Kruidvat - App launch

At Kruidvat, everything is about customers, and so is our marketing strategy. ‘With the disappearance of third-party cookies, we saw a unique opportunity: get more value from our first-party data and really get to know our customers better. How? With our secret weapon: the revamped Kruidvat app!

The existing first-party data offered a solid foundation, but we knew more was possible. The goal? Not only to understand our customers better, but also to let them experience the benefits of the revamped Kruidvat app. In this way, we wanted to strengthen the digital ecosystem and strengthen the relationship with customers.

The insight: First-party data is crucial to personalise future marketing and make it effective. This insight formed the basis for the strategy, which consisted of 4 campaign layers:

1. Phase 1 Pre-launch: Before the campaign starts, launch search ads in app stores (Apple & Playstore) to generate early downloads. Also to drive out competition such as Temu.

2. Phase 2 Launch: Impactful outreach campaign to announce that the Kruidvat app has been revamped, and that you have a chance to win prizes and free products every day for 4 weeks.

3. Phase 3 Always-On acquisition: Targeted campaign on maximising the number of app installs. Using:

a. Target group segmentation & communication

b. Integration of owned and paid media: Combining paid-media channels (such as search, display and social media) and owned resources (social, CRM mailings and push messages) and aligning these channels, in order to reach the target group as efficiently as possible.

c. Mobile first: A conscious decision was made to deploy a mobile first strategy, to create a seamless experience for consumers when installing the revamped app.

4. Phase 4 Always-On Engagement: To (re)activate app users through dynamic content and daily app initiatives such as ‘Shake & Win’ by paid and owned media.

The strategy and distribution of the media budget was essential to the success of the campaign. Targeted audience approach ensured that resources such as social and display were used efficiently. Price segmentation (Gen Z, young parents, the grey wave and Kruidvat Members) was applied to show relevant messages, while excluding app users minimised waste and increased conversions.

The mix of media (TV, radio, online video, influencers, display and social media) created both broad reach and impact, while synergy between owned and paid media actually encouraged interaction. CRM mailings and push notifications supported paid campaigns, creating spikes in app downloads.

Trigger-based campaigns played a crucial role in activation and retention. During onboarding, customers without an app were approached via e-mail and paid media, with push notifications as incentives. Engagement was increased through targeted actions such as the ‘Shake & Win’ reminder and extra loyalty points for digital card scans. Retargeting of non-installers and re-engagement emails kept users active. In addition, prize-winner notifications and personalised offers encouraged additional interaction with the app.

Through real-time optimisation, budget was continuously shifted to channels with the highest conversion, such as video and display. This approach led to efficient spending, higher app adoption and long-term customer engagement, making the campaign a success.

- More App downloads: During the campaign period, +273,000 downloads were achieved, resulting in an overall 15.9% growth in the user base.

- Activating customers:

o Interaction: Almost 400,000 people played daily. More than 3.4 million games were played.

o Members: Uplift of 32% in number of registered cards during campaign period.

- Higher sales numbers via app: Sales via app were 40% higher than benchmark during the campaign period.

Overall result: Due to the value of each new app user and member (CLV), the media budget deployed was recouped almost ten times over!