheater Amsterdam • Sarah Berckenkamp • Solidaridad (Havas Lemz) • TEDxAmsterdamWomen • The Crave Festival (District25) • UDC (Dance Valley + Dutch Valley) • Urban Connectors • VICE (Creators + THUMP) • Working Titles • YIELD
portfolio
I was responsible for writing the copy for the Amsterdam Art Weekend 2018 campaign, which was designed by Vruchtvlees. I developed a number of slogans to match their marketing objectives, different target audiences and the themes of the event. They were used in various components of the campaign. Such as invitations, newsletters, outdoor posters & abri's and website & social media visuals. Click on the image to check them out. Additionally, I improved the structure and copy for the presentation Amsterdam Art uses for potential partners, in 2019.
AMSTERDAM ART WEEKEND
campaign/brand copy + partnership pitch
113 zelfmoordpreventie
interviews/portraits
Did you know that young LGBT people think about suicide five to seven times more often than others? 113 Suicide Prevention organises exhibitions in various Dutch provinces, portraying young queer people, who started to give up on life. Many people find it difficult to talk about suicide with others, but you can make someone feel that they are not alone. With the Queer! exhibitions 113 wants to make people aware of this. I was responsible for writing down the stories of the people taking part in the expo in Zeeland, in 2019. I spoke to these beautiful and strong individuals about their process towards self-acceptance, the prejudices of other people, the dark thoughts they had and what helped them through these difficult periods. Click on the portrait of Samuel and Carola (shot by Marjolein Annegarn) to read the portraits I wrote.
TEDxAmsterdamWomen
TEDxAmsterdamWomen is a conference that focuses on the unique way in which women contribute to global change. Together with the communications team, I got their message across with different content in 2018. Such as interviews with official partners (such as Facebook, Accenture, NN Group and Deloitte) about their diversity and inclusion policies, speaker biographies and live reports of the talks during the events, for example. Click on the picture to see some examples.
interviews + biographies + announcements + live reports
GEMEENTE AMSTERDAM
With strategic agency HAGENS, I conducted a study for the City Council of Amsterdam in 2019. To provide insight into the need for network development and knowledge exchange between the partners of the Amsterdam Language Agreement (an initiative to combat illiteracy in the city). To then, based on the results and input of the partners (companies such as GVB, Ymere, OBA, Schiphol, OLVG en ROC), formulate and present a recommendation for their communication strategy. Click on the picture for an impression.
research + consultancy
JÄGER MUSIC
editorial articles + in-depth interviews
Jäger Music is an independent, underground music platform connected to Jägermeister. I am responsible for their online editorial content since 2018. I mainly write in-depth interviews/articles with/about artists and key players in the electronic music industry. Such as Amsterdam Dance Event, Drift Festival, RadioRadio, Mary Go Wild, BakkieBakkie, Wildeburg, Draaimolen, Woodstock'96, The Crave Festival, Pinkman Records, Oumuamua and Minimal Music Festival. Want to read some of them? Clicking on the machines and wires is all you have to do.
CBK AMSTERDAM
CBK Amsterdam, the characteristic center for contemporary visual arts in Amsterdam, combines memberships for lending art - with a collection of nearly 5.000 works of art by Amsterdam-based artists such as Aat Veldhoen, Hamid El Kanbouhi and Erwin Olaf - and a large exhibition space. After 35 years, the iconic institute has to close its doors in 2019. I was responsible for writing the press release about their final art festival, 'CBK is dood, lang leve CBK!', they organised in collaboration with Programmeursgilde. Want to read it? Click on the picture on the left.
press release
CONTACT AMSTERDAM
Contact Amsterdam is a creative hub in the West of Amsterdam. I was responsible for establishing the tone of voice for the platform, conducting their mission statement and created the website copy for the first phase of the project in 2017, when the hub was still in construction, attracting artists and startups to signup as the hub's first tenants. Click on the photo to read more about this project.
tone of voice + mission statement
