Client: Carhartt
Services: Affiliate marketing, customer loyalty strategy, data-driven optimization
Overview and Challenges:
Carhartt, a global premium workwear brand with over a century of heritage, entered the holiday season with its most ambitious eCommerce goals to date, targeting record revenue and substantial new customer growth. But external challenges loomed: inflationary pressure on consumers, a compressed shopping window due to a late Thanksgiving, heightened competition, and increased media noise during an election year.
To overcome these headwinds, Carhartt partnered with media agency of record January Digital to implement a full-funnel affiliate strategy on the platform Impact, designed to drive incremental revenue, attract new customers, and maintain the brand’s premium positioning.
Key to the strategy was a shift away from traditional coupon-based approaches in favor of high-value loyalty partners and content affiliates. Through advanced publisher segmentation and incrementality modeling, leveraging both Impact and Adobe Analytics, Carhartt optimized investment toward partners delivering the most profitable returns. Ongoing daily optimizations, informed by media mix modeling and real-time data, ensured investment shifted dynamically to maximize impact throughout the peak shopping period.
Goals:
- Increase eCommerce revenue during the holiday period by focusing on high-value affiliate placements
- Drive new customer acquisition through content and loyalty partners with proven incremental impact
- Grow customer loyalty by promoting exclusive incentives and strengthening retention-focused partnerships
Our Work:
January Digital led a strategic, performance-driven affiliate campaign in partnership with Impact, centered on optimizing publisher performance and prioritizing incrementality:
- Segmented and Prioritized High-Impact Affiliate Partners
Used data-driven models to identify and invest in top-converting affiliate partners, including a strategic shift toward content sites and loyalty platforms like Rakuten and Capital One Shopping. - Activated Tiered Incentives and Commissioning Strategies
Motivated partners with dynamic CPA scheduling, tiered commission rates, and exclusive product feeds to maximize engagement during peak moments, especially Black Friday and Cyber Monday. - Promoted Loyalty and Content Affiliates Over Coupons
Diversified the affiliate mix by reducing reliance on promotional partners and emphasizing publishers that delivered high AOV and long-term value. - Leveraged Impact’s Full Suite of Planning and Optimization Tools
Used YoY reporting, real-time data updates, calendar scheduling, and partner-level insights to dynamically adjust investments, creative, and timing throughout the campaign window. - Optimized in Real Time for Maximum Performance
Used daily performance insights to adjust bids and placements, reallocating budget toward the most efficient, high-conversion opportunities.
Results and Business Impact:
Carhartt and January Digital’s holiday affiliate campaign exceeded expectations, delivering record-breaking performance across multiple business objectives:
- Drove a +16% improvement in conversion rate
- Increased loyalty program signups on Cyber Monday, fueled by a 5X loyalty promotion
- Surpassed holiday eCommerce revenue goals, delivering record performance
- Accelerated new customer acquisition through high-conversion content and loyalty placements
- Optimized performance in real time, using Impact reporting to adjust strategy and exceed benchmarks
