NRJ Belgium

NRJ targets 12–34 year-olds in a media landscape being rewired by streaming, new players and shifting listening habits. We helped them rethink what the NRJ experience means — defined the strategy in 2018, helped sell it to the group in Paris, then turned it into the architecture and design of their new site. Strategy, advisory and execution, in one continuous thread.

Three connected mandates, at a glance:

• Experience strategy (2018) — reinventing the NRJ experience across radio and digital
• Group buy-in — helping the CEO and CMO secure validation from the group in Paris
• Site UX — translating the strategy into information architecture and key wireframes

We did related work for sister brand Nostalgie, and later coached the in-house team running both brands — see the team enablement case.

The challenge: a radio brand in a disrupted, streaming-first world

Radio — and NRJ in particular — faces an evolving, disruptive environment. Four forces converged:

• The rise of digital, creating channel conflict with FM and pressure on monetisation
• New players — Apple, Spotify, Deezer — capturing attention with differentiated experiences
• Shifting listening habits and expectations around platform, format and interaction
• A value proposition under pressure, with positioning to clarify against traditional players

NRJ needed to define the direction and activities with the most value — across positioning, experience and monetisation — answering both short-term tactical and long-term strategic questions.

Experience strategy: be the leader on the 12–34s

NRJ's core ambition was to lead a highly fragmented audience — three generations and four lifestages inside a single 12–34 target. We framed the strategy around three moves:

• Increase listening time — engage the existing audience more deeply
• Conquer the 25–34s — acquire the older end of the target
• Reconnect with the 12–18s — stay relevant through innovation

From there, we reinvented the NRJ experience end to end: the relationship between brand, radio and every other channel; a sharper value proposition and USP; the complementary role of digital alongside radio; the content of the website; and where to focus for maximum impact.

The method moved from insight to vision: insights gathering and analysis (inventories, stakeholder interviews, optional audience pre-test and competitive benchmark), a one-day bootcamp to align the task force and storyboard the “NRJ experience next gen”, then consolidation into a strategic vision. Deliverables: positioning and value-proposal guidelines, channel mix, a product tactic book with website building blocks, and a prioritised strategic plan and roadmap.

Group buy-in: helping leadership sell the strategy in Paris

A strategy only matters if it gets the green light. We worked alongside NRJ's CEO and CMO to help them defend and validate the strategy with the group in Paris — turning the work into something the parent company could commit to. Not a deck handed over, but a case built and supported until it cleared the level above.

Site UX: from strategy to architecture and wireframes

With the strategy approved, NRJ wanted a new version of its website to deliver the first steps of the Next Generation plan. We translated strategy into experience — and did it hand in hand with their team, building on the technical choices and frameworks they'd already selected.

We delivered:

• A high-level information architecture and visitor-flow design — a detailed sitemap translating the Next Gen objectives
• Five key wireframes — the screens that carry the strategy into a real interface
• Each wireframe across desktop, smartphone and tablet viewports
• A modular, reusable foundation the team could extend to every other template and screen

We ran it as a working collaboration: a kick-off to align on priorities and technical context, then two workshops to present, refine and validate the architecture and wireframes together — so the team owned the result and could build the rest of the site on it.

Why it worked: strategy that survives contact with reality

NRJ didn't need a strategy on a shelf. They needed one that leadership would back and that an internal team could build. We covered all three: the thinking, the boardroom defence, and the concrete design — co-built with the people who'd carry it forward. We also coached the in-house digital team to run the day-to-day, so the capability stayed in-house. From vision to validation to a buildable site.