Beer52 Toasts Brand Partnership Success as Host and Advertiser
Brand partnerships involve an ‘advertiser’ sharing rewards or offers with a brand ‘host’ and paying a commission each time they’re redeemed.
Most brands don’t realise how open their customers are to receiving rewards and offers from advertisers. That’s why it’s common for a brand to test the waters by signing up as advertiser, sharing their rewards with brand partners, and seeing the results before becoming hosts themselves.
One such story involves Beer52, the world’s largest craft beer discovery club, which recently joined BrandSwap as a host after achieving incredible results by advertising at several of our brand partners.
The challenge
Beer52 was one of BrandSwap’s top advertisers.
Its offer of ‘8 free beers’ was designed to attract new subscribers, who would move onto being a paid member after receiving their free case.
It had also been used as a conditional offer by several brand hosts to drive conversions, increase average order values (AOV), and generally create a revenue stream from commission paid by Beer52.
The brand was consistently popular in several retail categories, but especially in consumer electronics.
At Appliances Direct, Beer52’s free trial appeared on the homepage and occupied a prime position on the basket and all product detail pages. Used to stretch spend (‘Get 8 free beers when you spend over £350’), it increased the retailer’s conversion rate by +12% and raised AOV by +5%.
At fellow electronics retailer Currys, Beer52’s offer was the featured placement for customers shopping in the ‘gaming’ category due to its popularity among this audience.
Considering the results and Beer52’s own customer base, which aligned perfectly with advertisers in categories such as Food & Beverage, Gaming, and Entertainment, it decided to retain its advertiser strategy while also becoming a host.
BrandSwap’s challenge was to set Beer52 up for success on the other side of the brand partnership fence.
The solution
Using BrandSwap’s speedy implementation and range of inventory options, all tailored to fit seamlessly with Beer52’s existing on-site experience, it was easy to integrate partner rewards into the brand’s customer journey.
Setup
Integrating BrandSwap directly via Google Tag Manager gave Beer52 a quick and hassle-free start as a brand host.
Location
Beer52 had high volumes of traffic coming into various areas of its post-purchase journey.
Every month, cases of beer are sent to subscribers automatically, meaning the chance to share brand partnership rewards centred largely on pages like ‘track my order’ and ‘order confirmation’. BrandSwap focused on placing relevant advertiser offers in these post-purchase areas.
BrandSwap also recommended embedding offers in the subscription cancellation journey. That way, Beer52 could end a member’s subscription on a positive note, being mindful that they might return, and potentially offset their loss through brand partner rewards.
As is so often the case, these pages served fairly basic functions and had untapped potential.
Advertisers
Using BrandSwap’s extensive advertiser network, Beer52 picked a selection of advertisers that overlapped with its audience.
In some cases, it was as simple as pairing food with drink, like with recipe kit subscription service SimplyCook.
Other links were based on audience demographics, like with brands like Purdy & Figg (cleaning products) and Pact Coffee (coffee subscription).
The results
Becoming a brand host instantly unlocked a new revenue stream at Beer52, all by maximising the potential of previously under-utilised areas of its customer experience.
For every thousand impressions on its advertiser rewards, the brand earned an ECPM (effective cost per mille) +40% above McKinsey benchmarks for retail media.
Meanwhile, Beer52 subscribers could redeem rewards from top advertisers, adding extra value to their membership.
James Taylor, Co-Founder and CMO of Beer52, commented:
“Starting as an advertiser allowed us to see how many customers redeem rewards from brand partners when they’re in the purchase moment. After seeing the results and how it all works, we knew we could find success on both sides of a brand partnership.”
“It was easy to join BrandSwap as a host, select advertisers, identify a good location for their rewards, and we’re continuously impressed by the level of detail that goes into finding the right formula. We’ve found a way of showcasing strong partner offers in a way that feels native to our experience and brings extra value to our subscribers.”
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