iO helps Torfs to get a foothold in the Walloon market

From top to bottom...

Torfs has 75 physical stores in Belgium, of which 73 are in Flanders and only 2 in Wallonia. In other words, the brand is a giant on one side of the language border but is still in its infancy on the other. This also applies online: most of the website’s visitors and customers come from the northern region of our country.

Torfs’ first goal is to build more brand awareness in Wallonia and eventually to become an established retailer for both shoes and clothing.

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Challenge

Increasing market share in Wallonia

Solution

Television, online, and offline campaigns

About Torfs

Torfs, also known as 'Schoenen Torfs', is one of the biggest shoe chains in Flanders. The brand has been selling shoes for adults and children for almost 80 years and has more than 70 stores in Belgium. Since 2006, Torfs has won multiple polls. They were voted one of the best employers in Belgium, and the Best Retail Chain in Belgium in the footwear category.

Although Torfs is mainly known for shoes, the brand is also a full-fledged fashion player. Torfs sells clothing, handbags, and other fashion accessories.

Learn more about Torfs

... And from top to toe

We really shouldn't have to repeat it: whoever says Torfs, says shoes. But shoes are not the only thing Torfs sells. Torfs stores and webshop stock stylish clothing, handbags, and accessories. However, many Belgians are unaware of this. They often only discover Torfs fashion for the first time in the stores or on the webshop, when they actually come to shop to buy shoes.

Torfs’ second goal is to position itself as a serious fashion player. Anyone who knows Torfs should know that it is the store with an outfit for everyone, from head to toe and vice versa.

Campaigns of all shapes and sizes

Supported by iO, Torfs set up several campaigns. For young and old. For young and old. For shoes and clothes.

For these campaigns, we retranslated Torfs famous catchphrase. 'Strong in your shoes' became 'Trouvez chaussures à votre pied', a French expression with added emotional charge, that covers more than just the shoes.

In Dutch we would say 'every jar fits a lid'. And there’s aTorfs shoe for every foot. But shoes shouldn't just fit your feet. They should also fit the person, and their personality.

Within the translation, we also added some new, fresh colours to the well-known Torfs yellow and provided dynamic visual elements to give the campaigns a modern and hip character.

In terms of channels, we pulled out all the stops and created assets for online, offline television and radio.

Advertising for Wallonia

One of the campaigns we developed is an online and offline campaign with a focus on children’s shoes.

For the online part of the campaign, we worked with advertisements on social media and in Google's ad network, two suitable channels to create awareness. For the offline part, we provided livery for some buses that run routes around the locations of the two Walloon shops (Dinant and Marche-en-Famenne), as well as some radio spots.

The specific goal of the campaign was to introduce people/parents in the region to Torfs, and to get them into the stores to buy for shoes for their children. An underlying objective was of course to let the parents discover the full range of Torfs themselves.

Wallonia Content

Another campaign focused on Torfs as a fashion player. This campaign focuses on social media advertising, SEA and radio spots. We also recorded a television commercial and placed print ads in Flair magazine.

Finally, with a final campaign, we helped Torfs to put their mid-season deals in the spotlight. For this campaign we recorded 2 television spots in one of the Walloon branches. For this we also worked with local stylists and models. A conscious choice since fashion in Wallonia is different from fashion in Flanders.

Based on the television spots, Torfs also created their own social media campaign for the mid-season deals.

Some of the services we used

Progressing step by step

Progress is a process made up of many steps. And we certainly did that with Torfs.

For example, we saw a nice increase in the search volume for Torfs compared to the period before the campaigns and when compared with their competitors. For example, if we look at other major brands, the search volume for Torfs Year on Year has increased the most.

Furthermore, the television spots were also a success. So much so that the campaign was extended, and we made some Flemish variants to bring the campaigns to Flanders.