Case Studies

Timberland

Timberland Grows Sales 70% with the Rakuten Advertising Accelerate Programme

During the First Three Months:

48%

Increase on the Revenue Target

70%

Increase of Sales vs The Previous Year

135%

Over Revenue Target for Newly Recruited Publishers

About Timberland

Timberland has been making authentic boots, shoes, apparel, and accessories since 1973. From humble beginnings in New Hampshire, to a global company with locations in over 15 countries and a member of VF Corporation – a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear.

The Story

Timberland had found past success in the affiliate channel but had limited resources to find and exploit new business opportunities in the rapidly changing space. This took a big toll on their growth efforts. To tackle this issue head-on, the brand switched to Rakuten Advertising and adopted our latest business model – Accelerate. Together, Timberland and Rakuten Advertising unlocked unprecedented growth.

Accelerate is a fully managed affiliate programme that capitalises on Rakuten Advertising’s network and performance data to amplify existing reach and fuel rapid growth. This innovative approach to affiliate management allows brands to control costs and reduce risk.

The Accelerate model gave Timberland unprecedented advantages:

Fixed, preset cost of sale incorporating tenancy, publisher commission and network service fees
Ample Rakuten Advertising account management resources to manage all aspects of recruitment and optimisation
Dedicated data analyst who advised on how best to optimise and grow the programme through recruitment and activation initiatives

The Goal

With its move to the Accelerate, Timberland wanted to increase affiliate revenue by 15%with a 10% fixed cost of sale.

Additional objectives included recruiting and optimising new publishers and activating dormant publishers to drive additional revenue.

Key Strategies

The Accelerate team reviewed and benchmarked performance across a cohort of similar advertisers, produced a forecast, and identified key publishers to drive growth through activation and optimisation.

The Rakuten Advertising team analysed optimal CPA rates to deliver on the 10% cost of sales goal. Ongoing analysis ensured the program delivered the highest possible rates while allowing investment in other opportunities.

To track performance, daily automated reports were delivered to a collaborative online group including the Rakuten Advertising analytics and account, management teams. Alongside the daily report, weekly calls are held between the account manager and analyst to discuss performance and optimisation proposals.

Results

During the first three months, the revenue target was exceeded by 48% with an increase of 70% of sales on the previous year. Programme highlights included:

Revenue from newly recruited publishers exceeded the target by 135%

Revenue from optimising existing publishers exceeded the target by 753%

Revenue from reactivated publishers exceeded the target by 3114%

Having worked together successfully since 2017, we trust Rakuten Advertising to invest the cost-of-sale to produce the best results. We have seen increases YoY having launched with Accelerate at the end of last year. Our Rakuten Advertising Account Manager is like a member of the Timberland Digital Marketing team. He is highly efficient and always a step ahead of our requests which makes everything a lot easier!

Shake Kalemkaryan
Digital Marketing Manager, Timberland