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PERFORMANCE & LIFESTYLE FOOTWEAR BRAND

Lifestyle & Footwear Brand

How a coordinated EOSS and affiliate-exclusive promo delivered over £9m revenue, 30% ROAS improvement and a £500k+ launch day

For those with only 30 seconds, this is what we achieved:

  • £9m+ total revenue generated through the affiliate programme
  • 30% overall ROAS improvement
  • £500k+ revenue on affiliate promo launch day
  • 20% overall AOV uplift
  • 15% spend reduction vs prior year

Big Results!

The programme improved overall ROAS by

30% 30%

Affiliate promo launch day revenue, up 130% vs prior benchmark

£500k+ £500k+

CLIENT OVERVIEW

A global sportswear brand scaling affiliate across Europe

A global leader in performance and lifestyle footwear with a well-established affiliate programme operating across key European markets including the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland and the Nordics. The programme was mature and performing, but 2026 priorities set the bar higher: grow revenue impact at scale, deepen and diversify partner relationships, build stronger premium content and sneaker media presence, and raise the internal profile of affiliate as a genuine strategic growth channel within the wider marketing mix.

THE CHALLENGE

Turning a high-pressure trading period into a proof point for affiliate

The January EOSS and the follow-on affiliate-exclusive promotion created a critical multi-market trading window. The challenge was not simply to secure exposure. The team needed to prove that affiliate could coordinate a major sale period and an exclusive promotional burst, deliver revenue scale without sacrificing efficiency, and build the internal case for affiliate as a planned, strategic channel.

Several commercial pressures made this particularly complex:

  • The sale and promo periods ran across different markets and date ranges, requiring tight coordination across regions and partners without a single activation date to rally around.
  • The programme needed to grow revenue contribution while protecting ROAS and improving budget utilisation. The brief was not simply to drive more traffic, but to convert more efficiently.
  • The affiliate-exclusive promo followed immediately after EOSS, meaning the team had to sustain purchase intent and prevent the demand drop-off that typically follows a sale period.
  • Competitor cashback and promotional pressure created a more challenging conversion environment in key markets, particularly in the UK and Benelux.
  • Internally, the brand needed clear evidence that affiliates could support wider commercial planning and campaign reporting. Strong results alone were not enough. The channel needed a story.

Working in close alignment with the brand, five success measures were agreed: grow overall revenue
contribution, maintain or improve ROAS, increase average order value, create a high-impact promo launch
day, and demonstrate that affiliate can be planned, monitored and optimised as an active commercial engine
rather than a background conversion channel.

THE STRATEGY

A stacked sale-to-promo approach built around visibility, efficiency and speed

Affiliate performance during peak trading is won before the campaign goes live. Rather than treating EOSS and the affiliate promo as two separate bursts of activity, the team developed a stacked approach designed to build sale momentum, carry consumer intent into the promotional period, and use the exclusive affiliate offer to create a high-impact launch day. The strategic objective was clear: turn a major sale period and a shorter affiliate promo into a coordinated, multi-market performance moment that delivered revenue scale, improved efficiency and strengthened affiliate’s internal credibility.

Three principles shaped the approach:

Plan affiliate as a campaign channel, not just a conversion channel. Key partners were aligned around the sale calendar, promo launch and closing moments so the programme could influence both visibility and conversion timing, not simply activate at the point of decision.

Prioritise revenue quality over traffic volume. The programme focused on partners and packages that could deliver commercial impact. The goal was better budget use, stronger conversion efficiency and higher-value baskets, not raw click numbers.

Use regional nuance to unlock scale. Each market required a different mix of loyalty, cashback, CSS, sneaker media, content and regional publishers. The strategy avoided a one-size-fits-all playbook and gave local teams room to activate the partners most likely to convert in their market.

THE TACTICS

Multi-market execution built around partner planning, live optimisation and campaign proof

Partner Planning Before the Sale Window

  • Secured and aligned exposure across key partner groups before the sale went live, including loyalty and student partners, cashback, CSS, sneaker media, content publishers and regional promotional partners, rather than relying on reactive booking once demand had peaked.
  • Used quarterly packages and pre-planned media placements to create consistent visibility throughout EOSS, supporting multiple phases: launch, sustained sale visibility, affiliate promo activation, final-day urgency and post-campaign analysis.

Affiliate Promo Launch-Day Activation

  • Built the affiliate-exclusive promotion around a concentrated 4 February launch moment, ensuring key partners were briefed and prepared to drive traffic and conversion immediately on day one. This produced a £500k+ launch day, outperforming previous campaign benchmarks.
  • Monitored performance live across regions and partners from launch, allowing the team to optimise in real time and respond quickly to last-minute opportunities.
  • Maintained visibility and momentum through the final five days of the promo, keeping performance consistent rather than allowing a sharp post-launch drop-off.

