Description
Bol is Belgium’s largest e-commerce platform, a household name for buying books, electronics, and everyday items online. But furniture and home décor? That was not what consumers associated with the brand. DPG Media set out to change this perception through a multi-format partnership with Huis Gemaakt (“Home Made”), a popular Flemish TV show where couples compete to renovate run-down properties, with the winning couple keeping their fully transformed home.
The partnership went far beyond logo placements and sponsor mentions. DPG Media integrated bol into the viewer experience at every touchpoint: furniture from bol’s range appeared naturally within the show as couples furnished their renovated spaces; branded articles in print magazines showcased bol’s home décor products in editorial-style content; streaming ads and billboards reinforced the connection; and an innovative pause button ad-billboard displayed when viewers pause streaming content – captured attention at a moment when viewers were actively engaged with their screens.
Each format served a distinct purpose in the campaign architecture. Billboards and standard ads built broad awareness. Program integrations made bol feel like a natural part of the renovation journey rather than an interruption. Branded content allowed deeper product storytelling. The pause ad format proved particularly effective at cutting through, reaching viewers at an unexpected moment with high attention. The campaign’s success relied on close collaboration between DPG Media’s sales house and Hotel Bonka, a hybrid creative agency and production company.
To measure the impact of the campaign, DPG Media partnered with research agency ContentFX on a controlled experiment exposing over 1,200 respondents across 12 groups to different combinations of campaign elements. This approach allowed them to isolate the contribution of each format -demonstrating not just overall effectiveness, but precisely which elements drove which outcomes.
Results
The partnership delivered results that surpassed expectations. Bol’s top-of-mind awareness as a furniture and home decor retailer doubled compared to the control group. More striking still: bol became the highest-scoring furniture store in top-of-mind awareness among respondents.
Beyond awareness, brand preference for bol as a furniture retailer improved significantly, with stronger scores across multiple brand image statements. The bol ads from the partnership achieved better unprompted and prompted recall than other ads shown in the research.
The experiment validated four key principles for partnership effectiveness: first, that well-executed partnerships build not just awareness but emotional connection; second, that combining multiple ad elements compounds impact – the more formats used, the stronger the effect; third, that creative formats like integrations and branded content outperform standard advertising; and fourth, that context fit matters – Huis Gemaakt viewers rated both the partnership and bol as a furniture retailer more positively than non-viewers.
Bol reported strong satisfaction with the campaign’s impact on consideration, preference, and the mental association between their brand and home décor. For DPG Media, the rigorous measurement approach provided a blueprint for demonstrating partnership value to future clients, with clear evidence of how each campaign element contributes to overall effectiveness.
Source: egta.com
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