Press Releases

Durex, part of Reckitt Benckiser, is launching its first affiliate program to coincide with a major brand push at retail as well as through a targeted experiential marketing campaign. Award-winning performance marketing network, Affiliate Window will be the sole network, working in collaboration with performance management agency, R.O.EYE.

The world famous brand is using its new affiliate site to show its credentials as more than a condom manufacturer and will provide useful sexual education as well as give information and guidance about its extensive range of products.

R.O.EYE has already helped deliver five-fold growth year-on-year for sister brand Scholl since it began to work with the affiliate channel, and Durex is keen to also now utilise the channel to develop a wider brand appeal within the 26-35 demographic. As part of this strategy, it also recently launched its ‘Good Vibrations Tour’ with a branded Durex Play campervan visiting key locations in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Newcastle to sample products, hear the nations’ sex confessions and give fun, informal sex tips from the onboard Love Guru. The whole tour, which has been masterminded by fellow North West based agency Truth, also linked back to a Social Media campaign through YouTube and Facebook, to share the experiential campaign with a wider consumer audience.

Kaye Sutcliffe at Durex, says: “Affiliate marketing is the perfect digital channel for this kind of brand push and through R.O.EYE’s expert guidance, it allows us to work with a cross section of some of the UK’s leading affiliate partners. Working in tandem with our latest retail and experiential activity, we know this can achieve not only greater brand awareness, but also drive customer purchase and trust.”

Nicky Iapino, Managing Director of R.O.EYE, says: “The success of our Scholl activity shows how the affiliate channel can be strategically used to deliver brand objectives. Working as part of a focused, integrated campaign, the activity dovetails nicely to achieve even greater buy-in to this iconic brand, whilst at the same time providing users with accessible, fun advice and guidance.”

Rachel Humphreys, Head of Agency Account Management for Affiliate Window, adds: “Working alongside R.O.EYE, our aim is to generate incremental growth for Durex whilst increasing the range of publishers and partners driving traffic to the brand. Through strategic account management and a dedicated publisher services team, we’ll see Durex go from strength to strength within the performance channel.”

Performance marketing agency R.O.EYE is expanding its affiliate management, consultancy and mobile services across Europe, opening two further offices in London and Berlin.

The Manchester-based agency, which was the UK’s first independent affiliate management agency, is retained by a mix of leading brands including eBay, Google, Virgin Holidays and Autotrader to manage their UK affiliate campaigns as well as strategically advise on optimising their cross-channel performance activity.

Nicky Iapino, Managing Director of R.O.EYE, says: “Since 2004, R.O.EYE has been masterminding highly effective affiliate campaigns for some of the biggest brands and most well known digital companies here in UK. Most recently, we have also expanded our services beyond the core affiliate channel to help clients adopt and utilise performance marketing in the burgeoning social media and mobile channels also. In essence, our industry just doesn’t sit still, and to ensure we remain at the forefront of performance delivery we are embarking on a programme of acquisition and new office openings to enable us to build further teams of R.O.EYE specialists who can also provide more localised service.”

Pivotal to its new London office opening, the agency has acquired affiliate consultancy Hatmatic from founder Matt Brown. Hatmatic, which has been providing affiliate services since 2005 for clients including Vodafone, Comet, Red Letter Days and Hotels4U.com, is well respected within the UK affiliate space, working with an established network of some of the UK’s leading affiliate networks and affiliate partners. Matt, who will be joining R.O.EYE as Commercial Director, will also head up the new London office as well as lead its mobile services.

Matt says: “The opportunity for Hatmatic to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK’s most progressive performance management agency was a bit of an easy decision to be honest. My existing client contacts will be able to tap into the huge breadth of experience and knowledge of the R.O.EYE team, and for me personally, I get the chance to lead the agency’s London development strategy as well as growing its activity in the very exciting and frenetic mobile sector.”

R.O.EYE’s new Berlin office’s opening has been timed to capitalise on the channel’s busy seasonal activity and will service local clients as well as work in tandem with R.O.EYE’s UK teams to deliver fully integrated cross border campaigns.

Urban fashion brand Bench is strategically enhancing its digital marketing activity, appointing performance marketing agency R.O.EYE to handle its burgeoning affiliate programme as it focuses on increasing worldwide sales.

The British brand sees its affiliate campaign as key to expanding its global e-commerce operation. “Bench has a great following in the UK which we want to continue to exploit alongside a focus on driving even greater online awareness of the brand abroad and in turn growing international online sales,” said Nik Burton, Head of E-Commerce at Bench. “Strategic affiliate marketing is an essential element in reaching this goal and R.O.EYE has the proven skills to help us achieve this.”

R.O.EYE is managing Bench’s affiliate programme through the Affiliate Window and Webgains networks.

