Sinterklaas is the most magical period for kids in the Netherlands but can be stressful for parents. Adding to that, kids never know what present they really want (based on our extensive research). Our objective for bol.com (the biggest webshop in the BeNeLux) was to make the season even more magical for kids and help parents reduce stress. Our brief was to make finding the perfect gift the most pleasant and fun experience for everyone with clever services.

We had the opportunity to create brand-new tech solutions in an outdated toy industry that would help achieve our objective. Last year we already released a tech-savvy toy-book, but this year we really stepped up our game with a dedicated app that integrated offline and online seamlessly in search of that perfect gift.

Knowing it was all about adding magic for kids and convenience for parents, we’ve created the campaign: ‘The store that delivers smiles’. This 360-campaign had the immersive Great-Toy-Book as a centrepiece, including games, the Wish-List-Poster, over 100 minutes of scannable 8D audio stories, onboarding videos by Sinterklaas, little surprise messages by the holy saint and much more.

Combined with our new Toy-Book-App with image recognition, it brought the 900(!) toys to life like a true magic wand. Kids could now think about their gift in great detail. Often playing together with their parents, they got to know toys well ensuring the right gift choice.

The full campaign was spread cleverly over multiple channels and included 3 TVCs, multiple radio spots, OLV, and influencer partnerships showing the tools and features simultaneously to the TV’s air dates. On out-of-home and social, children proudly showed their Wish-List-Poster.

At bol.com we understand that offering toys for Sinterklaas isn’t just enough; we’re here to help parents reduce stress and maximize fun for children. Amazon, our biggest threat, knows very little about our Sinterklaas traditions. This was the period to show that bol.com understands Dutch culture better than the American giant. We had to be Sinterklaas’ little helper.

We didn’t have the lowest prices and not the biggest offering. Therefore we had to find something we had to find a unique selling point. As the toy’s world has been lacking innovation and imagination, we knew this was an opportunity.

The webshop is also known for ease of use, orientation and purchasing. Therefore we established 3 strategic fases:

1. Pre-fun: create magic for kids

2. Orientation: picking made fun and easy for children with their parents

3. Ordering: ease for parents

First, we developed the 2nd edition of The Great-Toy-Book and introduced the Toy-Book-App and released in October ‘20 in the Netherlands and Northern Belgium.

Now extra fun and inspiration are offered to children when making their wish list (found inside).

The release was accompanied by a TVC, OLV and social assets. It showed a girl opening the book with toys magically flying out of it.

Three weeks later, we released a TVC and OLV to promote the scannable 8D-audio-stories in the book.

Mid November the full campaign went live that reminded parents of the convenience of the Wish-List-Poster with a TVC, radio, OLV starring an indecisive girl shouting her wishes down the chimney.

Influencer partners constantly showed the tools and features simultaneously to the TV’s air dates. On Out-of-home and social, children proudly showed their Wish-List-Poster.

The campaign clearly demonstrated the role of bol.com and the emotional benefits.

Main goals & KPIs:

Market share toys during the holiday season (November-December): 48% (+8% market leader toy-market)

Brand; strengthen mental availability bol.com with ‘Sinterklaas’ as category entry point: 45% (+6%)

Awareness; the most famous Toy-book in the Netherlands: 86% (+13%)

Sales; share of wallet factor*: 2.4x (+0.9)

Sales; total sales of the campaign during the campaign period: 41% (+11%)

* The factor related to the average turnover of users of The Toy Book compared to the average turnover of households with children <12 years old who bought toys at bol.com (without using the Toy Book)