Market-Level Partner Orchestration

  • UK: Scaled key loyalty partners including a student platform (over £600k combined) and a leading discount membership platform (over £1m in EOSS revenue alone), alongside CSS and content publishers to support revenue volume, with close margin monitoring during the deeper promotional push.
  • Germany: Leveraged Payback eCoupon activation, Adstrong CSS strength, and high-efficiency compensatory placements to maintain £11.6 ROAS during EOSS while growing combined revenue 24% YoY.
  • France: Turned a marginal EOSS revenue decline into nearly 200% affiliate promo growth through focused impressions-led exposure with a deal community partner. Securing guaranteed impressions at peak conversion times produced strong six-figure revenue at over £13 ROAS.
  • Nordics: Used broader partner activation across three markets. A CSS partner was consistently the top performer across the region, helping drive a step-change with EOSS revenue nearly tripling YoY and affiliate promo revenue growing over 2,000% from a low base.
  • Southern Europe and Benelux: Adapted partner mix by market with Scalapay, iGraal, Widilo, Shoparize and local sneaker media activating alongside global partners to deliver strong efficiency in smaller markets. Spain affiliate promo revenue grew 360% YoY.

Real-Time Optimisation and Campaign Reporting

  • Tracked performance by region, partner and trading period rather than managing the campaign as one blended event. This enabled faster decisions on where investment was scaling efficiently and where activity required adjustment.
  • Built the post-campaign analysis into an internal success story to support the client’s objective of giving affiliate a stronger strategic presence within the business.

THE RESULTS

More revenue, stronger efficiency and a standout launch day

The combined EOSS and affiliate promo period delivered a clear commercial step forward. The programme generated over £9m revenue at approximately £10 overall ROAS, improving efficiency by around 30% year on year while total spend fell by approximately 15% and clicks fell by over a third. Better partner orchestration and higher-intent traffic proved capable of delivering more commercial value than raw traffic volume.

Regional Performance Highlights

  • UK: Revenue grew over 20% YoY in EOSS and over 10% YoY in the affiliate promo. A key loyalty partner delivered over £1m in EOSS revenue at a strong double-digit ROAS, while a CSS partner more than doubled YoY contribution.
  • Germany: Combined revenue grew ~25% YoY to over £1.4m. EOSS was the most efficient market overall, achieving ROAS well above £10, supported by loyalty programme activation and high-efficiency compensatory placements.
  • France: Transformed from a marginal EOSS revenue decline into nearly 200% affiliate promo growth. A deal community partner secured guaranteed impressions at peak conversion times, generating strong six-figure revenue at over £13 ROAS.
  • Italy and Spain: Italy delivered nearly 60% affiliate promo revenue growth with solid efficiency. Spain more than tripled affiliate promo revenue YoY, with CSS and buy-now-pay-later partners as standout performers in both markets.
  • Nordics: From a lower base, EOSS revenue nearly tripled YoY and affiliate promo revenue grew over 2,000% YoY across three markets. CSS and student partner activation drove the step-change alongside broader partner diversification.

Top revenue-driving silhouettes across the combined period: three hero styles each generated significant six-figure revenue, driven through a combination of loyalty, student, CSS and sneaker media partners across markets.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What this demonstrates for the sale campaign and affiliate promo strategy

1. Peak trading performance is built before launch day
The £500k+ affiliate promo launch day was not a one-day success. It was the result of pre-sale partner alignment, briefed exposure packages and a clear launch strategy that ensured affiliate activity was ready to convert from the moment the offer went live. Preparation created the moment.

2. Efficient growth comes from traffic quality, not traffic volume
Across the total period, revenue increased approximately 10% while clicks fell by over a third and spend fell by around 15%. The programme proved that better partner orchestration and higher-intent traffic deliver more commercial value than raw volume. Partner selection quality and pre-planned exposure drove the difference.

3. Sale and promo periods should be planned as one connected journey
EOSS built demand; the affiliate promo converted it. Treating both as connected phases, rather than standalone campaigns, helped carry purchase intent across the gap and avoid a sharp demand drop-off. The 7-day promo outperforming the prior 10-day equivalent demonstrates what structured continuity delivers.

4. Regional nuance consistently unlocks market-level growth
The strongest results came from adapting partner mix and investment by market rather than applying a single global playbook. France’s affiliate promo turnaround, Germany’s ROAS resilience and the Nordics’ step-change all required different levers. Local specificity produced outsized returns.

5. Affiliate can act as a strategic campaign channel, not just a conversion tool
The campaign demonstrated that with the right planning, live monitoring and partner relationships, affiliate can drive campaign launches, sustain promotional momentum and generate the kind of commercial storytelling that builds internal channel confidence. The affiliate promo launch day was proof of concept.

6. Client confidence is built through execution quality as well as results
Alongside the headline numbers, client feedback highlighted the team’s preparation, close monitoring, responsiveness and willingness to act quickly on last-minute opportunities. Execution quality is what turns a strong campaign into a deeper strategic relationship and into internal advocacy for the channel.

This campaign delivered £9m+ revenue, a 30% ROAS improvement and a £500k+ launch day, all with less spend than the year before.

If you want to see what a planned, commercially-focused affiliate strategy can do for your brand, let's talk.

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