The latest episode of Awin Talks features an interview with Robin Ward, Head of Sales, Europe, for LTK, the world’s leading commerce platform for creators and influencers.  

Recently rebranded from rewardStyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it, LTK made headlines in late 2021 following a $300m investment from SoftBank’s vision fund that valued the company at $2bn. LTK’s technology has pioneered monetisation for the world’s most influential creators and helped many make a profession from pursuing their passions online.  

Affiliate marketing has always played a big part in their commercial model and so we spoke to Robin to find out more about LTK’s origins, how influencer and performance marketing are merging, and what the future holds in store for the creator economy they’ve helped popularise. 

This week’s episode also includes a chat with Awin Product Marketing Manager Ed Chaput. He joins us to tell us more about the new Publisher Recommendations tool now available in the Awin interface for advertisers.

42: LTK and the Creator Economy

On this week’s episode of Awin Talks, Rob interviews Simon Vogt, Co-Founder and CSO at &Charge, a shopping platform that rewards electric vehicle drivers.  
 
The &Charge app is a unique new take on the traditional loyalty model. For every purchase made through the platform, users are rewarded in the form of ‘kilometres’ that they can redeem at an electric charging point for their vehicle – thus reducing the cost of EV car ownership and supporting the transition to a more sustainable future.      
 
Simon talks to Rob about how the idea for the platform first came about, its launch in Germany and subsequent roll-out across Europe, how affiliate partnerships are helping to power its growth, and what the company’s future plans are.   
 
Also on the podcast this week, co-hosts Rob and Kevin are joined (in person) by their US colleague Rachel Tyrer. The trio discuss recent updates from Awin including: 
 
- The new launch of SingleView MTA reporting within the Awin user interface 
- A recent article on why multi-touch attribution points the way forward for the industry from Awin US President, Alex Forsch 
- The release of Awin’s new publisher recommendations tool in the Awin interface 
- A new Awin certification for agency partners that is now available globally. 

In addition, they look forward to a number of upcoming industry events that Awin will be attending, including the Digital City Expo in Manchester, UK, and eTail Palm Springs conference in the US.

43: How &Charge use partnerships to power EV growth

The brand-new edition of the Awin Report for 2022 is nearly here and, ahead of its release, co-hosts Rob and Kevin are joined by Global Publisher Director Jasper Mulder to discuss its content and themes.  

The trio discusses the background behind the Power 100, our handpicked selection of the 100 most innovative and valuable partners on the Awin platform, and why the decision was taken to pursue this approach. Chosen from more than 140,000 active partners available to work with globally across Awin, the task was no simple feat and involved publisher experts from across the business.  

In addition to hearing about the Power 100, this episode of Awin Talks also features an interview with one of our featured partners in the list, Wirecutter. Leilani Han, Executive Director of Commerce at the hugely popular US product review site, chats to Rob about the business’ affiliate roots, its acquisition by the New York Times and what that meant for the company, and how it’s continuing to provide invaluable expertise to its loyal audience.  

And, in the wake of two new reports on the state of digital and affiliate marketing in both France and Australia, Kevin explores some of the insights revealed and what they illustrate about the industry’s evolution in both those regions.

44: Awin Report 2022 – introducing the Power 100

On the new episode of Awin Talks, we got a chance to speak to the founder of Gener8, an innovative new web browser that is helping individual users take control of their personal data. When browsing online on Gener8, consumers can choose whether to surf the web in privacy mode, without any of their data being shared, or they can opt for rewards mode, where their data is shared in exchange for brand discounts and store credits. 

Gener8’s founder, Sam Jones, came to national attention in the UK following his successful pitch to investors on the popular BBC entrepreneur programme, Dragons Den. Sam’s passion for the Gener8 solution and its mission to better empower users while browsing the internet really comes through in our chat as he describes the origins of the company, the problems with the existing ad tech model, and how affiliate partnerships with brands are vital to its success.

Gener8 are just one of several innovative partners that feature in our ‘Enabling Ethical Ecommerce’ chapter in our Awin Report 2022: Power 100 list. This week on the podcast hosts Rob and Kevin take a closer look at this topic, discussing what it means from an affiliate perspective, and why it seems to be a growing trend within the wider industry. 

In addition, the duo discuss the economic pressures facing consumers and businesses alike following huge rises in inflation, and how that may affect affiliate marketing tactics right now. And they also take a look at the significance of Klarna’s recent acquisition of comparison site PriceRunner, and how that further bolsters the BNPL’s desire to become a ‘super app’ for consumers.

45:  Taking control of personal data with Gener8

Our latest episode of Awin Talks features interviews with two unique partners based in the Germany and the UK respectively that illustrate how effective affiliate marketing can be when allied to compelling consumer propositions.  

First, Rob speaks to Anke Mesloh from the German travel blog Urlaubstracker. Firmly established as one of the region’s most trusted resources for travel inspiration and deals, the website has had to navigate some of the most challenging circumstances over the last couple of years amid the pandemic.   

But Anke describes how affiliate partnerships helped the team adapt to a world without travel by partnering with a variety of new brands, which saw them continue to drive value to their loyal audience. 

Urlaubstracker is one of our featured partners in this year’s Power 100 list in the latest edition of the Awin Report. To find out more about its story, download a free copy of the report today. 

Kevin then speaks to Ray Wright, Cofounder and Chief Revenue Officer for ufurnish.com, a relatively new affiliate partner making waves in the home furnishings sector.  

Ray shares the background behind the site, how it’s grown its audience, and how it incorporates partner marketing into its business model to spur growth. 

Alongside these interviews, Rob runs through some of the latest news from Awin, including the recent successes at the Performance Marketing Awards, as well as the upcoming ThinkTank conferences in the UK and Germany.

46: Interviews with Urlaubstracker and ufurnish.com

Part of the Axel Springer group, Awin is a global affiliate network. With 15 offices worldwide, 1000 employees, 100,000 contributing publishers and 13,000 advertisers, Awin connects customers with brands in over 180 countries around the globe. Operating across the retail, telecommunications, travel and finance verticals, Awin generated €13.6 billion in revenue for its advertisers and €607 million for its publishers in the last financial year

45: Taking control of personal data with Gener8

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