Building brand experience, visibility and direct results together through an omnichannel activation.
Van den Hul wanted to raise the visibility of its high-end audio cables and boost sales during a focused activation period. With a well-thought-out omnichannel strategy, the right mix of digital & print media and close collaboration with retail partner iEar’, we delivered an immediate 29% increase in revenue and a rock-solid brand position within the high-end audio community.
Highlights:
- +29% revenue growth for Van den Hul through iEar’ during the campaign
- 75,143 unique people reached through Meta Ads
- 55% average open rate on the segmented email campaign
- 17 direct in-store appointments and 8 online purchases generated
About Van den Hul and iEar’
Van den Hul is a world-famous Dutch brand and a true pioneer in high-end audio cables. Since it was founded in 1980, the brand has been synonymous with uncompromising sound quality, technological innovation and sustainability. Its range serves both passionate audiophiles and professional studios with premium speaker, phono, RCA, coaxial and power cables.
To put these high-end cables actively and purposefully in front of the right audience, we partnered with iEar’ Ultimate Sound & Vision. iEar’ is an established high-end audio & hi-fi specialist with two physical shops, a user-friendly, conversion-focused web shop and a highly loyal community of more than 50,000 audio enthusiasts.
The challenge
Although Van den Hul is an established name in high-end audio worldwide, the Dutch and Belgian markets call for continuous, active brand activation. In a market where shoppers research extensively online before they buy, the challenge was clear:
1. Targeted brand visibility: putting the Van den Hul brand actively and visually in front of a relevant audience of audio enthusiasts.
2. Awareness and activation: showing the audience why a high-quality audio cable matters so much, and prompting them straight away to book an in-store listening appointment or order online.
3. Optimal reach: using iEar’s existing network and community to reach the audience in a data-driven, cost-efficient way.
Approach
Working closely with Van den Hul and iEar’, we developed a one-month omnichannel brand activation campaign, with iEar’ acting as strategic retail and media partner.
To reach the audience at the right moment and through the right touchpoints, we put together a combined media mix:
- Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram): aimed at both brand experience and direct activation, visually highlighting specific product categories and cable types.
- Google Ads: setting up a targeted brand campaign and adding account-wide promotion extensions and dedicated Van den Hul sitelinks to the existing Google Search & Shopping campaigns.
- Email marketing: a general newsletter plus a tightly segmented one, sent to iEar’s active following.
- Print promotion: reinforcing the digital channels with a prominent placement in the leading HVT Magazine.
Execution
During the campaign month, we ran all channels at once to reach the audience as effectively as possible. On Facebook and Instagram, eye-catching images and videos showed what good cables do for sound quality, and interested people clicked straight through to the right pages on the website.
People already searching Google for audio cables were sent straight to the Van den Hul range in iEar’s web shop through smart links in the search results.
We also sent targeted emails to iEar’s loyal following and secured a standout page in the audio magazine HVT. By keeping a close daily eye on the results, we adjusted the ads along the way for the best return.
The result
The brand activation campaign delivered excellent figures for reach, engagement and direct revenue growth:
- Direct effect on revenue: during the campaign period, Van den Hul’s revenue through iEar’ rose by 29%.
- Meta Ads impact: the social media campaign reached 75,143 unique people. This led to 2,442 direct, high-quality visits to the landing pages, 8 online purchases and 17 in-store listening appointments.
- Google Ads visibility: the added brand sitelink was shown more than 20,000 times to people actively searching.
- Website engagement: the dedicated Van den Hul brand, category and product pages received 8,070 views.
- Newsletter: in total we reached more than 50,000 audio enthusiasts, and the segmented newsletter had an average open rate of 55%.
