Albert Heijn and Merkle win award for Christmas loyalty campaign
Supermarket chain Albert Heijn has bagged a Marigold Award for the way it managed to delight its customers during last year’s Christmas – while benefitting its own business as well.
Held for the first time this year, the annual Marigold Awards (formerly known as Selligent Awards) celebrate excellence in loyalty and digital marketing campaigns. The awards judged cases from all corners of the world, with winners announced across five categories.
The ‘Wow’ category, which recognizes a campaign that took the “breath away” of the jury members, was won by Netherlands-based Albert Heijn, for a marketing campaign that helped the supermarket present its shoppers with a ‘magical’ online experience during the Christmas and festive period.
The goal of the campaign was to achieve a positivity ratio of 70%, however, smart design and a catchy narrative meant that a positivity ratio of 73% was achieved, surpassing the general average by 20%. Other KPIs also saw above average results, including website traffic (measured using the click-through rate) and subscribe / unsubscribe rates of mailings.
To achieve these results, Albert Heijn and consulting partner Merkle crafted a creative email campaign that combined inspiration, personalization, ease of use, loyalty, and experience design.
Two special edition Christmas emails were blasted out to loyalty customers. The first encouraged customers to embrace the Christmas spirit after the Sinterklaas period, while the second mail focused on providing inspiration for incredible Christmas dishes, whether made from scratch or with a little help from Albert Heijn.
The goal was to position Albert Heijn as the leading place for finding the finest Christmas products to suit every budget, helping to make the festive period an unforgettable experience for its customers.
“Albert Heijn, with their partner Merkle, delivered shopping recommendations and increased brand loyalty through games and dynamic experiences,” stated the jury of the Marigold Awards.
Runner-up in the Wow category was Würth from France, for its campaign to attract and retain new customers using personalized product recommendations, abandoned cart triggers, and custom loyalty programs.