Albert Heijn, founded in 1887, is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands and a key player in the grocery industry. As part of Ahold Delhaize, it operates over 1,000 stores across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
Albert Heijn excels in technological innovation with self-checkout systems, cashier-less stores, and the AH.nl online service. Customer-centric initiatives like the AH Bonus Card offer personalized discounts. Sustainability efforts include reducing plastic usage and collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Albert Heijn Netherlands has received the prestigious B Corp certification in December 2024, which emphasizes their mission to 'Make better food accessible together. For everyone.' This certification recognizes their commitment to a healthy, social, and sustainable society and connects them to a global network of companies that prioritize positive impact.
AH’s marketing focuses on emotional connections through storytelling and personalized campaigns.
Challenge
- Showcasing Albert Heijn's commitment to social responsibility
In a competitive market, Albert Heijn needs to highlight its commitment to social responsibility. The campaign's interactive elements, like the Soundbox and quiz, engage customers meaningfully, making learning about animals fun and informative while boosting brand engagement.
Partnering with reputable organizations like WWF-NL and figures like Freek Vonk adds credibility, especially appealing to families with children, a key demographic for Albert Heijn.
By promoting education and awareness about nature conservation, Albert Heijn aims to foster a positive brand perception, increasing customer satisfaction and strengthening its market position. - Digitizing the animal card collection campaign
Albert Heijn aims to lead in digital experiences. With evolving technology and customer needs, innovation is crucial to delight customers.
The challenge is to transform a physical collection campaign into a fully accessible digital experience, enhancing engagement across various channels—from out-of-home to in-store, and from social media to digital platforms.
This digital experience must be accessible to all customers, regardless of device, and available in both light and dark modes.
Services
Experience and Product Design, CX Strategy , Engagement & Loyalty
Industry
Retail & Consumer goods
Market
The Netherlands
Technology Partner
Selligent, by Marigold
-
-75%
Decrease in opt-out rate -
16%
Higher open rate than other campaigns -
40%
Header click rate -
28%
Soundbox click rate (bottom of mail)
Approach
Our email campaign created an omnichannel experience, translating the physical card collection into a digital format. Key interactive elements like the Soundbox, quiz, and animal learning features made the campaign fun and informative. Adding sound to the emails bridged the gap between physical and digital experiences.
Improved accessibility
To lead in digital experiences, we transformed a physical collection campaign into a fully accessible digital experience. Collaborating with Selligent by Marigold, we ensured the digital experience was accessible on all devices and available in both light and dark modes. This partnership allowed us to innovate in owned messaging and continually surprise customers.
By pushing creative boundaries, we maintained clarity and readability, providing an optimal experience. The "Animals Make Themselves Heard" campaign, launched in September 2024, translated the physical card collection into a digital format with interactive elements. This campaign was supported by various marketing initiatives, including a TV commercial.
Optimizing emails for dark mode was crucial for customer experience and European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance. Creative design and technology ensured content remained clear and legible in both modes.
Results
This email campaign was a game changer. Albert Heijn showed that making a positive impact on customers and providing a full experience in terms of digital accessibility (in alignment with the upcoming EAA act) is rewarded by clients with these strong results.
- Open rate: 16% higher than other Albert Heijn campaigns in 2024, showing strong interest from customers.
- Header click performance: 45% of clicks were on the header image, which shows direct interest in the topic and campaign.
- Soundbox click performance: 28% of readers engaged with the soundbox CTA (at the bottom of the email), indicating sustained reader interest throughout the entire email.
- Opt-out rate: Extremely low, decreased by 75% compared to regular AH campaigns in 2024, showing high engagement and positive reception of customers on this email.
This email campaign was a game changer. Albert Heijn showed that making a positive impact on customers and providing a full experience in terms of digital accessibility is rewarded by clients with these strong results. Albert Heijn shows we can still make awesome content and align with the upcoming EAA act to improve accessibility!
