Next level jubilee

Albert Heijn’s 130th anniversary

Introduction

An educational celebration

2017 marks the 130th anniversary of Hollands most well-known supermarket chain Albert Heijn. As part of the celebrations we were asked to produce a special edition of Ahá magazine. Of course we came up with more than just a simple print booklet. Hell, we took the assignment up a few levels. Literally.

Albert Heijn has a rich history starting back in 1887. It’s been very well documented and digitalized. So celebrating 130 years of successful entrepreneurship with a timeline of big milestones wouldn’t be that difficult. But that would also be very cliché and way too easy.

Strategy

We therefore chose to create two separate entities. A printed magazine and an online quiz. The magazine had to consist of historical facts and stories that are totally new to the majority of the Albert Heijn employees. The quiz had to be fun as well as educational. Main goal: bring more than a century of Albert Heijn history to life and make sure employees playfully take in as much information as possible.

Ahá 130 Magazine

A lot has already been said about Albert Heijn’s heritage. To really surprise our readers we had to dig deeper. In close collaboration with Albert Heijn’s archivist we went on a quest for stories that had never been told before. We started sifting through tons of old material and content and contacted numerous sources for extra info and verification. We discovered that Albert Heijn was actually ‘founded’ by women and that the company had its own record label back in the late sixties.

To give all this ‘breaking news’ some extra cachet the magazine has a really old look and feel, like it really comes from the past century. And to top it all off, the magazine is reversible with a second cover and some stories about the future. Forward thinking…

largeimage_ah-130-magazine-inside_born05

design_ah-130_01 — Ahá 130 Kwis

While researching the stories we simultaneously cherry picked the coolest trivia for our quiz. Our goal was to come up with more than 150 questions in several Albert Heijn categories like: History, People and Products. The quiz at www.ah130jaar.nl is very easy to play. You just open the first question pack and work your way through ten multiple-choice questions.

There are three packs, with the questions getting harder as you progress. With each wrong answer you lose a life (three strikes, you’re out) and the faster you answer correctly the more points you gather. After each question some extra fun-to-know information is presented to you. In the end the goal is to gather as many points (and knowledge) as possible and to challenge your friends and colleagues to do better.

design_ah-130_02 — Ahá 130 Kwis

While researching the stories we simultaneously cherry picked the coolest trivia for our quiz. Our goal was to come up with more than 150 questions in several Albert Heijn categories like: History, People and Products. The quiz at www.ah130jaar.nl is very easy to play. You just open the first question pack and work your way through ten multiple-choice questions.

There are three packs, with the questions getting harder as you progress. With each wrong answer you lose a life (three strikes, you’re out) and the faster you answer correctly the more points you gather. After each question some extra fun-to-know information is presented to you. In the end the goal is to gather as many points (and knowledge) as possible and to challenge your friends and colleagues to do better.

RESULT

A winning combination

The quiz and magazine work together perfectly. The magazine, sent to all Albert Heijn employees, stands out because of its newsworthy stories and very old look and feel. It sheds a unique light on Albert Heijn’s history and makes employees think about the company’s heritage in a different way. With a full page advertorial in the middle of the magazine readers are encouraged to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test in the Ahá 130 Kwis. This combination of editorial (paper) content and a smart digital game proves really strong. It’s a perfect present to all Albert Heijn employees and it offers a truly fun way to learn more about to company they work in.

play the game (dutch)