Case Studies

TRENDii & Cotton On

Taking on affiliate and content with AI

The Results

Cotton On successfully engaged inspired, ready-to-buy customers and drove more traffic to its website through the Rakuten Advertising team’s expertise and TRENDii’s innovative technology.

1,408%

Quarter-Over-Quarter Increase in Clicks from TRENDii Ads

22

Publications Reached

3.5x

Return on Ad Spend vs Other Fashion Retailers Partnered With TRENDii

I was pleasantly surprised at how TRENDii's AI technology can achieve incredible results with from day one. To be featured on these premium publications would usually take months, but thanks to TRENDii and Rakuten Advertising, we were able to see results immediately. Achieving all this without disrupting potential customers’ online experience is also a big bonus.

Tamara Cole
Partnerships & Affiliate Marketing Manager, Cotton On

About the Brands

TRENDii is a contextual advertising platform that matches image and video content with highly relevant products, creating automatic shopping experiences that win consumer attention. For brands, this means their products are automatically seen in the context of the content on premium publications.

Cotton On is a popular Australian clothing retailer that offers a wide range of affordable and stylish clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children.

The Story

Say goodbye to tedious searches and hello to instant inspiration. Cotton On wanted to reach inspired, ready-to-buy customers, and TRENDii was there to deliver, fast. Leveraging learnings from TRENDii’s Contextual Advertising and Recommendation AI technology, the team of experts at Rakuten Advertising helped Cotton On connect with new audiences on premium publications, particularly those who are browsing through fashion content with similar products. With a goal of increasing site traffic, the teams harnessed the power of AI learning and manual optimisations to deliver results that outperform.

The Rakuten Advertising Solution

Having good technology is great, but it’s the people, the human experience and the decision-making that makes a campaign successful.

Optimising to outperform

Rakuten used performance data combined with TRENDii’s AI capabilities to make informed, data-driven optimisations. The team identified top-performing publications for Cotton On, directed budget towards them and drove a significant number of inspired audiences to Cotton On’s site.

Being disruptive without disrupting

In a time where customers dislike intrusive ads that disrupt their online experience, the key to successful advertising lies in leveraging unobtrusive marketing technologies. TRENDii automatically delivers targeted ads that are seamlessly integrated into individuals’ browsing activities. This delicate balance ensures that Cotton On’s messages resonate with its audience, while respecting their desire for uninterrupted engagement.

Seamless integration, fast

It only takes TRENDii a few days to go live with a brand. Using existing Rakuten product feeds for Cotton On, the integration process was simple and effortless. Rakuten and TRENDii were able to quickly match ads to inspirational content with no creative required. Cotton On was able to start delivering results from day one.

More than just a good feed

TRENDii brings a higher level of validation for existing product feeds with its ability to pinpoint errors at speed, such as out-of-stock or no product images, improving the quality and up time of feeds all around. This helps the Rakuten team identify and rectify any feed issues for Cotton On in a timely manner.

Using existing Rakuten Advertising's product feed helped us expedite our integration process with Cotton On and many new advertiser partners, allowing us to showcase our innovative technology and encouraging brands to be more willing to experiment. With our success with Cotton On, we’re excited to see how our platform can help other brands tap into the world of affiliate and AI.

Aaron Woolf
Founder/CEO, TRENDii

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