Succeeding in APAC – In-Region Experts Drive Growth for Swarovski
Swarovski - a luxury jewelry brand that designs and sells the highest quality crystal, gemstones and diamonds - had seen great success in its global affiliate program. Across APAC, they had become heavily reliant on retargeting partners, leaving Swarovski in a vulnerable position.
Learn how Acceleration Partners created a regional affiliate program strategy leveraging local expertise to deliver cost-effective growth for Swarovski, resulting in non-retargeting revenue increaseing 226% YoY.
226%increase in non-retargeting revenue YoY
€22average ROAS maintained
Swarovski - a luxury jewelry brand that designs and sells the highest quality crystal, gemstones and diamonds - had seen great success in its global affiliate program.
Across APAC, they had become heavily reliant on retargeting partners, leaving Swarovski in a vulnerable position.
Swarovski approached AP to create a regional affiliate strategy that diversified their program and drove growth cost-effectively. The following goals were agreed upon:
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Increase the proportion of revenue driven by non-retargeting partners
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Maintain a ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) no lower than €15 across APAC
Recruitment: The team benchmarked competitors across APAC to identify new partner types to recruit. Affiliate marketing is less advanced in APAC than in the US and Europe and more time is often needed to educate partners on the benefits of working in the affiliate channel. AP deployed a market-specific communication strategy. Partners were communicated with according to in-market preference, considering local business culture and market nuances.
Affiliate Service Providers: In Japan, many partners are unfamiliar with traditional affiliate tracking platforms and prefer to work directly with Affiliate Service Providers (ASPs). They operate similarly to a sub-network, and over 50 local ASPs control most affiliate traffic. AP used its existing relationships with top-tier ASPs to recruit and optimize partners at scale.
Local Shopping Events: Swarovski’s promotional calendar didn’t align with popular shopping events in APAC. To increase partner activation, the AP team reviewed local shopping events and planned additional exposure by market. During these events, partners were offered commission increases for additional brand exposure.
