What happens when a premium brand and a retail platform combine their strengths? For the Vertuo Up campaign, bol Retail Media provided the shopper context: an environment where consumers actively search, compare and purchase. Nespresso added a strong brand story and a premium coffee experience. Together, they created a seamless journey from inspiration to purchase. Florence Vandecaveye, E‑Retail Key Account Manager at Nespresso, and Nele Vanhecke, Sales Manager Advertising (Retail Media) at bol, share how retail media became the connecting link.
Retail media has long been primarily associated with conversion. What has changed?
Nele: “Retail media has evolved from a predominantly performance-driven discipline into a full-funnel channel. Today, we can build awareness through premium display and content solutions, drive consideration with inspiring brand experiences, and guide consumers towards purchase through performance solutions such as Sponsored Products. What makes retail media unique is that all these stages come together within a single shopping environment, where we can also measure and optimise impact.”
Florence: “The channel has matured: it is now structurally embedded in media plans, with a stronger focus on KPIs, reporting and governance. In addition, more and more consumers start their orientation directly on retail platforms, making retail media a key driver throughout the entire customer journey today.”
Nespresso is a premium brand with a strong owned ecosystem. Why is bol Retail Media an interesting partner for you?
Florence: “On bol, consumers are already in ‘shopping mode’. This makes it a strong environment to be present with messaging that helps shoppers compare and choose. Insights from retail data enable us to reach audiences more precisely and continuously optimise campaigns based on what actually works. This is essential to align our offering with an evolving coffee culture and a new generation of consumers. With richer on-site formats, we can not only drive performance, but also bring our brand and assortment to life in a way that fits a premium positioning focused on exploration and personalisation.”
Nele: “Vertuo Up ties into a broader trend where coffee is increasingly about experience and variety: from hot beverages to iced and milk-based recipes, all within an all-in-one barista experience at home. On bol, we can bring that experience to life within a single purchase flow, as we offer not only the machine, but also Vertuo capsules and accessories. This makes bol a one-stop shop for Nespresso products.”
A campaign performs best when it aligns with how consumers search, compare and make decisions locally.”
LOCAL MEDIA PLAN
How did you approach the Vertuo retail media campaign?
Florence: “The Vertuo Up launch within retail media was fully integrated into a coordinated European rollout, rather than a stand-alone activation. It was important for us to deliver a consistent message to consumers, regardless of where they encountered Vertuo.”
Nele: “bol uniquely combines reach, purchase intent and first-party insights. Consumers come to bol with a clear purchase or orientation intent. This allows brands to be present at the exact moments when decisions are made. For an innovative product like Vertuo Up, this created an opportunity to both tell the product story and guide consumers towards purchase.”
Florence: “We developed a full-funnel media plan, including on-site display banners, in-app display banners, a social campaign, Sponsored Products and Branded Shelves. Throughout the campaign, we worked with different creative variations and a mix of packshots and lifestyle imagery to present Vertuo Up as strongly as possible, while consistently translating both the product and the experience across all touchpoints.”
It was important not to run a copy-paste campaign from the Netherlands. Why was a local Belgian approach so important?
Nele: “While Belgium and the Netherlands share many similarities, we also see clear differences in consumer behaviour, search behaviour and commercial context. That’s why we strongly believe in local relevance. A campaign performs best when it aligns with how consumers search, compare and make decisions locally.”
Florence: “That’s right. Nespresso Belgium and Nespresso Netherlands are two separate entities, each with their own strategy, budgets, promotional calendars and priorities. Timing, focus and messaging therefore needed to reflect the local context. For example, in Belgium people more often refer to a ‘capsule machine’, while in the Netherlands the broader term ‘coffee pod machine’ is more commonly used. This impacts the keywords, categories, creatives and content you deploy.”
Do you often see differences in media consumption and buying behaviour between Belgium and the Netherlands?
Nele: “Absolutely. The Netherlands is generally more advanced in e-commerce, while Belgium remains more hybrid. In Belgium, retail media is often part of a broader customer journey in which multiple channels complement each other.
We didn’t just look at search behaviour, but also at shopper engagement with the brand within the category. By incorporating local insights around branded search, category behaviour and brand involvement, we were able to make the campaign more relevant for Belgian consumers.”
Florence: “Because the journey in Belgium often doesn’t start or end fully online, it’s important to provide extra clarity to help consumers make their choices. That’s why it’s essential for retail media to connect seamlessly with broader brand communication and retail activations.”
INTERIM RESULTS
Has this approach been successful?
Nele: “We’re still only a quarter into the campaign, but the first results are already very promising. On-site is currently delivering a ROAS of 10, and in-app a ROAS of 11—strong commercial results. At the same time, we see solid growth in reach and engagement through social and display, with over 8,000 clicks and strong CTR performance.”
Florence: “This confirms that the full-funnel approach works: we are not only building visibility, but also seeing that interest translate into purchases.”
What advice would you give to brands that still underestimate retail media today?
Nele: “Don’t look at retail media as just another performance channel, but as a strategic part of your overall marketing mix. Brands that use retail media effectively can combine brand building, personalisation, measurability and conversion within one environment. In addition, retail media offers something few other channels can: the ability to directly link brand impact to measurable sales impact. That makes it one of the most powerful channels today to reach consumers at key decision-making moments—and to clearly demonstrate the impact of marketing investments.”
