Cotton On might be a well-known brand in Australia, but that is not the case in each of the seven regions where it sells online.
So when it comes to reaching new customers in markets such as the United States, the company has turned to affiliate marketing specialist, Rakuten, to reach its desired audience.
Head of group digital marketing at the Cotton On Group, Cameron Lawson, has responsibility for overseeing all digital marketing for the retailer’s seven brands across all regions where it operates its ecommerce presence.
“My role is about driving as much qualified traffic though to our sites as possible and building the Cotton On brands,” he says. “Online for us is a massive part of the business. Market shifts are showing that more and more people are shopping online, and we certainly feel we have some catching up to do across the e-com space. So it’s a really big focus for us.”
Lawson says working with Rakuten has enabled Cotton On to identify key partners and publishers who can showcase its products in markets where the brand is not well known.
“We use it a lot as a brand building exercise, and really try to hone in to a customer base that is similar to what we already know is a good customer for us,” he says.
This will be especially important as Cotton On moves into its next new market, South Africa, in early 2018.
“There are always new regions and new opportunities that we want to conquer, so I really feel like we have just started with the affiliate channel,” Lawson says.
The relationship with Rakuten is also beneficial in Cotton On’s established markets, where shoppers might know the brands but are active across a number of sites and publisher.
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