When the economy almost came to a complete standstill this spring due to the corona crisis and the subsequent lockdown, Ocean Nederland decided to use the power of its network to give the hardest hit SMEs and trade associations a helping hand. Free broadcasting time was made available to a value of no less than 10 million euros gross.
The campaign was a great success: Spread over 280 large digital screens along motorways and in the cities, more than 250 different SME campaigns were shown in recent weeks. The total gross media value exceeded the previously targeted 10 million and ultimately amounted to €11,654,604.
Diversity of advertisers
The type of advertiser that has registered is very diverse, each with its own story and needs. Advertisers from the following industries, among others:
Fashion brands
Shoe brands
Seconders
Hospitality industry
Restaurants
Caterers
Cultural institutions
Bicycle brands
Car companies
Travel organisations
Holiday parks
Various retailers
Sports brands
Construction companies
We have received many different reactions from advertisers, including that seeing your brand or advertisement on the large-format digital screens in the cities and along motorways creates a positive sentiment and trust among relations, (potential) customers and staff. As a brand, you show you don’t stand still, but keep going. Generating exposure and creating impact seems to work!
Roland – IAMTORO
“A great initiative. Fast and flexible response from Ocean and we enjoyed taking part! We forwarded the photo of the shopping centre in Nieuwegein to the model and he posted it, he thought it was great to appear on a billboard that big.”
Menno de Kok - Vendere Consultancy & Training
“Positive reactions! Employees and customers who thought it was cool we were exposed in this way. In these times, it’s nice to bring positive news, which of course this was. It was especially nice to show the world that we don’t stand still and continue to do business! Thank you so much for this!!”
“Not only provides a lot of exposure, but also gives mental resilience.”
Fred Schuit – Business Video
“This will cheer us up!!”
Koen van de Berg – Pilsvogel
“Nice, cool to see this along the motorways. Positive reactions on our social media from customers, employees, friends, family and acquaintances.”
Nancy en Joram – Tutti a Tavola
Bart Jonker - Mates Gold Rum
“Very cool to be able to participate; despite our enormous drop in turnover, it seems as if we’ve now been able to pay for an incredibly expensive campaign and that radiates confidence to the consumer.”
Walter Visser - M3TCH
“Wow!! So cool!! Good and positive reactions from customers, employees, friends and family. Nice and professional to see our logo so large along the road.”
What advertisers of the SME Support Fund have often mentioned is that being visible on the digital screens increases traffic to the website. Passers-by are triggered, are curious, search for the website and in some cases, this has even directly led to extra sales and requests.
The many social media reactions come as a surprise to many advertisers. The campaigns and especially the photos of the campaigns resulted in relevant content for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, among others, which not only resulted in extra traffic but also a second wave of exposure.
“Direct website traffic: an increase of 55%. Organic website traffic: an increase of 30%. Paid website traffic: an increase of 31%. The extra order intake is a bit difficult to specify because our lead time is often more than a week. We do see a significant increase in the number of requests.“
Bas Oude Luttikhuis – MrWheelson.nl
“A great experience, so nice to see your own company depicted on such a large scale. We didn’t realise until now that roadside advertising is viewed so much. Thanks to this campaign, other media channels are also doing better, for example, the number of hits on LinkedIn shot up when we started posting pictures of the signs on social media.”
Robert Falk – A&D POST.NL
“By being more visible along the motorways, we have definitely seen an increase in traffic to the website. That’s something we’re very happy with and which has given us a push in the right direction.”
Riccardo Pellicaan – JustMoreGifts
Nicolaas Koedam - NØLSON Shirts
”I really enjoyed taking part! Firstly, it was nice to get to know your company in this way and secondly, it’s a great opportunity to create exposure! I’ve had a lot of reactions, not so much from people who have passed the billboards/ads, but especially from people who’ve seen this online: Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn We know for sure whether people have seen it! 19,050 people on LinkedIn. That’s a lot and many people in the shops and on the street were talking about it!”
Nienke - Creative Lab Amsterdam
“We thought it was great to be able to participate in the SME Support Fund. We enjoyed a lot of exposure and we’ve received very positive reactions from known and unknown people. Many customers have also taken the time to view our website, because the exposure piqued their interest. They really thought it was great to see and so did we. Our turnover has grown compared to last month and the exposure will certainly have contributed to this. It really has made a wonderful contribution, both in terms of visibility and sales!”
Bas van Beek - Hooghuis Sportservice Sportsokken.nl
“It’s great that the Ocean Outdoor SME Support Fund gave us the opportunity to give our new start-up national visibility on a couple of beautiful digital screens along the motorway. It has brought us extra traffic to the website and even extra sales throughout the country. We were offered this from Ocean Outdoor, but we will undoubtedly come back to them at the start of the new sports season (mid-September) for a great campaign! In addition, it has generated a lot of nice, positive ‘wow’ reactions from our clientèle and friends”
”Super cool, wonderful initiative! Traffic on the site doubled and LinkedIn posts were viewed 4400 times.”
Maarten van Ark – JS Bouw
“A great campaign, which we normally wouldn’t think of. Namibia is being hit hard, this way, we can hopefully show people that we’re here! We also have an increase in traffic on the website.”
Ad Bouman – Mirage Namibia – Tourism
“Great to see your name/company on these large billboards. We’ve received really nice reactions. We’ve posted the photos on LinkedIn and they were shared a lot. We’ve now sold approximately 150 office chairs via Thuiswerkstoel.nl.”
Joost van den Dijssel – Ralph Voet
The aim of the Ocean SME Support Fund was to give the economy a boost. Through the fund, many SMEs and trade associations have been able to generate a large reach, often resulting in extra sales, new potential customers and, above all, giving customers, relations and staff confidence. The surprising side-effect was the second wave of exposure on social media. The Ocean team enjoyed being able to contribute in this way. The summer of 2020 will be one to remember, many Dutch people will stay in the Netherlands. A unique opportunity to create impact and exposure again.
“Thanks for this great initiative and support.”
Max Blom – Mystic – Leisure/Sports
“Looking Gooooooooood!”
Martine Hammink – 24AM
“The first but certainly not the last time Amehoela has shone in the sky!”
Xander Olthoff – Amehoela