Securing retail budgets remains one of radio’s challenges. Retail companies tend to invest their brand-building money in TV, often relegating radio to tactical promotional spots.

When Carrefour Belgium planned its 25th anniversary campaign, the budget was about to be allocated to TV, with no radio in the plan. Nostalgie changed that with a creative concept built around Carrefour’s weekly flyer, repositioning radio from an afterthought to a campaign driver and securing a significant share of the brand budget.

The Winning Idea

Every week, Belgian shoppers encounter the Carrefour flyer in stores and online, packed with promotions and special offers. Nostalgie saw an opportunity to turn this retail staple into compelling radio content.

They presented Carrefour with the “Win de Folder” campaign, a competition where listeners could win everything in that week’s flyer, a €750 grocery voucher. The flyer became the content, the prize, and a seamless marketing vehicle.

Building the Cross-Media Package

The campaign ran on Nostalgie in both Flanders and the French-speaking part of the country, creating national coverage across Belgium’s linguistic divide.

The concept was straightforward but engaging: DJs read out three products from the current week’s Carrefour flyer, and listeners called in to guess the combined price. Winners received a €750 voucher, with 40 winners selected from Flemish-speaking Belgium and 40 from French-speaking Belgium.

But the campaign partners built more than a radio competition. They created an integrated approach where each channel played a specific role:

Print: One million Carrefour flyers featured the competition on the back page, turning the retailer’s in-store and online promotional materials into a platform for the stations.

TV: Spots filmed in Carrefour stores featuring the radio DJs drove viewers to tune in, creating a flow where TV supported radio engagement rather than competing with it.

In-store and social: Content filmed in Carrefour aisles added authenticity and created shareable moments across platforms.

Effective Integration and Collaboration

The campaign redirected a major retail budget from TV-only to a cross-media strategy centred on radio. Carrefour, which hadn’t planned to use radio, became an active radio advertiser.

Integration with Carrefour’s existing print distribution generated significant reach at minimal incremental cost. All partners benefited: Carrefour gained radio engagement and national reach, while the stations gained promotion through the distribution of one million flyers.

The campaign also created emotional connections that extended its impact. One winner who had recently lost her job received crucial financial support through the €750 voucher. Her story generated media coverage that amplified the campaign for both Carrefour and the radio partners, demonstrating the power of radio to deliver brand salience and genuine emotional engagement.

The Synergy of Efficiency and Creativity

Retail budgets tend to flow toward TV because supermarkets view advertising as primarily visual. Carrefour’s Win de Folder campaign challenged this assumption by making their weekly flyer, already a visual medium, the subject of audio content.