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B2B Brand Evolution

Secured majority market share, exceeding growth targets by ↑50%

A global ecommerce leader seeking to strengthen its North America brand recognition was preparing to launch expanded consumer targeting capabilities for its online rewards site when the global Covid19 pandemic swung economic markets into unprecedented volatility. Suddenly, options to curb financial uncertainties – like cash back rewards – became vital crisis strategies.

By elevating the product launch as a strategic brand evolution meeting a pivotal market need, we successfully seized a rare opportunity to reframe our competitive playing field – outgrowing niche affiliate sites to become an ecommerce advertising platform with consumer targeting tools that rival Google and Meta. Plus the shopping incentives needed to keep consumers spending through the pandemic recovery era.

Reporting and predicting market-shaping behaviors through executive thought leadership underscored the credibility of the company’s newfound market leadership, creating corporate exposure alongside household names, like Paypal, Goldman Sachs, Klarna and Honey, setting the stage for high-profile B2C marketing investments, featuring Super Bowl, Olympic and World Cup ads.

Elevating the brand’s strategic positioning aligned the business with an unexpected revenue boom for winning pandemic-era shopping strategies, exceeding market predictions by 47% and accounting for ↑50% of ecommerce partnership dollars.

Featured Elements

Brand Vision & Product Launch: Leveraging a strategic product launch to promote a pivotal shift in corporate strategy elevated the conversation beyond product features and performance – it established the company’s credibility as a category innovator and a compelling, more cost-effective alternative to Google and Meta for scaling customer acquisition.

AdExchanger •

How Rakuten Rewards Is Adapting To A New Affiliate Model – The First-Party Ad Platform | AdExchanger

Rakuten Rewards, formerly Ebates, is an 800-pound gorilla in the affiliate marketing business. Now, it has set its sights beyond the affiliate category.

“We’re busting out of the affiliate marketplace, because we can target using our own first-party data.

What we can do now is more akin to Facebook or Google - define an audience to reach for acquisition, retention, retargeting, and with the conversion power of a reward.

If you raise your cash-back rate to double digits, I can tell you that you’re going to 3x or 4x your volume on our platform. That’s really consistent."
CNBC •

How coupon code curators like Rakuten, Honey and Slickdeals make millions

"Rakuten can target consumers at the same level that Facebook and Google do, personalized by user behavior, brand affinity and geographic location that improve the consumer experience."

Retail Research Program: The volume and range of Rakuten’s brand partners let us model unique research into business trends and consumer behaviors, which we combined with market research to recommend strategic ad optimization strategies that reinforced the sophistication of a newly launched consumer targeting product, while attracting increased platform investments.

Executive Thought Leadership: Packaging Rakuten’s comprehensive retail insights alongside executive expertise secured our credibility with top-tier retail reporters, leading to repeat conversations with Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, APM Marketplace, as well as leading retail trades.