“Bench has developed into a strong British brand and we’re keen to see that development extend overseas,” said Nicky Iapino, Managing Director of R.O.EYE. “We’ve already seen a strong sales uplift in the short time we’ve been working with Bench.”

Bench began in the late 1980s as a niche t-shirt brand inspired by BMX and skateboarding. Since then it has grown into a global entity with a strong music association and has sponsored many music events including Creamfields, The Warehouse Project, ParkLife and Melt! in Germany.

Digital marketing performance agency R.O.EYE has promoted Nicky Iapino to Managing Director as the company prepares for growth.

Previously Commercial Director, Iapino succeeds R.O.EYE’s founder and majority shareholder Mark Kuhillow, who will now take on a Strategy Director role within the agency. Philip Hunt, digital veteran and former non-executive member of the company’s board, becomes Chairman.

To coincide with the changes at R.O.EYE’s helm, the agency has opened a London office to give it a physical presence in the capital. Its new base is in Camden, while headquarters remain in Manchester.

The expansion into London follows an intense period of growth for R.O.EYE, which has secured a clutch of high profile wins during the last year.

The agency counts Scholl, eBay, Virgin Holidays and Bench among its clients.

“The business is getting bigger and we’ve grown significantly in recent months,” said R.O.EYE’s new MD Nicky Iapino. “Because of that we are in a position where we need to focus on people’s strengths to get structures and processes in place to ensure R.O.EYE’s growth in the long-term. We have ambitious plans.”

Iapino added: “The majority of our newest clients, and the affiliate networks, are based in the London area so it makes sense for us to have an office there. However, we are a proud Manchester firm and will always be headquartered in our parent city.”

R.O.EYE is also undergoing a brand refresh as it broadens its focus to encompass different aspects of digital marketing, while keeping its specialism in the affiliate sector. A new website will launch in January.

“Nicky’s contribution to R.O.EYE cannot be overstated,” said Mark Kuhillow, founder of R.O.EYE. “I have enjoyed my time as Managing Director but my new role will enable me to take a broader look at the business and identify new areas for growth.”

Iapino is a former AdLINK Europe Managing Director, joining R.O.EYE earlier this year as a non-executive director before becoming Commercial Director in July.

Online fashion retailer boohoo.com appoints R.O.EYE for affiliate marketing campaign following rapid business growth

boohoo.com has appointed affiliate marketing agency R.O.EYE to run a new affiliate campaign following business growth of 150% over the past year.
The fashion retailer, which emulates catwalk trends and offers the latest designs before they hit the high street was founded in 2006 and is now the UK’s fastest growing online fashion retailer for women.

R.O.EYE will work with boohoo.com to increase affiliate activity; reaching customers on the sites where they spend most of their time.

boohoo.com was voted ‘Best For Bargains’ at Cosmopolitan magazine’s Online Fashion Awards this year. Its clothing is regularly featured in consumer magazines including Look and More.

“The business is seeing phenomenal growth,” said Paul Hurst, Online Marketing Manager at boohoo.com. “We needed to appoint an agency that was well-placed to support us. R.O.EYE has a proven track record within the retail market, with significant experience as lead agency on pan-European affiliate programmes. Its comprehensive technical solutions and strong account management offers boohoo.com an ideal platform to continue growing its business. R.O.EYE also has a strong understanding of how affiliate activity fits into our wider marketing plan.”

boohoo.com also plans to introduce tools and gadgets to better showcase products and engage with customers.

“We’ll help boohoo.com to build on its strong offline presence by expanding the affiliate programme to where customers spend a lot of time online,” said Mark Kuhillow, Managing Director of R.O.EYE. “Ultimately, our work with the company will increase brand awareness and generate more sales.”

Webuyanycar.com is to launch an aggressive affiliate marketing programme, complementing its TV, radio and social media activity.

Established in 2006, Webuyanycar.com is the UK’s largest purchaser of used vehicles. Specialist affiliate marketing agency R.O.EYE was appointed to develop and run the company’s new campaign after a competitive three-way pitch.

“We are looking to expand our affiliate programme very quickly. It’s an area which hasn’t been utilised and one we want to fast track into,” said Paul Coulter, Head of Marketing at Webuyanycar.com. “We selected R.O.EYE because of its previous experience and success with other brands.”

Webuyanycar.com – famed for its catchy jingle – wants affiliate marketing to make up a significant proportion of its marketing mix, but will continue its commitment to TV, radio and print advertising.

“Webuyanycar.com is one of the biggest automotive advertisers in the UK which invests heavily in online and social media to promote its business,” said Mark Kuhillow, Managing Director of R.O.EYE. “It makes perfect strategic sense to maximise opportunities from the affiliate channel, where we’ll be increasing online brand awareness and driving sales.”